Seattle

When we paid the taxi and attempted to gain access to the building, we could not get anyone to respond.  I was about to call the owners when a lady walking her dogs came up.  She was very friendly and told us the same thing had happened during the day.  So we had access.

The next problem was getting the key to open the door.  It was in a secure container hanging on the doorknob.  We eventually got in and found the real keys which we would use during our stay.

I explored the apartment and found it quite spacious but a little noisy from traffic on the Alaskan Way.

I eventually realised that the noise disappeared when the windows were closed so we did that overnight.  We did not mind the noise during the day.

We had not had dinner but it was so late most things were closed so we settled for Subway near home.

Next day, the first priority was washing and there was a washer and dryer in the apartment-a great blessing.  After that, we had to go out for breakfast so we simply went out by going to level 3 and into Post Alley where the famous gum wall is. That took us up to Pike Place market.  We walked the length and saw the original Starbucks on the street opposite.

We went to a cafe looking out over the harbour for breakfast.

We went back home and decided to go to the Space Needle as it was a beautiful sunny day.

We went out our door and along the left corridor which took us to the exit to the terrace. We watched the ferries for a while then went out the glass door to walk up the hill and along the street until we came to the monorail.

We caught it and then bought tickets to go up to the top of the Space Needle.  We did not have a long wait.  The views were great as the sun was shining brightly.

After that, we had a look at the music museum but did not go in.  The Ducks were right there however, so we bought tickets and waited.

The journey took us around the streets showing us some of the famous parts such as the Olympic sculpture park and the waterfront.

We the drove onto Lake Union which was very peaceful.  We saw the houseboats on the water including the one in 'Sleepless in Seattle', and the Gasworks park.  It was very peaceful on the water.

After that,we caught the monorail back and walked to the Pike Place Market to The Athenian (also in'Sleepless in Seattle'), for dinner.  Then we went home.

Our second (and last) day was also to be busy.

We walked to SAM and looked around. This is part of the display at the entry.

We went to the Hard Rock Cafe and shared a tasting platter.  Enormous.

We walked back to the original Starbucks and I queued for souvenirs.

After that it was time to go back to our apartment as we intended to go on the ferry to Bainbridge Island in the evening.

I did go out later for a look around and bought some chocolates at Frans.

We aimed to catch the ferry which would return to Seattle after dark so, before sunset we walked to the ferry and started our journey.

Coming back the full moon rose above the buildings.

It was time to go to the Ferris wheel.

There was no waiting time and the journey did not take very long.

We went to dinner just below the wheel then it was time to go home and prepare for the early start the next day.