Coley's Just Saying...: Layover Seattle

When we were planning our trip, Seattle was just a place we needed to visit because it was where we were catching our Cruise from. We did some research of course, and our top picks included 'seeing' the Space Needle, doing some shopping, and visiting Pike Place Market, with the only touristy thing we wanted to spend time doing was to go to the very first Starbucks Store.

We've been told that Seattle is always cloudy and it always rains, so we were in for a pleasant surprise when the weather was wonderful the day we arrived as we had a day to explore before catching our Cruise.

The skies were clear and it was sunny even before we landed.

We were the first team to arrive at the pick-up point. Hahaha.
Always on amazing race mode.

We were starving, so we just dropped off our bags at the hotel, and off we went to lunch.

It was great that we could 'see' the Space Needle from the
Hyatt Place Downtown, where we were staying.
One thing ticked off on our Seattle To Do list.

Our first stop was Pike Place Market.

We didn't really know what kind of market it was so we didn't know what to expect, we just knew that we were hungry so we went in search of a place to eat.

You immediately see beautiful flowers.

The market was quite busy on a Sunday.

It had everything from Fresh Seafood,

Fruits and Veggies

And there were also Sea View Restaurants.

We picked Lowell's because we wanted to try their clam chowder,
more than eat at the Seafood Restaurants beside it.

You just line up, order and pay, then they bring you your food.

They have a sitting area on the third floor with
a great view of the waterfront.

Ady and Fi while waiting for our food.

Ady and I ordered the Clam Chowder in a bread bowl to share
with Sofia. It was as good as it looks!

We also ordered Calamari Strips with Red Pepper Aioli
and it was well-seasoned and very tender.

My other favorite dish was the Pulled-Pork with Mashed Potato.
It might not look like much, but each bite was a burst of flavor.

We occupied 2 tables by the windows so we could enjoy the view.

"Almost Classy"

I also asked myself if everything tasted so good because we were close to starving to death, so we ate at Lowell's again for lunch when we got back from the Cruise and we were still very happy.

Tita Ignie treated us to lunch there the second time around
and we ordered exactly the same thing.

The only difference is the sky was gray, not blue.

Anyway, after stuffing ourselves, we like walking around Pike Place Market.

There's a pasta place giving out free samples.

The lady was handing out Chocolate Pasta that you can munch on
even when it's uncooked. It tasted really weird though.
It would probably taste better cooked.

Dried Fruit Stand

More flowers

The crabs were so huge, a tentacle was a long
as Mama's arms.

We were on a mission to find the first Starbucks Store.

Downtown skyline from Pike Place Market.

On our way to Starbucks, we saw this place that smelled like yummy
freshly baked stuff, with really long lines.

And you could see how they were making their
pastries.

It turned out to be a really popular Russian Bakery.
I really, really, wanted to try it but we were so full from lunch.

Since I have a one-track-mind when it comes to food,
I dragged Ady all the way back to Pike Place next day while everyone
was at mass so we could try the Piroshky.

They had some samples out and a list of their bestsellers,
but I wanted to try everything!

This was just about to go into the oven.

We bought their savoury best seller,
the Beef and Onion Piroshky.

I think literally, Piroshky means baked stuffed buns. It reminded me of
the asado roll from Chinese bakeries in the Philippines. It was quite good.

Then we ordered a Whole Bake Apple. I couldn't resist the Cream Cheese frosting, and it looks very similar to my mom's Apple Dumpling.

At Piroshky, Piroshky, because when it comes to food,
we're partners in crime.

A few doors down, is the first Starbucks Store. It seems like we weren't the only ones who wanted to visit this branch because the line was long despite their being a Starbucks on almost every other corner in Seattle.

More on Starbucks Pike Place in a separate post.

Across Starbucks, there an open air market with sellers of their crafts.

There's this lady selling tents. Yes. Tents.

Then there's the usual souvenir art with a lot of Seattle scenes.

Ironically, heading Downtown from the market requires some effort because of the steep uphill climb.

This is me on the steep street with the market behind.

Sofia didn't mind the walk, as long as we stopped in 'her' kind of stores.

Beggars need to be creative nowadays.

Our favorite store in Seattle is ROSS, Dress for Less.

Branded Stuff, at discounted prices.
I shopped vicariously through Ady most of the time.
I exercised self-control because I shopped in Florence.

Sofia also likes Ross because they have a toy section,
and their carts are big enough to nap in.
Here, she's just pretending to sleep.

But she was so tired, she really did fall asleep.
Only after picking out her toy of course!

Not all the buildings downtown look drab.
I loved the look of the Banana Republic building.

There was an Urban Outfitter's store where I loved browsing through the junk. I didn't buy anything because it was all overpriced.

Sofia would have loved this.
9 differed Fart Sound Effects.

They had Nerds as big as the Tote Bag I bought.

Our walking around took us to Westlake Center, the most boring shopping mall on earth except for Nordstrom Rack where I didn't find anything to buy, and believe me, it wasn't for lack of trying!

Surprisingly, there's a Daiso in Westlake.

But even among their $1.50 selection,
I didn't find anything that remotely tempted me.
So the learning is, I only love Daiso in Asia.

In front of Westlake is this beautiful Square.

The tree trunks are blue.

And there was a playground for Sofia to enjoy.

My favorite about Seattle is still the Starbucks on every (other) corner.

This is the Starbucks across the Square with the blue trees.

And this is a Starbucks somewhere on 6th Avenue.

Ady and I love ordering the Iced Cinnamon Dolce Latte
Venti to share.

Sofia also likes sharing with us.

When we were too tired to shop, we went to
Starbucks (again!) and felt bad we didn't get to avail
of Happy Hour for our first drink because we didn't know.

But the baristas were so disorganized, a few minutes
after our Cinnamon Dolce Latte (hot this time)
was served, they kept on calling from Audrey.
BTW, Starbucks also gives away free App cards.

We ended up with two drinks! Yay! Buy1Get1 Free works as well for us.

On our next visit to Seattle, a week after, when we got back from the Cruise, we headed directly to Pike Place Market to have lunch at our favorite place.