English: The top of the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington Deutsch: Turmkorb und Spitze der Space Needle, in Seattle (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Some interesting facts about Seattle to start out.
Seattle is the only place in the US where Macdonald’s is not the largest fast food outlet? Subway is the largest outlet here.
Downtown Seattle has the largest concentration of coffee shops? You can turn around here without running into a Starbucks.
There are more dogs than children in Seattle?
These are just some of the amazing facts about Seattle that I learned over the weekend.
Seattle is a very old city, but surprisingly one does not get to see too many old buildings here unlike San Francisco. The city is very modern and very orderly.
Our first stop in the city was the Space Needle. Built in 1962 as part of Seattle’s hosting of the World Science fair, this 605-foot structure dominates the Seattle skyline and can be seen from most anywhere in Seattle. From the Observation Deck situated at the top of the Needle, one gets an amazing 360 degree view of the city. On a clear day it is said that you can see Mt Rainier. We however were there on a rain-filled day and just got a hazy glimpse of it.
Our next stop was the Ride the Ducks of Seattle amphibious tour of Seattle. The tour is made on an amphibious vehicle which takes you through the city and into the lake. The ride is really fun. The tour guide is a jolly rotund man who makes the whole ride one long party.
Sunday was spent at the craziest building in Seattle, the Experience Music Project (EMP). Commissioned by Paul Allen, the building houses two museums – The EMP and the Science Fiction Museum (SFM).
The SFM is an amazing journey though the genre of science fiction in literature and in movies. The museum houses a huge collection of SF movie memorabilia. For any SF fan, the museum is a must-see.
The EMP on the other hand was not as exciting for me, but if you are a Jimi Hendrix fan then you should not miss it. It was however quite an eye-opener to see how many popular musical acts came out of Seattle.
What we covered was just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more to see and I will be covering some more this coming weekend. Stay tuned.
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