Seattle in 28 hours

Living so close to Seattle, just over the border in Vancouver I always planned on a visit but never seemed to get around to it. I had a weekend off work so booked a bus and a hostel for a night and headed off early one Saturday morning. I had worked all day the day before and then had another job that night so ended up sleeping most of the bus trip. It was only about three hours or so.

I woke up to see the city in  the distance and the space needle towering above it all. The weather was pretty nice when I got there so I opted to walk from the bus station to my hostel and have a look around the area on the way. By the time I got there it was a good time for check in so I checked in, put my stuff in my locker and headed out to explore.

Pike Place Markets

To say this market is a little busy is an understatement. It was so packed when I was there which is expected at such a well known market but does leave little time for browsing while in a fast moving crown. A Lot of people seemed to be passing through. I did double back on a few things that I wanted to stop and look at.

I went to go find the fish while I was there as I've heard about the fish throwing. Yes they actually throw fish, not live ones the ones you buy on ice for dinner. It was pretty good and they did get some kids involved who looked delighted to be getting to throw or catch fish.

The also had so many flower stalls it was amazing I had never even heard of a few of them there were loads of tulips too. It's definitely a place for fresh food, fish and flowers.

Post Alley Gum wall

Ever since I saw this on a tv show years ago I’ve wanted to see it for myself. It was a whole 3 minute walk from my hostel so not too hard to get too. Situated right by pike place markets is Post Alley and the famous gum wall. It’s basically an alley where people visit and stick their gum on the walls for anyone who has never heard of it.

I was expecting the gum and the crowds and the whole weirdness of it but what I'd never thought of was how it would smell. Yup it's smelled of so many different sugar filled gum flavours all at once and was slightly off putting but sure what else would a wall full of chewed gum be anyway. I was still very impressed and fascinated with it especially with the people who used gun to spell out their names or draw something. I however did not add to the wall myself, I had planned on it but in the end never did.

Seattle's underground

Bill Speidel’s underground tour

This tour had been mentioned to me before I went and I was determined to fit it in. There are a few tours I believe but this one was recommended by a few people and was easy to find. It also had tours in the morning time which was perfect for me.

The tour takes you in a group with a tour guide down under the city pavements where the city streets originally where. Some of the original areas are no longer able to be accessed but there's is still a lot that is still under there. I found out so much about the city's history and how the city became what it is today. I really enjoyed the tour, we did however have a crazy man with a sandwich board follow us and shout random things about doomsday I believe or something along those lines for a short while but overall he was harmless and it didn't really affect the tour.

Museum of Pop Culture

After the underground tour I headed up to the space needle using Seattle's transit which is pretty easy to get around with. Then I headed to the museum of pop culture that is right beside it.

As well as the museum entrance I decided to also visit the Star Trek exhibition that was also on there. I really enjoyed this one and anyone who is a fan of star trek would too. The have a lot of the original costumes from the very beginning of it all right up to the the more modern stuff. They have a lot of props and inside knowledge.

The museum however I was a little disappointed over the fact that a lot of the areas where under maintenance and I felt like anything really worth seeing was in those areas. As much as I can understand that they need to work on these things and move them around I also feel that it was a lot of exhibitions closed and the ticket was not the cheapest or discounted in anyway. It was nice to see it all though. I suggest if our planning it a visit to maybe check ahead to see if the exhibits you are planning on seeing are open beforehand to avoid disappointment.

Other things I found along the way

Space needle

The space needle is right by the museum of pop culture so if you are on a time limit you could do both with in a few hours.

Fallen Firefighters Memorial at Occidental Park

This was amazing to see the detail of all of this. I couldn't help but keep looking at it. It located in Occidental Park which is pretty close to underground tour.

Street art on my way out on the bus

Views