Not sleepless in Seattle.

For the Memorial Day long weekend, Sue and I boarded the train to Seattle.  It's about a four hour trip but very relaxing.  Sue had an exhausting week at work so it turned out to be a good decision to take the train instead of driving and it's such a change of culture from the slick, impersonal procedure at the airports. The Portland station is called Union Station and looks like something out of a thirties movie set.  Where was Al Capone?  The staff were relaxed and friendly and things just seem to roll along.  I have to say that I have found most people here very friendly and helpful and extremely polite - even the teenagers.  I'm told that people in Oregon pride themselves on it.

To get on and off the train you walk across the tracks and find your car and seat and settle back for the ride.  I was quite taken with the conductor's uniform - just like you see in the movies.  I suspect there's a lot of tradition with Amtrak.  They advertise themselves as the clean green way to travel and seem to be attempting a revival.  We just loved our trips up and back.

If someone was to say to me what is my overwhelming impression of Seattle, I would have to say HILLY!  People in Seattle must have very good knees and be as fit as a fiddle.  It's very much like the scenes you see of San Francisco.  Our hotel was not far from anywhere but was at the top of one of the hills.  And that's why I didn't have any trouble sleeping - very cardio-vascular getting back to the hotel.

It's a reasonably new city because the original city was almost exclusively built out of wood.  Seattle was first established as a logging city and even the water pipes were built out of wood.
But then came the great  fire of about 1882 when the whole town burned down.  A glue pot spilled over and started a fire which then spread to other buildings containing ammunition and other combustibles and there was nothing they could do to stop the fire.  The people of Seattle had to stand by and watch it burn to the ground.  The photos of the aftermath are incredible.  They show men walking down the streets with nothing but a few half burnt poles around them.  So everything in Seattle is post that time.

As noted (huff puff), Seattle is built on steep hills and, in earlier days, also mud flats.  So the devastation after the fire was an opportunity to rebuild the town without some of those problems.  The leaders knew they had to make the hills less steep (hard to believe that happened) and to fill in some of the mud flats and the way they planned to do this was to push some of the land from the top of the cliffs down the side and to make the hills less steep and the area at the bottom more suitable for building.  Because of the politics of the day and the lack of agreement as to how that would happen, this is how it proceeded.  Business owners built brick or stone buildings on their original properties but the council built new roads up to 32 feet above the footpaths.  The roads were built with big retaining walls but were way above the shops and businesses.  Kind of makes building a few tunnels seem very sensible!  So ladders were used to access the businesses of Seattle at that time.  Very inconvenient for all concerned but think of the women in their crinolines, big hats and long skirts.  No dashing out for a litre of milk.  Eventually, the engineering was completed (Campbell Newman is wasted in Brisbane.  He could have had much more fun in Seattle) and the town was completed to every one's satisfaction.  But that left a whole underground system in Seattle just ripe for a few shenanigans.  Some of it is still there and is being preserved as part of Seattle's history.  If you look closely you will see some shop fronts, sky lights and, of course, an old bath tub from those days.

A visit to Seattle would not be complete without time in Pike Place Markets.  Sue and I are both markets freaks so it was lots of fun.  Lots of flowers, lots of local produce and lots of beautiful things made by local crafts people.  The salmon and the scallops were huge.

Because it was raining most of the time we were there (it's no secret why the north west is so green and everyone has lovely complexions), we also visited the Seattle Aquarium.  We had hoped to visit the Folklife Festival but not in the rain.  The aquarium was fascinating but I feel in love with the otters and the seals.  So cute and full of personality.  However, I wouldn't like to be their housekeeper!
When we emerged from the aquarium, it was sunny and a glorious day.  Wouldn't you know it!  But it was time to head back to the train and Portland after a lovely weekend.

Lotsaluv for now

Carmel