West Coast 2012: Vancouver - VIJ's Restaurant

Using Aeromiles to pay for your flight means big savings but also inconvenient flight times.  Having a 7am flight back to Toronto, it did not seem to make sense to pay for accommodations for just a few hours of sleep.  We decided to make a late last night of our vacation and then wait out the rest of the time in the airport.  This made it the perfect opportunity to try out VIJs, the hot, high end Indian restaurant in Vancouver that is notorious for long wait times and not accepting reservations.  Carefully timing our journey back from Seattle via the Chuckanut Drive, we arrived at VIJs just after 8:30pm.  The hostess told us apologetically that it would probably be a 1.5 hour wait.  "No problem, we have all night" we said, meaning it literally.

A long wait at VIJs is not as onerous as it may sound.  You are invited to relax in the bar/lounge area where you can order drinks and sit and chat.  While you are waiting, servers come by repeatedly to offer free samplings including pieces of flat bread, samosas and other treats.  You are also offered the menu to peruse so that you'll know what you want by the time you sit down... smart way to maximize table turnover in order to seat the never ending lineup of people.

We ended up being seated just before 10pm and watched while people continued to arrive even as we left over an hour later.  For appetizers, we settled on spicy pork belly with apple/mint chutney served on a soup spoon, marinated and grilled mackerel with orange spiced onions and my favourite garam masala sauteed portobello mushrooms in porcini cream curry.  Even if it did not have my food passion (mushrooms) in it, the flavour of this curry would have made it tops on my list.

Then came the mains which were wine marinated lamb popsicles in fenugreek cream curry on turmeric and spinach potatoes and spicy duck breast with ground fennel seed curry.  The duck was good but the lamb was worth fighting over with its tender meat and amazing sauce.


I'm not fond of Asian desserts so luckily I was too full to crave any.  But Rich went for the rice pudding which he thoroughly enjoyed.  This made for a wonderful final meal to end our trip on.

West Coast 2012: Chuckanut Drive and Oyster Bar

Heading back towards Vancouver from Seattle, there is a beautiful scenic route off the highway called Chuckanut Drive that hugs the coastlines of Samish and Chucknut Bays between the towns of Burlington and Bellingham.  En route is a restaurant called The Oyster Bar that has a spectacular view of the bays and Chuckanut mountain ranges, especially if you sit on the outdoor terrace.  Being a relatively cool day when we arrive, we are initially the only ones to brave the terrace, which in nicer weather would be packed.   Instead of cushions, each patio chair is draped with a plush blanket for warmth and protection from dampness.

We debated over cooked versus raw oysters for our starter and settled on sharing the baked oysters with spinach, tomatoes, Boar bacon, dry sherry and chives  In retrospect we should have had both and made it an all oyster meal.  Instead, I warmed myself up with a hot bowl of wild nettles and artichoke soup while Rich had the Dungeness crab cakes with mango chutney and curried aioli.

 For the main course, we had the fried oysters coated with a light Parmesan breadcrumb crust that came with a creamy sour apple aioli, served with a savoury cheese soufflé and fresh vegetables.  In between the appetizers and the main, we were given a raspberry sorbet as palette cleanser.

As we sat there enjoying our meal, we watched the tide go down and the oyster beds started to appear.  The Pacific oysters from our lunch were grown from seed and harvested from the farms right in front of us.  You could call this the 100 feet diet.  Talk about freshness!  We kept track of three oyster farmers in tall wading boots as they gingerly walked out into the low tide to inspect the oysters.  It felt like I was witnessing a live reenactment of last year's Oscar winning short film "The Shore" which featured three such characters.

To make a fabulous experience even better, the sun made a rare appearance for one of the few times on our trip.  Sitting there with the amazing view, great food, fresh air and sunshine - life was good.

West Coast 2012: Seattle - Fremont

We only had just over an hour to visit the "artist republic" of  Fremont before heading out of Seattle, but in that brief time of exploring the few main streets of interest, we saw so many awesome pieces of street art.  The best was the sculpture of the troll under the freeway bridge with only one good eye and his left hand clamped onto a Volkswagon Beetle.  The integration of public art to liven up urban spaces is brilliant in Seattle.  I scampered up the sandy slope to sit on the troll's shoulder and noticed the traces of homeless people's sleeping bags scattered  in the space behind him.  It was creepy back there so I urged Rich to hurry up and take the picture so I could scurry back down to safety.

