In a city where multi-colored hair, all-black clothing and Doc Martens are more common than jeans and sneakers, I felt oddly comfortable. Although I have not strongly embraced the grunge movement since high school, I was much more at ease strolling among the expressive souls of Seattle than I have been in the past trying to maneuver the suit-clad crowds of New York.
Seattle is a place that just beckons visitors to relax, and in between attending the conference I was primarily there for, relax I did, just not in the traditional sense. To me, relaxing in a city I’m visiting means meticulously plotting out can’t-miss destinations on a map, and then walking to as many of them as possible. I was lucky enough to have a combined 12 hours of free time on this trip to do just that.
Starting off at the much-hyped Pike Place Market, I meandered through endless stalls of fresh produce, seafood, meat, dairy, flowers and unique, locally-produced goodies like garlic jelly, pumpkin butter and chocolate-flavored pasta. Not having a fridge in my hotel room, I was all about the samples, of which there were plenty, every one delightful and surprisingly different. My stomach beginning to growl, I shelled out a single dollar for a substantial hunk of cheese from one of the stalls, which I nibbled on as I picked out some colorful magnets depicting scenes from the market. In addition to the overwhelming array of food, the market also boasts an excellent collection of local art and souvenirs.
Deciding to bypass the fresh doughnut stand, with a line of 15 or so people, I headed over to The Crumpet Shop just outside of the main market area for a nice, warm English crumpet slathered with butter and blackberry jam. Fully fortified, I headed for the next stop on my map – the Space Needle – which was surprisingly close to the market on foot. I opted to just walk around the Needle instead of paying for the ride to the top. After nabbing a few good close-ups, I continued on to Kerry Park up in the hills of the Queen Anne district, which I’d heard had amazing views of the city.
The walk from the Needle to Kerry Park was also quite manageable, and an amazing workout since much of it was up steep hills. The view was worth the climb, as were the views of the homes in the Queen Anne district, which are all gorgeous and very Asian in their design. Pretty much the entire city of Seattle and its surrounding areas are dotted with accents of Asia – from the architecture and landscaping to the cuisine and culture. Being a true Sinophile, this place is right up my alley.
The walk from the Needle to Kerry Park was also quite manageable, and an amazing workout since much of it was up steep hills. The view was worth the climb, as were the views of the homes in the Queen Anne district, which are all gorgeous and very Asian in their design. Pretty much the entire city of Seattle and its surrounding areas are dotted with accents of Asia – from the architecture and landscaping to the cuisine and culture. Being a true Sinophile, this place is right up my alley.
Feeling hungry again from all of the physical excursion and fresh, pleasantly temperate air, I couldn’t resist a second journey through Pike Place Market on the way back to my hotel. This time, I was all about the bubble tea and hambao, Chinese buns filled with various meats. I settled into one of the market’s public seating areas with a view of the water and mountains and sampled my newly-purchased treasures. Sadly, the bubble tea was a disappointment, and possibly the worst I’ve ever had. If you’ve tried bubble tea, you know its sugar content is so high that it makes your teeth hurt when you drink it, which is, of course, what makes it irresistible. This batch, however, was very weak and lacked that special dental-nightmare feeling. Unfortunately neither my pork bun nor chicken bun made up for the less-than-stellar tea. Both buns were quite bland and included only a hint of the rich, salty-sweet flavor typically associated with these divine Asian bites. Oh well, as they say in China, “mei wenti,” meaning no worries, I still had a fantastic day in this Asian oasis of a city.
