Day 20

Let's go shopping!

We slept, not unexpectedly, late - we never did get to sample the breakfasts the hotel offered! We booked in for the 11:30 shuttle, which took us back to Pike Place Market, where we enjoyed a couple of hours of browsing. An absolutely fascinating place! The flowers were what got to me the most - fabulous, huge bunches for just a few dollars! And then there were the berries! And the fish! What an abundance of wonderful fresh food! Then there were other, non food, stalls and shops (like the Chocolate Factory!) - quite a wonderland! And the whole place exuded a great atmosphere, with the buskers and the hustle and bustle - not to mention the slinging of fish! We bought doughnuts, Paul bought a Beatles print - I bought a nude print - and the hub bought a new belt, together with an eagle buckle!

We had a drink in the Seattle's Best Coffee place (hub, coffee - me and Paul sodas, which were extraordinary, as they were topped with whipped cream!)

Then we sauntered up to the downtown area - and the big shops! I bought a lovely leather handbag in Macy's - how could I resist? And then the hub bought a pair of Levis in the Levis store - how could he resist? We looked around Barnes and Noble (what a HUGE store!) and then we strolled to the Westlake Center, intending to take the monorail to the Seattle Center. Alas, the monorail was 'out of order'. But we enjoyed looking around the shops and we had some Italian rolls from the MASSIVE food court, at the top of the center, and ate them, outside, on a balcony overlooking the busy streets below.

We were tired, so we walked back to Pike Place and summoned the shuttle to take us back to the Silver Cloud. Later, early evening, we re-summoned the shuttle to take us to the Seattle Center.

Paul had been very nervous about going up to the top of the Space Needle - so had I! I was much less nervous now (hardly nervous at all), but Paul still had some reservations. However, we bought our tickets and, after having our 'souvenir' photo taken at the bottom, we took the lift to the top. It wasn't so bad at all - in fact, quite a gentle ride up - and it didn't seem too high at all! I did a couple complete circles of the needle, around the outside, although I felt more comfortable on the inside! We bought a drink, snacks and "We Made It To The Top" T-shirts, took lots of photos (pity there was no sign of Mt Rainier - and the skies were overcast, so no beautiful sunset) and then descended the lift and popped down to the McDonalds by the Duck Nest, for some supper (where there was Sounders stuff on the wall!) We tried to phone for the shuttle from the 711, but failed miserably and had to walk back to the Seattle Center to find a phone there.

Soon we were back in our room, where we had to spend a couple of hours packing our suitcases, ready for tomorrow's flight home. While waiting for the hotel shuttle at the Seattle Center, I'd felt a big twinge of sadness, much the same as that I'd felt at San Francisco, the evening before leaving. I didn't want to go home. I loved it here.

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[ Introduction ] [ Day 1 ] [ Day 2 ] [ Day 3 ] [ Day 4 ] [ Day 5 ] [ Day 6 ] [ Day 7 ] [ Day 8 ] [ Day 9 ]
[ Day 10 ] [ Day 11 ] [ Day 12 ] [ Day 13 ] [ Day 14 ] [ Day 15 ] [ Day 16 ] [ Day 17 ]
[ Day 18 ] [ Day 19 ] [ Day 20 ] [ Day 21 ]

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