Work is over. Now I have some quality time with Charlotte and we did all the touristy must-do stuff around Seattle. Well, not all  but a lot and enough to fill the weekend!

Sidewalk above.

Sidewalk below.

Asian cafe in International District.

Shaved ice w/ red beans, lychee, fruit cocktail and fresh strawberries.

Seattle Art Museum.

Guess who’s in town? My best friend Charlotte and I decided to meet in Seattle and hunt down Agent Cooper and the other characters of Twin Peaks, the 90s TV-series she was a big fan of. We had 15 locations on the map and made 9 of them. Here’s a selection. The link under the pictures will take you to a shot from the series at that particular location.

Ronettes bridge.

Sheriff station.

The Packard sawmill.

The Double R Diner.

Backfire Burger.

Cherry Pie and a “damn fine cup of coffee”.

A memorable hotel has very little to do with the amount of stars it has earned. The ones I remember the best are never the classic 5* or the sophisticated design hotels. It’s the places that had “it”. Simple.

It’s when you know someone put heart and soul into creating an atmosphere that’s there not to dress and impress but to remind the guests of history. And do so with care, respect and a smile.

This hotel, regardless of nothing being my personal taste, gets all that “it”-credit for being creative, thoughtful and consistent.

More about the hotel.

After some days in the desert basically it was a nice change to from brown to blue, from closed to open. And boy has the winter left Seattle and taken out some spring for us to enjoy. It’s so nice to be back and to see all the world colleagues get together.

Classic Seattle skyline.

Sunset over the Olympic mountains.

America is all about the food. Like I said before it doesn’t necessarily mean deep-fried-covered in mayonaise-sugar or peanut butter. On the contrary I found plenty of nice, fresh locally grown things that I couldn’t take home.

Pike Place Market is a famous farmers market in downtown Seattle crammed with merchants, tourists and food. I waited to the very last day to visit, hoping to catch some typical market action on camera proving that the deep-fried-fat-mayo-sugar is just a part of American food culture.

And at this point I can add brunch (including pancakes), corn bread and mexican food to my list of things eaten. Extra cred for trying Cinnabon. Loved it. Better for your soul than for your health.

Swedes are way too obsessed with New York. I’d recommend anyone to visit Seattle and surroundings instead and stay for a minimum of two weeks. Here’s why (short version):

• Scenery and landscape - mountains, blue lakes, and endless wild beaches to sandy canyons with wide spread vineyards. Just driving around is a pleasure.
• Cuisine in this area is superb, especially if you like wine, seafood and Asian food
• The locals, Seattlelites are very friendly and sincere
• Seattle has a huge Japanese supermarket with a great food court
• Seattle has an international disctrict, ’nuff said.
• Everywhere you turn you’ll either see skyscrapers, snowy mountain tops or the water of Puget Sound (sort of)
• It’s a 10 hours direct flight from Copenhagen
• It’s close to Vancouver and other neat Canadian places
• and if that’s not convincing Seattle has several times been rated one of the most liveable city in the US and Vancouver is no. 1 among the 127 ranked lately.

“When in Rome…” they say. I think I deserve some pretty good grades in the American Way. Some things I still need to work on. Here’s how I plead:

Give me straight A’s on:

Getting around: I learned the order of the street names that cross the five main avenues. I know the parking hours and fares by heart. I know which street goes in what direction. I stopped jay-walking already day one. Know that you can turn right on a red light if it’s free. Left turn on red from oneway to oneway. Planning my day to avoid rush hours when carborn.

City pace: I wake up with the city, run and eat with the locals, shop where they do and know which streets to avoid at certain hours. I started to be concerned about gas prices. I’ve done laundry.

Extra credits: having burgers at Dick’s.

Fail me on:

Shopping: Still forget that tax is not included. Can’t figure out if my VISA card is for debit or credit, always make the wrong choice in the store.

Habits: I don’t work therefore I don’t start my day at Starbucks. I tend to either skip lunch or have a late one.

Food: I’ve been bad at eating all american food. No blueberry pancakes. No brunch. No bagels. No mexican food. No donuts. Not even a STEAK. I’d boo me so go ahead.