Despite my penchant for solo sightseeing, I prefer to have company when dining in sit-down restaurants. Luckily, I found two willing co-workers to accompany me to a Seattle gem, Wild Ginger. Not being able to afford any of the Seattle institutions owned by celebrity chef, Tom Douglas, I was ecstatic to come across a fusion restaurant offering tantalizing Asian dishes in the $10-15 range. For $30 each, including cocktails and appetizers, my co-workers and I had an absolute feast of crowd-pleasers like duck served on steamed buns with plum sauce, crispy, curried catfish and spicy tofu satay. My lychee martini wasn’t bad either. Actually, it was amazing. Overall, I just could not believe how classy and delicious this joint was for the price. Did I mention they had a complimentary coat check and handed out hot towels at the end of the meal? LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On another working day, I had the opportunity to make a quick culinary trek in the morning before the conference got underway, and it was sooooo worth it. With three locations in Seattle, it wasn’t hard to find a Top Pot doughnut shop within walking distance of my downtown hotel. On a dreary, rainy morning, this little shop – resembling a hip, modern library – was a choice spot to sit and watch Seattle slowly come to life for the day (in a much less harried fashion than other cities).
Top Pot’s doughnuts definitely lived up to their reviews. Choosing to keep things pure and go for the plain, old-fashioned donut, I was blown away by its perfection – crispy on the edges, soft and moist in the middle, sweet but not too sugary. It was bliss. Although Top Pot is recognized more for its doughnut – its coffee overshadowed by the many coffeehouses in Seattle – what else do you drink with donuts? Rich, sweet, milky and topped with pretty, frothy swirls, my latte was everything I expected from a city that takes obsessive pride in its caffeinated concoctions.
On another working day, I had the opportunity to make a quick culinary trek in the morning before the conference got underway, and it was sooooo worth it. With three locations in Seattle, it wasn’t hard to find a Top Pot doughnut shop within walking distance of my downtown hotel. On a dreary, rainy morning, this little shop – resembling a hip, modern library – was a choice spot to sit and watch Seattle slowly come to life for the day (in a much less harried fashion than other cities).
Top Pot’s doughnuts definitely lived up to their reviews. Choosing to keep things pure and go for the plain, old-fashioned donut, I was blown away by its perfection – crispy on the edges, soft and moist in the middle, sweet but not too sugary. It was bliss. Although Top Pot is recognized more for its doughnut – its coffee overshadowed by the many coffeehouses in Seattle – what else do you drink with donuts? Rich, sweet, milky and topped with pretty, frothy swirls, my latte was everything I expected from a city that takes obsessive pride in its caffeinated concoctions.
On my last full day in Seattle, I set off for – where else? – Chinatown. But on my way, I made a not-so-quick pit stop at the famed Salumi, a bare-bones shop owned by Mario Batali’s father, which sells a magical array of cured pork products. Luckily, the rain had cleared and it was a beautiful, fairly warm day, as I spent a good thirty minutes in line outside for a piggy sandwich. Most places of this nature are marked by aggressive, impersonal staff who yell at indecisive customers in an attempt to get people in and out as quickly as possible. Not so at Salumi. When I finally reached the counter, I was shocked to find extremely friendly women offering samples of their savory delights to customers who were not quite sure which variation of salami would make the biggest impact on their lives.
Had I been on lunch break, this friendly banter and nonchalant pace of service would have made me scream, but being a tourist with nowhere to be and no idea which salami would be most transformative, I really dug these ladies. Settling on the spicy sopressata with provolone on thick, moist olive oil bread, I entered a state of euphoria when one of these nice ladies – i.e., angels from heaven - started slathering my sandwich with what appeared to be garlic and parsley in oil.
Wanting to take full advantage of the nice weather, and not really seeing a logical place to sit in the small seating area past the counter, my sandwich, diet coke and I continued on our merry way to Chinatown. It was my lucky day because I found a slightly-ramshackle, but quaint little park right away in which to park my buns and eat my pork. As expected, the sopressata, cheese and oils made sweet, sweet music together in my mouth. The bread, though tasty on its own, unfortunately played a little too loudly and began to drown out the symphony of meat and cheese. It was also so heavy (think door stop) that I had to throw in the towel after eating half of the sandwich and save the rest for later (which turned out to be not such a bad thing). Salumi did offer the choice of another kind of bread, the mini baguette, but once the sandwich maker described it as “light,” I tuned out. Next time, I will go with the baguette so that I can better enjoy all of the nuances of the meat and perhaps not feel like I gained ten pounds in five minutes.
