NWP 2. PUBIC

11 & 12 August 2024 – Seattle

It’s a leisurely couple of days pootling about Seattle as I gently adjust to BST minus 8hrs. Meander into downtown passing the unwashed camping out on the pavements. An increasing problem in every city centre you go to these days.

Uncle Tom Cobleigh and all are milling around Pike Place Market, the main tourist area in downtown. A collection of arts, crafts, restaurants and fresh food attract the many to the extent that it’s overcrowded and difficult to walk freely.

One of the main attractions is the fresh fish stall. You’d think a rock star was in town judging by the number of tourists with mobile phone cameras out videoing proceedings.

And what do they video?

Flying fish.

Fishmongers throw fish from the ice display to the counter a good few feet away so it can be weighed, wrapped and sold to the customer. Quicker than walking to the counter with fish in hand. And, of course, more entertaining. See video below. Having seen this before, experience has taught me to stand clear so as not to be splattered in fish juice. Lessons have been learnt dear reader.

Along the market area is the very first Starbucks coffee shop. And if you like queuing for a coffee this is the place to be. All along the front are shops selling food. Each with long lines of queues snaking along the pavement and queuing barriers. Astonishing to see so many queue. Not one for queuing I venture into another market for fish tacos but even that entails a five minute wait. And as we all know, there is no clean way to eat a fish taco. Sauce and juice dribbles everywhere. Classy.

Of course, the main tourist attraction in Seattle is the Space Needle. On a sunny weekend afternoon it is rammed with more long queues waiting to go up. So it’s late Monday morning when I stroll up and take the scenic lift to the top. Built for the 1962 World Fair it is recognisable the world over. Especially if you are a fan of TV show Frasier.

Lunch at the top with magnificent views is the plan. But there’s very limited choice. Chicken pie. Or beef pie. Beef pie it is. Piping hot it is not. It’s the sort of temperature between E-coli and botulism. With a dose of campylobacter. Nevertheless, it’s that or nowt. Hobson’s choice.

Descending to earth from the Galaxy Gold/Re-entry Red/Orbital Olive saucer at the top (yes, they are the genuine colour names…the things you continue to learn on this blog) I head off in search of Tom Hanks’ floating houseboat in the film Sleepless in Seattle. What should be a short walk to Union Lake turns into a trek.

The first thing I pass is a car park. The letter ‘L’ has been knocked over. It now reads PUBIC PARKING. Makes me smile and reminds me of an old 1960s-ish comedy film where the punchline showed a monument with the words along the lines of ‘By Pubic Erection’. Might have been a Bernard Cribbins/Charles Hawtrey type comedy? I did do an internet search for ‘pubic erection’ to find the name of the film but wished I hadn’t now.

The main road north out of Seattle has to be crossed. Naturally assume there will be a pedestrian crossing. Erm no. There’s a physical barrier preventing people playing Frogger (a 1980s computer game…). There must be a crossing further up think I. A mile later uphill I give up. There’s clearly no way of crossing. Outside the Catholic Hostel is a Lime Bike (electric scooter you can hire on a phone app…something I used regularly on many trips to Berlin until I nearly killed myself last summer coming within two feet of a car bonnet). The Catholics won’t mind if I use it. After some more riding uphill eventually an underpass to the other side. But having walked uphill for about a mile I am now some height above sea level. A steep staircase leads me down to the lake. Scooters are not made for concrete stairs and it takes some doing to stop it clattering on each step. Of which there are many.

Tom Hanks’s houseboat is apparently at 2460 Westlake Avenue. A collection of nice houseboats tightly packed behind a security gate. To keep the likes of me out. But after all that, somewhat disappointing that you can’t see the actual place as it’s at the end of the row, out of sight.

The afternoon ends with picking a car up from Hertz. We’re off on a magical mystery tour tomorrow. So mysterious that I don’t even know where we’re going yet!