My trip to Seattle was so great that I did not want to come back to Eugene. Both Sarah and myself kept asking ourselves why we went to UO rather than University of Washington. We loved Seattle so much. Don�t get me wrong I love my school and the friends I have here, but Eugene is a very boring city to me know. Most of us stay on campus unless we are going to Autzen for tickets or shopping at some stores. So I would love to go back to Seattle for a visit to see everything I did not get to see and possibly live there one day. I must say it is now my favorite city in the US.
At 3:00pm Friday evening we walked with our luggage to the Greyhound station. It takes about 15-20 minutes to walk there with luggage. Our bus was loading as soon as we got there, but 3 friends of ours was there early so they saved seats for us. The ride up to Portland was about 2 hours, we made a stop in Corvallis and Salem before we arrived in Portland. Once there we had about 15 minutes until our bus would leave for Seattle. We found out which door we needed to stand by and stood in line for over an hour. Our bus was late because another bus broke down and they had to send it down to transport the passengers. Of course no one told us this so everyone was standing in line very annoyed and wondering why we were not boarding or leaving.
We finally get on the bus, but get no closer to Seattle. Our bus driver drives a half hour outside of Portland, we were close to Vancouver, Washington one of the guys told us, when she tells us she cannot see because the defroster will not turn on and rather than risk our lives driving to Seattle she is going to drive back to the station. Remember we are on the freeway and are outside of Portland. Why it was safe to drive back when she couldn�t see is beyond me. I was slightly happy because I had to sit next to some guy who was making me feel very uncomfortable. He sat with his leg against mine and kept bouncing his leg. I think he wanted to talk my ear off, but I put my ipod on and since they are noise reducing I wasn�t able to hear him. So 30 minutes later we arrive back in Portland and get off the bus. We did not hear anyone tell us what line to stand it so we just follow the others. I think we waited another 30 minutes, we also found out that the two girls who caught the later bus arrived in Portland just as we returned. We were supposed to be there 2 hour before they got there.
They loaded up and moved people who were not going to Seattle to the other Seattle bus so we would get there first. When we got about 2 hours into the ride our bus driver had to make a cigarette break. A bunch of us were annoyed that she could not hold off until we got to Seattle since she already pissed everyone off. The stop was about 20 minutes long and then we finally got back on the road and got into Seattle a little after 1:00 a.m. We waited about 5 minutes for the other two girls to arrive and then asked the man at the station the easiest way to get to our hotel. Well that was another problem to add to our trip. He told us that it was too far to walk and in a very unsafe area and we should get a taxi. We were told by the station security that if we took Steward to the Westin we would run into taxis. We found the hotel and asked the guys out front if we could walk there. One said it was very far the other told us that our hotel was not too far and walking there would be fine. He gave us a map and showed us how to get there. We walked and it took us 15 minutes to get to the hotel and it area was fine. I guess Seattle has some real crazy people that come out at night, but we never saw them.
So we check into our hotel and the prices for the room was higher than what they quoted Sarah online. We were all too tired, hungry and pissed off to say anything so she signed the paperwork and they gave us the keys. We split up into the two rooms and found out that the extra bed Sarah asked for was not in the room. So she went down to the desk and asked them why it was not there. They told her it was an extra $10 and because she was so tired she just told them to put it in the room.
So our first night there was very rocky, but luckily things were better Saturday. I will be writing Greyhound a very nasty letter telling them how we will never travel with them and tell all our friends to never travel with them either.
Saturday as I said before was much better, that is were Sarah and I feel in love with the place. We woke up kind of late, but still made it to the breakfast at the hotel. The only thing I could east was OJ and waffles. I am a little tired of places not serving at least soymilk. Once we had breakfast we meet Jo, Alicia and Sam at the Space Needle, it was going to be our first thing, but while we were there we decided to see if we could get a table for dinner at the revolving restaurant on top. Seven of us wanted to eat there so Sarah set up the reservation and because the meal prices include the ride up we figured we did not have to pay the $16 to take the elevator up. I cannot remember how much it cost to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, but I am sure it is less than $16.
Sarah needed to get batteries; I went with her since the two of us wanted to see the same things. I found a Wells Fargo so I got some money out since I knew several places would be cash only and it is easier to know what you spent than using my card. We headed to the city center; there is a monorail at the EMP (Experimental Music Project) that goes to the middle of Seattle. It�s a cheap ticket for round trip so we bought round trip tickets to meet up with everyone else. Since a few of the girls did not eat breakfast they grabbed food there, but since Sarah and I wanted to get a spot on the underground tour. I will explain what it is later. So we hauled ass to get there, but one our way we ran into Pike Place Market, the famous market because of Starbucks and throwing fish. We looked around, but we really wanted to get to the tour so we kept going.
We found it quickly once we arrived in Pioneer Square and found out that they do about 5 tours and the afternoon ones had plenty of spots open. So we booked the 2pm tour for the two of us and told everyone else to come get tickets if they wanted to go. So Sarah, Joon and I went to get coffee at Starbucks and explored more of Seattle. We saw the historic triangle pub, the sports arena and a lot of downtown Seattle. We made it back to the underground 20 minutes before the tour. We sat down in the parlor that looks like an old Victorian bar where we were told the story of how Seattle started off. The short versions is that Seattle was founded and build by a doctor and the city was built at sea level, which was a bad idea because the sewage would be flooding the streets when Puget Sound rose at high tide. Then there was a fire that burned down most of the town and then built over the old town.
So the tour shows you what is left of the original town, it is pretty cool. It is worth the fee to see how the cities use to be. The only thing that was not good was that our tour guide, as good as she was, she talked way too fast for the girls whose first language was not English. I later how to explain to them what she was saying so they could understand it.
So after the tour we went to the gift show and I bought the two books the tour guide told us about. We got a discount because we were on the tour. I assume that both these books together would cost me about $35, but instead they cost me $19. They were large paperback books too. So that was worth it, I figured since I like the history of Seattle that I heard that I might as well read more on it.
Then Sarah a few of the other girls and myself went to the Chinese teashop. They have you sit down and they give you samples of the tea. They gave us like 10 teas to try, they were good, but I did not buy any because it was a little too expensive and I have lots of tea already. Then we walked along the waterfront so we could see what it was like. We hanged around the room until we needed to get ready for dinner at the Space Needle.
We arrived at dinner and they sat us right away. They sat us at a long table with a round light in the middle of the table. The ambiance was very somber and kind of romantic. The plates were very pricey, but not too bad. Mine was $34 and it was a puff pastry with winter vegetables and a cherry sauce. It was very good, I had a Guinness as well, but the foam disappeared way too soon. It still tasted good, but the Guinness in Ireland was better. Then for dessert I had New York cheesecake, which was the best I have had. After we were done we went up to the observation deck to see the city at night. Seattle is amazing at night. After dinner we did some shopping at the gift shop and then went back to the hotel.
On Sunday we got up early so we could fit in the few things before we headed back to Eugene. Sarah and I were going to go up on the Space Needle, but $16 is not worth it when we already went up it last night. So instead we went to the Experiment Music Project, which is kind of like a music museum, but a little more hands on. We even did our own rock band. After that Sarah and I went back to Pike Place Market to spend time there. We saw them throwing the fish and the first Starbucks. We did get fruit; I got an apple and a pomegranate. Once we got what we wanted we headed back to the hotel to get our bags and walk to the Greyhound station.
The ride back was better even though Sarah and I did not want to go back to Eugene. So now we are back home and wish we were not here.
9:36 p.m. - 2007-11-12
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