From Place To Space: Sleepless In Seattle

A tad belated but still on a beautiful autumnal Monday, I am inviting you to a new travel adventure in my weekly 'From Place To Space' blog series. Today's destination: Seattle in Washington, the Evergreen State. And if you think 'Sleepless in Seattle' is a mere reference to the most famous movie playing in the the Pacific Northwest metropolis, then think twice: I hardly slept there indeed. There's just too much to see!

Seattle Views
First and foremost, there is one big advantage in Seattle: You get to see the city from a bird's eye perspective quite easily. Either you rocket up the famous Space Needle and enjoy a 360 degrees view from its top platform, or you enter the Columbia Center, the tallest building in Seattle and Washington State, whizz up to the observation deck and marvel at the city from the highest top possible. Oh and since we're in Seattle, you'll find a Starbucks in either tower. After all, this is the birthplace of the world famous coffee.

Pike Place Market
If you had enough of vertigo triggering high flights, you might be in the mood for something more stable, something more grounded. What's better than hitting the renown Pike Place Market with fresh fish and seafood in abundance, fruit, veggies, delicatessen and flowers galore. Look out for local, organic produce such as excellent honey or preserves, handcrafted souvenirs and some delicious treats for the little hunger in between. If you've seen the acclaimed movie as suggested in the headline, then you might recognize the 'Athenian Inn' restaurant. But if you're in the mood for really good food, I'd suggest you go a few steps further and turn into one of the little alleys in the market hall and climb up to the 'Place Pigalle' restaurant for excellent French food, fresh local seafood, impeccable service and astonishing views of the Puget Sound without packs of tourists all around.

Nature and Design
Speaking of the Puget Sound one can not ignore the multiple waterfronts. Take a trip on Puget Sound or set over to nearby Bainbridge Island or sail on the Lake Union. A walk along the waterfront is pretty entertaining, too. You will encounter many restaurants and shops, but also rather quiet corners such as the artsy Olympic Sculpture Park with great artworks of local and international artists. If you are into architecture don't miss the fantastic Seattle Central Library designed by Rem Koolhaas and Joshua Prince-Ramus - the entrance is free and the visit is really worth your time!

Trendy Capitol Hill
Another highlight is Seattle's Capitol Hill district with great shops for design lovers, amazing restaurants regarding food and interior design, as well as a very liberal and cool community with lots of students and creative folks. One of my favorite restaurant finds was 'Poppy' with a crazy new twist on thalis and a cool interior design concept. Thumbs up!

Blogger Friends
My special highlight was a cool blogger dinner with two cool friends - local blogger hero Uncle Beefy aka Bradford Cowder and the inspiring design connoisseur and blogger Jonathan Lo of Happy Mundane, who is LA based but happened to be in Seattle for a visit, too. Bradford proposed a great downtown restaurant called 'Local 360', offering locally grown food within a 360 mile radius of Seattle. And our dessert came right from nearby Bainbridge Island - homemade cupcakes by the master of patisserie disaster Bradford. Thank you my friend! 

Oh, and we stayed in a wonderful airbnb place in Seattle. I will blog about that in more detail soon! Happy new week!

Photography by Igor Josifovic 

Tweet