Sleepless in Seattle

About a week ago, I took the train to Seattle with my family for a sort of mini-vacation (we were only there for two days). I have to say that taking the train was an "experience"--29 hours on a train isn't something you easily forget. Fortunately, we had little rooms on the train that had fold-out beds, a bathroom, an even a shower! However, I wasn't adventurous enough to try and shower in an airplane-sized bathroom on a moving train. I think taking the train is one of the best ways to travel, especially for long distances. Although it might not be extremely pleasant (the regular seats probably wouldn't be very comfortable after 29 hours), the whole idea of traveling by train is so classic. We had some beautiful views out the window: Mount Shasta, miles of pure forest, sharp hills of black volcanic rock. And I loved going to sleep with the train still moving--it's like being rocked to sleep.

Before we left for Seattle, I looked up some interesting places to shop. The trip definitely wasn't shopping-centered, but I figured if I had specific places to go my family would agree to be diverted from the usual tourist attractions (the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, etc). So we took the bus (which is free in the downtown area) to Broadway Street, where we found several interesting shops, including American Apparel, Red Light, and Crossroads Trading Co. American Apparel is available online and there are stores near where I live, so I didn't find anything I wanted to buy there. I came across some other vintage/thrift shops, which were slightly messy and hard to navigate, so we moved on. Red Light was one of the best stores--it had a lot of trendy secondhand clothes and accessories upstairs, and downstairs there were vintage dresses organized by decade (interesting to browse, but not the best to wear) and a huge costume store. Upstairs there was also a section for men's clothing, which had everything from old Star Wars t-shirts to leather motorcycle pants to knitted sweaters with mallard ducks on them. The vintage glasses in the accessories section were really cute (there were pink 50's style ones with rhinestones) and the jewelry and pins were unique and pretty. I ended up buying a black and white cameo necklace.

Walking around the city, I looked around to see what Seattle style was. The general style was--well, actually, there really wasn't a general style. Just like in any big city, style was varied and unique, sometimes ultra-trendy, sometimes individual, sometimes quirky.

However, most of our trip wasn't spent on shopping. We spent most of the time doing the usual "tourist" things and just walking around the city, taking it all in. Anyway, here's some things to do and see if you're ever in Seattle:

• Pike Place Market
• Boat Tour around the harbour
• Shopping on Broadway Street
• Pine Street for shopping and restaurants
• Seattle Space Needle
• Seattle Art Museum
• Olympic Sculpture Park/Waterfront
• Good restaurants: 13 Coins and Paloma Cafe

-geraldine