Seattle-- February 7, 2014

[fumobici]

OK, I was supposed to be just stopping in Seattle to change trains but I got a call en route saying the weather situation is impossible in Oregon and to just turn around and try again later. OK. Well I got a refund on the parts I didn't use and the next available seat back north was in 6 hours. So tourist time.



This ferris wheel was set up last year on the waterfront. Wasn't even slightly tempted.



Local legand and restraunteur Ivar Haglund immortalized in bronze feeding the gulls.





This fellow was riding shotgun in an old Winnebago RV parked just outside the football stadium below.





Exterior, train station. Let's head over to Chinatown aka the International District, I'm getting hungry and my train back home isn't for three more hours.





Dare you to grab the doorknob. No, double dare you.







Anything seems possible here, from chop suey to chow mein to dancing. What else is there?



This looks like an outdoor mahjong parlor, weather of course permitting.







I'd trust this guy more than Goldman-Sachs. Hands down.























I did find a wonderful hole in the wall for dinner. Taiwanese country food; simple fish broth with fish, celery and cilantro and fried purple rice, which I'd never heard of with egg, carrot, some green, ginger and garlicky chinese pork sausage pieces. Both excellent.  No English heard, the size of a shoebox, tea served in tall plastic glass from the '70s, couldn't spend $15 if you tried. Never got the name. I consumed all the bonito soup but couldn't finish the mountain of fried rice, so had the rest boxed up for the road. I think it was even better today after getting nuked for the magic 2:22 and poured into a bowl.







Last two show the newly restored interior of the train station.  All the more impressive if you remember what a total dump it was a couple of years ago.

Travel didn't go as planned, but it went well nonetheless. A very pleasant winter's day spent strolling Seattle's streets.

[Deleted]

Thanks for this, fumobici. I know this part of Seattle very well, but your shots are wonderful. I especially like the investment company and the snails in the tank. I often stand staring at the Publix Hotel when I wait for the bus to Vancouver; I wish it could be renovated to its former (modest) glory. And the King Street Station is indeed a delight, SO much better than when I started travelling back and forth. Too bad that train stations have lost their significance as social centres, with men's and ladies lounges, tea rooms, restaurants and small businesses.

[lagatta]

I've never been to Seattle. Lizzyfaire, is it very different from Vancouver? Love the railway station.

[bjd]

Thanks for this, fumobici. I realized there was no reason to be surprised that there was a big Chinatown in Seattle -- given those in Vancouver and San Francisco. I guess everywhere along the west coast has them.

I like your photos, never having been anywhere over there.

Did they renovate the train station because they expect it to be used more? Or do people automatically prefer to take their cars?

[Deleted]

It's been a few years since I've been to Seattle. It is pretty much like I remember it to be.

I'm glad you got delayed, fumo, since it gave you time to take these photos.

China Towns tend to be very similar in most cities don't they?

[bixaorellana]

This is great, Fumobici! It really points up one of the great benefits of train travel that has been lost in most of the US & Mexico. That is, when you get off the train you are right in town. In big cities, if you have a layover in an airport, it's often too much taxi time and money to bother trying to see the town.

Love your photos and the cheerfully raffish view they give us of Seattle.

Very envious of that meal!

[fumobici]

Indeed bixa, this spring when I go to Italy the moment I am across the ocean and can get off the plane on the continent in Amsterdam, the rest of the journey will be completely done by rail from city center to city center. The European high speed trains are just ridiculously cheap if you book in the short window before all the cheap fares are taken. I got a first class seat on the TGV from Paris to Milan for cheaper than it would have cost to go coach from Bellingham WA to Eugene OR on Amtrak. And the fare on the intercity from Milan to Arezzo was 9 euro!

[fumobici]

Feb 9, 2014 6:34:47 GMT bjd said:

Thanks for this, fumobici. I realized there was no reason to be surprised that there was a big Chinatown in Seattle -- given those in Vancouver and San Francisco. I guess everywhere along the west coast has them.

I like your photos, never having been anywhere over there.

Did they renovate the train station because they expect it to be used more? Or do people automatically prefer to take their cars?

I think the renovation was simply seen as a necessity.  The building itself has always been terrific, but the interior had deteriorated into a shambles and needed to be dealt with.  What they decided to do was to restore it to something like its original state, which was surely not the cheapest solution but probably the wisest.  There were old photos of the original station interior when it was new on display in the lobby during the years-long restoration, and they have very faithfully recreated that. 

[Deleted]

Absolutely fantastic local colour. Even though I have been to Seattle twice, I never saw any of these places. One time I was even visiting an Asian friend who was born in the Philippines, but he seemed to be allergic to absolutely anything Asian, so he would have never showed me any of this. However, I saw plenty of the grunge rock bars back then. They were of course fascinating but somewhat limited in terms of being a cultural overview of the area.