I know I’ve only been publishing picture after picture from this great trip. I haven’t told you ANYTHING on why I’m here and what’s up with Washington state. Well, I won’t today either but I’ll give you a short background on todays tour.

Washington state is ranked second nationally in wine production and has over 500 wineries. The wine country share the same latitude as Burgundy and Bordeaux in France. Yakima Valley is one of nine regions and it’s primary grape varieties are Chardonnay, Riesling, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.

Wine touring in WA has been on my itinerary before I even had one. Yakima is a convenient choice as it’s only a 2,5 hour drive from Seattle. A very scenic and spectacular drive starting with lush green mountains with snow on top through the Cascades. Just 1,5 hours later the Douglas Firs are gone and replaced by sandy canyons, gravel roads and 35 C (95 F). I’m melting and tasting my way through the valley, getting more and more concerned about luggage issues as I loading the car with bottles…

Yakima Valley winery map - my picks. Washington Wine Commission, website.

Another hot day in Washington. If you’re not at work like yours truly there’s lots of things you can do. I don’t plan too much in advance though. But the days I have a car I do need to move it every morning before eight and then I might as well go out right away. So I decided to find a nice spot to run and perhaps swim afterwards. Lake Washington and Madrona Park were first out today. The water was freezing but I counted to three and went in for a few laps.

Being so bold I felt that I was worth something equally bold for a late lunch. Dick’sis a place recommended as a very Seattle kind of burger joint. It was like being sent back to a scene in Grease. The really ascetic menu made it easy to choose. Having hand-cut fries with skin on is not an everyday treat anymore.

I decided to drive south to Tacoma afterwards and visit the Musem of Glass. Now, my imagination of glass art is very narrow: glass art=stuff that people thought was neat in the middle 80’s, early 90’s.

And sure, some of the objects were indeed from that age, but as I moved along the pieces started to impress me. I ended up reading the story behind each single object on display. Unfortunately cameras were banned in the gallery so my favorite piece is not on MY memory card:

Endeavor by Lino Tagliapietra, reputation as the worlds best glass artist. At first glance I saw a river, a vivid stream of colours. Then I got closer and changed angle. I now saw boats, gondolas and they were absolutely fantastic.

This was the weekend we had all been waiting for. Sunny and 30 C, not the most common northwest weather. Saturday I spent at the Bloedel Reserve, see previous post. The sky was painfully blue and the shade was comfortable and cool. I spent my Sunday being lazy in the sun, and even taking my first swim of the year. I, who normally will never dip my feet for water below 23C, was about to have a meltdown and my best option was to simply plunge in.

I’m used to being on a beach or by water and having the horizon as my view. In this area you can have various views and it’s, pardon me for tearing that word out lately, just beautiful.

Could be the title of most of my pictures from this journey so far. Sorry for the lack of imagination…!

The locals take good care of me. Yesterday I had the chance to visit Bloedel Reserve with one of them. Basically it was a two hour long meditative walk through gardens, ponds, woods and meadows. Tranquil and beautiful surroundings.

Anyone who’s seen Grays Anatomy and/or Frasier most likely have seen the Seattle skyline. It’s signature landmark the Space Needle has an observation deck that’ll give you a full view of the city and on a clear day, like today, the stratovolcano Mt. Rainier.

If you go to Queen Anne, a residential area on a hill in Seattle, you’ll get a classic night skyline (I know, I have a skyline obsession) with the needle in front. The needle is actually a landmark that’s not located in the absolute downtown of Seattle so getting it in line with the scrapers downtown can only be done from some viewpoints.

Water is fascinating. Tastes good. Looks good. Vital. Sweet or salty.

Roaring and dramatic. Or deceptively calm and blue.

Dense and delicate, about to burst.

Completely still or creating power to the people.

And a challenging object to have in front of your lens.

I flew back from SF and almost brought the weather back with me. Not only did I enjoy a tasty Copper River salmon with a perfect, undisturbed view of the Seattle skyline, I was lucky to experience a beautiful sunset too. Natural phenomenons never cease to fascinate.

I’m very well taken care of. Yesterday I was picked up and taken for a nice garden dinner with fresh salmon, beautiful tarte tatin and french cheeses. Accompanied by some great Pinot Noirs and good company. A delicious ending of my first weekend in Seattle…