Had I been on lunch break, this friendly banter and nonchalant pace of service would have made me scream, but being a tourist with nowhere to be and no idea which salami would be most transformative, I really dug these ladies. Settling on the spicy sopressata with provolone on thick, moist olive oil bread, I entered a state of euphoria when one of these nice ladies – i.e., angels from heaven - started slathering my sandwich with what appeared to be garlic and parsley in oil.
Wanting to take full advantage of the nice weather, and not really seeing a logical place to sit in the small seating area past the counter, my sandwich, diet coke and I continued on our merry way to Chinatown. It was my lucky day because I found a slightly-ramshackle, but quaint little park right away in which to park my buns and eat my pork. As expected, the sopressata, cheese and oils made sweet, sweet music together in my mouth. The bread, though tasty on its own, unfortunately played a little too loudly and began to drown out the symphony of meat and cheese. It was also so heavy (think door stop) that I had to throw in the towel after eating half of the sandwich and save the rest for later (which turned out to be not such a bad thing). Salumi did offer the choice of another kind of bread, the mini baguette, but once the sandwich maker described it as “light,” I tuned out. Next time, I will go with the baguette so that I can better enjoy all of the nuances of the meat and perhaps not feel like I gained ten pounds in five minutes.
Alas, Chinatown turned out to be pretty disappointing. It is far more low-key than the ones I’ve visited in Boston, New York and San Francisco. If it weren’t for the Chinatown signs and dragons strategically wrapped around the lamp posts, it would be hard for one to even tell they were in Chinatown. I did visit the much-acclaimed Uwajimaya Asian grocery store while there, which was a fun way to kill an hour or so. I only wish I’d been hungry so I could have sampled some of the goods from the food court. Instead, I grabbed a couple of the more interesting Japanese desserts I could find – both hot pink – and set out for my next, and furthest, attraction.
I wouldn’t recommend walking to the Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park from the center of town. I began to feel a little desperate as I crossed street after street and climbed hill after hill with no park in sight. Finally, though, the large, green space appeared like an oasis in the desert and I made my way to the museum. Only go to this museum if you are a Sinophile. It is very small and was practically deserted (though it was in the middle of the afternoon on a Wednesday). But for $5 ($3 for me because I found a coupon in a tourist pamphlet), it’s a sweet deal for someone who could stare at snuff bottles and Buddha sculptures all day. The special exhibit was also awesome, consisting of a video depicting ink being washed down a sink, set to soothing Chinese music. Exhausted from my marathon touring, I returned many, many times to the dark room where this video was playing. I also pondered what would happen if I stretched out on the floor in there for a mid-afternoon nap.
Snapping back to reality, I returned outside and climbed the watchtower in Volunteer Park to prep myself for the long haul downtown. From the high tower, I was able to capture some impressive images of the city, strategically focusing my lens through the grates on the windows. Completely empty at this time of day, the watchtower was also a lovely place to give the other half of my sandwich a go without fear of passerby gawking at the ring of oil around my mouth or meat lodged between my teeth.
Not wanting this relaxing voyage to end, I hit the Olympic sculpture park on my way back to the hotel to rest my weary feet, legs, back…well everything. While the sculptures were sort’ve interesting, it was the awe-inspiring views of the water and mountains that won me over. Continually stopping to look back and capture “just one last shot” of the scene, I reluctantly sauntered back to my room, bringing this rejuvenating respite to a close.
No! Wait! I couldn’t let it end yet. The next morning before heading to the airport, I made one last journey to sample a coffee shop that took top rating in most of the guide books and pamphlets I had hoarded in my room. Sorry, Seattle food critics, I do not agree with you. My small-sized Caffe Ladro latte required three Splenda to make it palatable, which is unacceptable. In my book, Top Pot lives up to its name. Strangely, though, for the rest of the day, I did experience a level of energy I hadn’t felt in years. Whether it was the coffee or just the general charge I got from being in this lively, yet calming city, I can’t be sure. But I hope to return one day soon to find out.