The next cool sculpture that we were advised to look out for on our Seattle walking tour was just a few blocks away.  It was a huge bronze cast of Lenin in full stride amidst flames and guns, said to be the only sculpture to depict the Russian revolutionary in this violent, oppressive state.  The sculpture was originally created in Poprad, Slovakia and was found toppled over and face down by an American after the Revolutions of 1989.  It seems contradictory to have this symbol of Communism in the middle of democratic USA, in an area that sounds like "Free"mont.  An accompanying plaque indicates that the location is intentional and meant to make the statement that "art outlives politics".

The final large-scale sculpture that we saw in this area is called  "People Waiting for the Interurban", depicting a bunch of bored people and a dog waiting by a transit stop for their electric railcar (interurban) to come by.  It is of note that the dog has a human face that is said to spoof a local politicial of the time.  The transit shelter is reminiscent of a smaller scale version of the Pergola that stands in Pioneer Square.

 A very helpful sign post at the heart of the Fremont artist district, itself an art piece called "The Center of the Universe", conveniently indicated the direction and distance to major attractions to see, including the Troll and Lenin, as well as a huge rocket attached to the corner of a building.  There was no indication as to why the rocket was there, but an entry in Wikipedia indicates that it is "a Fairchild C-119  tail boom modified to resemble a missile".  Another sign pointed to "Rapunzel" but we could not find her.  We spotted a funky looking building with some metal work on it and after staring at it long enough, we convinced ourselves that this could be an abstract interpretation of spiraling hair.  But then, as we were driving over the Fremont bridge, we spotted her.  She was made of neon lights and was peering out of the window of the west tower with her golden locks hanging down.  She would have been more apparent if it were dark since she lights up at night.

Fremont ended up being one of my favourite areas in Seattle and I'm glad we took the time to stop by before heading home.

West Coast 2012: Seattle - Waterfront and around town

Seattle's waterfront provides miles of piers, boardwalks, ship terminals and parks overlooking Puget Sound, passing by such popular sites as Pioneer Square and Pike's Place Market.  The Seattle Aquarium is appropriately situated by the water, as is the historic Miner's Landing where miners may have passed through on the way to the Alaskan gold rush.  Currently it holds a collection of restaurants, shops and an arcade which includes a vintage carousel.

One of the highlights of the waterfront is Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, a novelty store that is also an oddities museum, a bit like Ripley's Believe it or Not in Niagara Falls.  Skeletons, mummies, old moving picture peep shows featuring Charlie Chaplin or Roaring 20s pinup girls, stuffed two-headed calves, shrinking heads, a full set of a shark's teeth are just a few examples of what can be found in this shop.  We bought a wind-up salt and pepper set of plastic robots so that next time we are asked to pass the salt, the shaker can waddle down the table to the requester.

In the Olympic Sculpture Park can be found large scale modern art pieces including a bright orange steel sculpture by Alexander Calder called Eagle and one of a huge eraser overlooking the water.  This park is part of the Seattle Art Museum, where a giant black sculpture called The Hammering Man presides out front.  It has a mechanical arm holding a hammer which moves 4 times per minute from 7am-8pm, except for Labor Day, and is a symbol of the importance of the working man and the labor movement in Seattle.   There are similar sculptures installed throughout the world and even another one in Seattle, 1 mile away from the University campus, that holds a beer bottle instead of a hammer. 

The Seattle Centre hosts a number of attractions including the Space Needle and the Experience Music Project (EMP).  This latter building  is currently both a music and a science fiction/fantasy museum, a seemingly odd cohabitation apparently forced by economic circumstances.  Regardless of what is held inside, the exterior of the EMP is a must see in itself.  It is a bold, shiny, multi-coloured structure that epitomizes the flamboyant work that is expected of renowned architect Frank Geary.

In contrast, the work he did on the expansion of  Toronto's Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) seems disappointingly tame,  as he was adding onto an existing structure and tried to blend into the established neighbourhood.  My favourite Frank Geary reference is the spoof from The Simpsons where Geary's inspiration for the design of the new Springfield town hall is the crumpled up napkin he throws away after lunch.  I would have liked to see something more like that in Toronto.  However the bright blue titanium box in the back of the AGO that glows in the sunlight is reminiscent of the surfaces used on the EMP. 

An unexpectedly profound experience was driven by my need to find a public washroom while we were in the vicinity of the Seattle Center.   Right across the street from the EMP sat the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Visitor's Center which seemed like a good possibility.  I was not expecting the reminder inside the stall of how lucky we are in North America to have clean, safe bathrooms which we take for granted while third world countries struggle without.  On the outside of each stall door was a photograph of what toilet facilities are like in various countries - outdoors in a hut, sometimes just a hole in the ground.  I left feeling morally chastised, very appreciative, and wandered around the visitor's center for a bit, reading about the good work that the foundation did.

