A few weeks ago i got to play hostess to my lovely friend Leyla when she spent the better part of a week visiting Seattle! Although Seattle winter's are typically chilly and rainy, we lucked out and had absolutely amazing weather while she was in town. Even though it was still in the upper 30s, it was sunny almost everyday, except the last day when there was more fog than i had ever seen in my entire life.
The first day she was here, after meeting Jon on his lunch break at this nice little pizza place, we headed down to pike place market which I'd recommend visiting on a weekday because there are not as many people around so you can browse much more easily and talk to the vendors. There are also many layers to the market, so make sure you go downstairs:
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| Leyla in front the "Public Market" sign |
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| Vibrant fruit and veggies, but remember: "pleeza no squeeza" |
We also visited the original starbucks! A must do if you are down by the market. If you happen to catch it at a time where the line is not out the door, run as fast as you can because its rare that you wont have to wait at least 15 minutes:
On day two, we made our way down to the International District to check out the japanese bookstore and market that I previously visited with my friend Michelle back in November. while we were down that way, we visited hing hay park.
and of course, we had to have pictures by the china town gate:
we rushed to take the light rail to make it to the seattle underground tour to learn about the history of Seattle and (fun fact alert) the current streets are actually two stories high.
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| View from under the sidewalk |
We headed down to the Seattle waterfront for lunch with a fabulous view of Elliot Bay and the seattle great wheel (a recent addition to the waterfront) which we took a ride on after lunch:
and of course, I had to take her to the iconic gum wall.
We finished the evening with a walk down by the amazon campus and to lake union.
(side note: we had a little trouble with our cameras and didnt get a picture of the two of us :( but its still a great memory).
On the last day of her visit, we headed up to capitol hill which is know for its night life and eccentric shops and people. We, however, went during the day and hit up dick's drive-in, a Seattle staple. The fog was insane that morning. I wish i had a picture of it (but silly me) didn't take one. After a quick stop in at the art supply store to warm up, we headed down to seattle center to check out the emp museum which is amazing for not only music lovers but also sci-fi lovers as well. They currently have an amazing Jimi Gendrix exhibit. We spent hours there.
Of course, we had to have a picture with the space needle!
To end the visit, we had dinner with Jon, David, Rebecca and Pavneet.
:)
But did i mention the food? I really should have.
And since its Thursday, here is a picture of Leyla & I from 2010:
Hooray for long standing friendships!
xo
