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We get to seattle with only minimal traffic jams and the first job is to get rid of the hire car. After 50 days it was time to hand our trusted mobile back to hertz for the next intrepid adventurer! We drop our bags at our hotel and then head downtown for the drop off. After giving the car back we take some time to find our bearings in the downtown area. We then go for a well deserved drink, and a sports bar with a happy hour is the perfect place for a chilled glass of wine and a cold beer before negotiating the seattle monorail back to the hotel.
Day 2 and we take the recommendation of every person from seattle that we have met on our travels. Pike Place Market, a huge bustling market over 3 levels selling everything from crabs to fresh flowers. There were thousands of stalls selling fruit, fish, flowers, gifts, jams, spices and so much more. It was great fun to wander round hearing all the vendors shouting about their produce! As if it couldnt get better their is one more thing...free samples!! Most of the vendors who were selling food had tasting samples for you to try before you buy and whilst we didnt buy much we definitely tried! Our purchases for the day were 2 peaches, 2 nectarines, some frozen yogurt and chicken and corn chowder for lunch yum yum! With full bellies we then walked down to the harbour front for a walk around. There was not a huge amount to do there, a few tourist tat shops and the island cruises all set sail from the piers giving us a few ideas for another day! We then walked back to the downtown area with the intention of getting the monorail back to our hotel. On our way to the station a delicious smell hits our noses and we set off in search of the source of the smell. Much to our surprise it is an indian restauant and we cant resist the temptation so we have delicious butter chicken for dinner then catch the monorail back to the hotel!!
Day3 today we decide to take in the seattle space needle which is right beside our hotel. The space needle is the famous seattle tower which is as you would expect is a large and impressive structure with you pay $16 to go to the top of to take in the seattle views. We paid our money and joined the queue for the glass elevator to the top! As you would expect the view did not disappoint. Whilst downtown seattle doesnt have much in the way of exciting landmarks, there is no doubt that the mountain views in particular mount rainer add that special touch and make for a memorable trip to the top of the space needle. After spending an hour or so taking photos and learning a bit about seattle from the tour guides we make our descent into the gift shop to have a good laugh at the absolute garbage people will waste their money on! After the needle we had worked up a bit of a thirst so we found another sports bar with a nice outside terraced area and a happy hour, just for a change!!
Day 4 and its a trip on the seattle water taxi over the bay to a place called Alki Beach. Alki is part of seattle mainland however due to the geography it is much faster to reach the beach by boat than by car. After a nice pastry for breakfast at a french bakery on pike place we caught the boat for the 15 minute trip across the bay. There was about a 30 minute walk from alki harbour round the bay to the beach area which had the restaurants and shops. The walk was really nice as it was very quiet compared to the busy city centre. We could walk without getting in anyones way, everyone we passed said hello and all the houses and condos on the front were lovely. The best bit had to be the view from alki over to downtown seattle. You will see from our photos when we arrived the weather was pretty gray and cold and the city view looks pretty dull, then as we walked the sun came out and the view was transformed to a beautiful, bright and sunny postcard picture. When we finally made it to the beach area we had worked up a bit of an appetite so we couldnt resist fish and chips sitting on the beach enjoying the sunshine and the view. After chilling out watching the world go by there didnt seem to be much else happening in alki so we walked back around the bay to catch the water taxi. Once back on dry land we slowly made our way back through the town to the monorail to go back to the hotel and pack our things for the border crossing to Canada and the second country on our world tour!
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