I do have some photos of "tourist Seattle" which I will obviously run across some day.

[fumobici]

I loved the local grunge bars, a good friend even owned one. It was a really strong music scene which in turn was of course just a by-product of the "scene" writ larger.

I walked around for a few hours in the CBD including of course the Pike St. Market* and it was nice but--and maybe this is just the blindness that accompanies familiarity--hardly saw a thing I wanted to take a photo of.

*The Market is really one of the finest for food I've seen, right up there with the Mercato Centrale in Florence or Richard Lenoir on a Sunday in Paris, it's not only a tourist trap.

[Deleted]

Yes, the Pike Street market was on my tourist trail, including the famous "fish throwers." While an occasional fish throw could have been amusing in context in the past, I found it rather sad that it clearly had become an obligatory spectacle.

[lagatta]

fumobici, I remember liking Sant'Ambrogiano Market more than il Mercato centrale. But that was over 20 years ago. That is closer to Santa Croce, where I believe most of the tourists are Italian or heavy-duty Italophiles.

Checking, as I remember it, between the Synagogue and Santa Croce Basilica...

I've never been to Seattle. Is it very different from Vancouver?

[fumobici]

Feb 10, 2014 22:50:23 GMT lagatta said:

fumobici, I remember liking Sant'Ambrogiano Market more than il Mercato centrale. But that was over 20 years ago. That is closer to Santa Croce, where I believe most of the tourists are Italian or heavy-duty Italophiles.

Checking, as I remember it, between the Synagogue and Santa Croce Basilica...

I've never been to Seattle. Is it very different from Vancouver?

I know that market, it's quite good but I find the Mercato Centrale more impressive.

Comparing Seattle and Vancouver, hmmmmm. I suppose the comparison is inevitable given their similar sizes and geographic proximity.  In a nutshell: Vancouver wins on several counts including the site, which is absolutely jaw dropping even though Seattle is also pretty well situated, Vancouver has better public transport, seems more competently or rationally planned/run and is more modern and cleaner. I find Vancouver less appealing as far as architecture and culture--not that Vancouver is lacking these, but there's a strong conservativeness.  I remember Vancouver with blue laws, it's still very stuffy and old fashioned in a lot of ways--and there's a boring corporate standardness to the feel of the place at street level that doesn't appeal to me. It's very nice but at the same time kind of boring.  Seattle is more difficult to enjoy, it's dirtier, grittier, has more crime, has more daring and random architecture, more discernible neighborhoods, is really hilly and hard to walk, doesn't have the middle class presence downtown that Vancouver does with its thousands of perfectly nice cookie cutter modern townhouses and condos.  I'm rambling now.  I guess I prefer Seattle overall even though Vancouver is unambiguously better in some important ways. Seattle just seems more authentic, more in tune with its history and less contrived and more likely to surprise. Vancouver is a very tame city.  

[Deleted]

As a denizen of both cities, I'd have to generally concur with you, fumobici, except for a couple of points.

1) Public transport is generally better, except when it isn't. We'll see what happens when Vancouver's new Compass card comes into effect (like an Oyster card in London or an Orcas pass in Seattle. It will cause much grief during the adjustment, I'm afraid).

2) I agree with the corporate gloss, disagree with the grittiness. It's there, just not where most tourists venture, I'm certainly in the midst of it in Vancouver. Seattle wins hand down on the architecture, mostly because Vancouver thought it would be a good idea to knock everything down from the 60s onwards. Also, Vancouver was a city built of wood, so much of it was destroyed by fire early on.

3) Culturally, the two cities aren't really comparable. As far as dance, theatre and interdisciplinary art, Vancouver wins hands down (believe me, I know whereof I speak). As far as bands, the bar scene, the coffee scene goes, Seattle is the winner. I can't speak to the visual art scene or classical music. Vancouver generally benefits from a much higher rate of government funding of culture. I can make a living in Vancouver. I can't in Seattle.

4) Demographically, the two cities are vastly different. Vancouver is at this point less than 50% European, and the number is dwindling every day. Seattle has the reputation as one of the whitest cities in the US.

5) They're different countries, something a casual visitor may remark upon, but it creates an abiding difference in the mindsets and function of the two cities. Discussions of that would take a whole other thread.

I like both cities for what they offer, and I'm blessed to be able to enjoy the best of both worlds.

[lagatta]

Yes, I was under the impression that Seattle also had a huge Asian presence, but I guess it isn't at the level of Vancouver's (I'm thinking of the inner metropolitan area, including the "urbanised" suburbs with dense housing). Vancouver has areas that are predominantly East and Southeast Asian, and also South Asian.

