A Few More Thoughts About Seattle

May 19, 2008 - A few more thoughts about Seattle:

- The Experience Music Project: not my favourite Frank Gehry building, but I wouldn't say it's the worst building ever. I think the design of the building serves its function well (a rock-and-roll music museum). I do like the multi-colour blobs too.

- The Space Needle: we visited the Space Needle at least five times but we didn't decide to go up to the observation deck till our third day in town. The view from the top is spectacular (you can see the snow-capped Mount Rainier), so I'm glad we decided to go up! I also want to say that the gift shop bathroom isexceptionally clean (we used it multiple times).

- Seattle Center: the site of the 1964 World Fair feels sad and in major need of some revitalization. Aside from the Space Needle and the EMP, the whole site feels out of date and deserted. It could be the time of day/year that we were visiting but we were not impressed. Even the monorail feels old and in major need of an overhaul (the train may have been futuristic in the 60s, but now just feels ancient). At least there's now a public process in place to improve Seattle Center.

- International Fountain: kinda cool, but again, so much more could be done to improve this public space to make it more people friendly. I wish they would hire me to help them plan for this site. Anyway, while sitting around the fountain, someone's (will not mention any names, but you can guess who it is) nose mucus (aka booger) landed on my hand "accidentally". It was like the largest piece of booger I have ever seen in my life (it's like the size of a raisin). Anyway, now I will forever link the fountain to this incident. Thanks :)

- Pike Place Market: I really like public markets because I think they have more personality/character than your Loblaws or Dominions. The seafood stalls with the giant crabs were really cool. We also saw the first Starbucks, before it conquered the world.

- Seattle Central Library: a weird looking building that works and doesn't work in several aspects. I like the ramp design where you can go up several levels without going up stairs or elevators (and the fact that all the bookshelves continuous). I'm not sure if the building fits that well as a public space - libraries should serve more a community function but instead this library feels insular, isolated and strangely out of place.

- Boeing Factory Tour: it was super cool to see how planes are assembled though I wish we could get closer. I still can't get over the fact that when you sit on a plane, only about 30 cm separates you from the 40,000 feet below.

- United and US Airways: I was super duper impressed that both airlines did the job that they were supposed to do by 1) getting us to our destinations on time; and 2) not losing our luggage (I sorta expected them to and packed accordingly). Our flights on US Airways were just terrible. Our flight to Charlotte was scary with lots of sudden drops. I was ready to land half way through our flight. I was glad B was there or else I might have really panicked. Also, for a five hour flight, you would think they would at least serve water a few times, but nope, we got drinks once. No movie, no water, no blanket, no nothing. What did the flight attendants do the whole time we were on the plane?

That's it from our little Seattle adventure. Overall it was fun and not overly exhausting like New York was last year. We did everything we wanted to do, plus more (mainly cause there wasn't that much to do to begin with). I think we've done enough US cities for awhile, so for our next trip, let's aim for somewhere out of this continent!