(Not) Sleepless in Seattle

 

Tuesday 27 May 2025

I was up at 4.30am ready for a 5.55am Uber pick up to take us to Pacific Central Station. When we got there, we joined a fairly long line for passport and customs checking as we were travelling across the border to the US (though US border guards still boarded the train at Bellingham on the border in order to collect the customs declaration forms, but said very little, so all of you who were worried that I might get a strop on and find myself in Guantanamo or whatever the equivalent is these days can stand down!)

There was a lengthy delay on the train due to a car on the track; the route is known as the Amtrak Cascades due to its mountain and coastal views, and we reached Seattle King Street station (very elegant, not exactly Grand Central NYC but must get a pic on the way back!) about half an hour behind schedule. It was cab chaos outside the station with loads of taxi drivers vying for our business, but we walked away a little and called for an Uber. Our apartment is in what I guess is uptown, in the Bellwood area overlooking Elliot Bay and the Puget Sound (named after more of George Vancouver the mapper's shipmates. What's the difference between a bay and a sound? Water depth apparently.) It's nicely furnished with lots of books and games should we get  bored, and with two decent-sized bedrooms with large comfortable beds - hence sleeping well on Tuesday night despite boomerang pillows!

I got the bus to Pike Place Market, less than 10 minutes away, though needed to acquire an Orca card later which is like an Oyster except of course we can't download it online because we have UK phones! Lucy and I travelled in separately so that I could do a recce while she was still sorting herself out, and because I had cash the kind driver took pity on me, but she had to get an Uber as there was no obvious ATM around. The buses here seem pretty good and we reckon that the drivers are under instruction not to worry about collecting fares if it slows down the schedule - or if vagrants are sleeping on the bus, which seems to be a pretty frequent occurrence.

The number of homeless people obviously high and crazy on opioids is incredibly depressing here in the city centre and beyond - people with their lives in garbage bags and trolleys, others wandering around half-naked shouting at nobody. We've not been hassled in any way - it's just so very sad, and there's no sign of Streetlink-type organisations or similar that we've seen.

Pike Place is famous for its seafood and there are myriad other food stalls, though none of them quite as upmarket as Granville in Vancouver. The other notable attraction is peonies - they are huge here, and maybe 6" across or more when in full bloom. Many of the stalls are putting together the most beautiful bouquets at prices much lower than the UK - a shame the same can't be said for food and drink, which isn't especially cheap even if in fairly basic restaurants. Nevertheless I enjoyed my bagel with smoked salmon, cream cheese and pickles at Lowell's overlooking the water and the Seattle Eye (every meal seems to come with pickles...)

We wandered around for a while afterwards to get our bearings and pick up odd bits of shopping before getting the bus back. Not all of downtown is thriving - there were many closed-up shops such as Macy's and Bed, Bath and Beyond (though the following day we discovered a bit more life!). The buses were all delayed by a far right (god-fearing anti-abortion/gay/trans people) protest going on in Cal Anderson Park which was interrupted by anarchists as well as peaceful counter-protesters leaning to the left.

Neither of us had slept well the night before, and when we Googled there were no neighbourhood restaurants within walking distance, or delivery service for any kind of food we fancied, Lucy didn't feel like eating any supper and I ended up with some rather dreadful frozen bao buns from the petrol station just down the street. We did at least have a nice bottle of wine, and had an early night ready to get up for the Seattle 101 walking tour we'd booked for the next day. It's quite noisy around here, but being on the fifth floor helps and not much was keeping me awake....