But I saw a newsclip recently with some views of central Seattle, and they were much lovelier than most of what I'd seen in Vancouver (old brownstone and brick buildings; pehaps warehouses or light manufacture) where people live now, much more congenial than the identikit Vancouver condos).

There is something splendid about very hilly cities, even if they are hard for some of us old hippies to bop about as we did way back when.

[bixaorellana]

I feel that those of us reading this are blessed to have these insights into the two cities!

Fumbobici, your reply to me about the rail system in Europe might wind up swelling the ranks of passengers on those trains by timid would-be tourists who read what you wrote.

[fumobici]

It's sometimes a bit tricky to find the good rail fares in Europe, on most of the high speed trains seats become available 90 days out from the day of travel (overnight trains seem to be 120 days!) and you might well only have a day or two window (or sometimes even less) to get the low fare. I recommend visiting Man in Seat 61 for more info. One very important thing I think he omits (being primarily aimed at a UK audience) is when ordering tickets online use the railways' sites (Thalys, SNCF, Tenitalia etc.) if you are from the US or Canada be sure not to select US or Canada as your place the tickets will be "delivered" to (you can opt for an e-ticket and print it anywhere) as doing so appears to hide the lowest fares as if you do you will be redirected to a ripoff site aimed at North Americans. Just select whatever country you are beginning the train trip instead--if you feel remorse for this minor subterfuge, you can print the tickets there (often right in the station prior to departure) to ensure scrupulous honesty!

[bixaorellana]

Remorse? I only feel gratitude for knowing this useful and very fair tip. Also, it points up the importance of doing some homework before taking off.

[lagatta]

Yes, thanks, while I've known and recommended Seat 61 for many years, I didn't know about the North American ripoff site. (No loss, my tickets had been bought for me by a client, in France or the Netherlands).

[patricklondon]

if you feel remorse for this minor subterfuge

Hardly a subterfuge, merely an intelligent and well-informed customer's rational choice in an open market.

My blog | My photos | My video clips
"too literate to be spam"

[Deleted]

By the same token, the car rental consolidator AutoEurope has sites in almost every country in Europe (www.autoeurope.be .fr .es .pt .de .it .ch .nl -- etc.) and of course .com . Anybody can rent from any of the sites due to the open market, but most people think they will get "in trouble" if they rent a car from the "wrong" site. The most important thing to know is that every single site will give you a different rate, and it is ALWAYS better to rent a car from an AutoEurope site in a country other than the one where you are picking up the car. For example, to rent a car in France, it is better to use the Belgian or Spanish site for not only better rates but also better conditions (unlimited as opposed to limited mileage, for example).

[htmb]

Fumobici, what an interesting report! How fortunate we are to benefit from your unexpected layover in Seattle. I've enjoyed your photos very much.

It doesn't seem that long ago since I was out in that area, but looking back I realized it was January of 1977 when I last visited the northwest to attend an event at the brand new, and now demolished, Kingdome. From everything I see in photos now, and what I remember from my long-ago trip, I have to say that you, Lizzy, and others who live in the northwestern part of the US and western Canada certainly live in a beautiful and interesting part of the world.

[nycgirl]

Looks like you had a pleasant jaunt. Thanks for sharing.

I am thiiis close to booking a trip to Seattle soon. I've never been before but I think I'd love it.

[nycgirl]

Husband and I have booked a plane ticket for Seattle this August! We haven't formed a solid plan yet, but I've been doing some reading on the net, which included taking another look at this lovely report. I'm so excited.

[fumobici]

August is the perfect time. There's hardly a place with nicer summer weather I've ever been than Western Washington. If you've got time for any day trips out of SEA, there's a million great places to choose from. Mountains and islands people travel half way around the world to see are all in easy daytripping distance if you've got a car for the day. Seattle itself is in my opinion easily worth at least two or three days if you've never been.

[Deleted]

When I visited, I was even taken to eat cherry pie at that Twin Peaks place.

[fumobici]

I should probably append that to see the outdoorsier stuff like Mt. Rainier or North Cascades National Parks--which are absolutely world class--or to island hop in the San Juans, which are themselves inutterably wonderful, you will need to rent or borrow a car. There is also the opportunity to train to Vancouver or down to Portland as day trips without a car. Vancouver is absolutely doable with public transport and from the Portland train station downtown there is comfortably walkable for day trips. I'll bet you'd love either Vancouver or Portland, either one being worthy of being a destination in its own right.

[nycgirl]

I think we'll do 2 or 3 days in Seattle, then rent a car and drive to the National Parks for some outdoorsy stuff. I read August is high season for orca watching, so I'm also thinking of taking a boat from San Juan and trying my luck. Husband's interested in salmon fishing from a kayak, so looking into that as well. I'm sure I'd love Vancouver and Portland as well, but we only have 10 days. Arrrrgh, so many options!