West Coast 2012: Seattle - Pike's Place Market

Pike's Place Market is like Toronto's St.Lawrence Market on steroids - larger (spanning multiple blocks), beautifully set overlooking Elliott Bay and full of history.  A farmers market with fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, meat, cheese, tea, flowers, bakeries, arts and crafts and more can all be found here.   A major tourism location for Seattle, it is open 7 days a week and is always bustling with people.  Rachel, a large bronze piggy bank collects money for market development and local shelters.

The market was started in 1907 as a way to cut out the middlemen between the farmers and the customers.  Threats of boycott and scare tactics from the middlemen kept most farmers away when it first opened, but the 10,000 patrons that showed up soon overcame any fears.  A poignant and touching multi-panel mural pays tribute to the Japanese farmers who ran over 2/3 of the stalls in the market until a presidential decree in WWII forced them into internment camps.  The panels are labelled "Song of the Earth", "Song of the Farmers", "Song of Joy", "Song of Sorrow", and "Song of Memory".

Starbucks originated in Seattle and one of the first locations still exists in Pike's Place Market.  It is a major attraction from a historic perspective, as it still uses the original coffee machine and the original Starbucks logo which is a bit more risquee with the bare-breasted siren than the current incarnation.  This is a very popular spot for buskers because of the number of tourists that line up waiting for coffee.   Seattle seems to have a very organized busker and street musician industry.  Performers pay a permit fee for the right to play at designated locations marked by a red painted music note on the ground.  There seems to be an unwritten honour code and rules of engagement for when and how long each artist can play for.

Pike's Place Fish Co. is as popular for their entertaining schtick as it is for the fresh seafood.  When someone buys a fish, it is selected by one monger, then tossed in a high arc to another for wrapping.  Large crowds gather around this stall waiting for the fish to be thrown.

There is no shortage of eating opportunities in the market.  For breakfast one morning, we had "Green Eggs (made with pesto) and Ham" at the Crumpet Shop.  A popular lunch spot is Pike's Place Chowder which sells many different types of chowders and sandwiches.  Rich got the Seafood bisque (Pacific cod, Northwest salmon, calamari, Oregon Bay shrimp in a tomato broth), while I went for the sampler of 3 different choices, for which I picked New England clam, scallop and smoked salmon chowders.  We also shared a crab sandwich that was just bursting with fresh crab meat.

We were lured into Piroshky Bakery by the constant lengthy lineup.  We figured that many people could not be wrong.  Inside we found freshly baked Russian goodies including a chocolate hazelnut danish and a smoked salmon pate "piroshky" or stuffed pie which was in the shape of a fish.  We were going to eat it back at the hotel but they were still warm and smelled so good that we only made it as far as across the street before we dug in.  We were also tempted by the beautiful vegetables, especially the garlic spears, which were the size of asparagus.  Unfortunately we had nowhere to cook them. 

Post Alley is an interesting lane way in between some buildings in Pike's Place Market.  The red brick walls, covered with bubblegum of all colours (and presumably flavours),  have grown into a tourist attraction and are almost an art piece after staff gave up trying to clean up the initial deposits of gum.  There are even attempts to create writing or images out of the gum "graffiti".  More traditional graffiti and street art also grace the walls in this alley.

Victor Steinbrueck Park is a lovely green space surrounded by Pike's Place Market on one side and Elliott Bay on the other, named after the architect instrumental in the preservation of the market and Pioneer Square.  Steinbrueck designed the two tall cedar totem poles that decorate the park.  Looking out towards the bay, you can see the mountains, the waterfront area and a giant ferris wheel.  Seems like many cities now have a ferris wheel (Paris, London, Vienna) which makes Mayor Ford's desire for one in Toronto seem less silly.

Pike's Place Market was really fun place to spend one of the few sunny days we had on our trip.  It is easy to see why it gets over 10 million visitors a year.

West Coast 2012: Seattle - Pioneer Square

Having learned all about the history of Pioneer Square on the Underground Walking Tour, it was interesting to walk around the current day incarnation and compare it with how it used to be.  The impetus for creating the walking tour as a way to promote awareness of and preserve heritage buildings arose when the once elegant flatiron shaped Grand Seattle Hotel was torn down and replaced with the concrete "Sinking Ship Parking Lot".  To prevent further losses, the entire Pioneer Square area was designated a historic district through the lobbying efforts of Bill Speidel.   As a result, the stunning Pioneer Building and Pergola (a Parisian-esque shelter where commuters used to wait for the trolley to go by) still stand today looking very much like they did in old photos.

Thanks to preservation efforts, many beautiful historic buildings remain in Pioneer Square with their red brick and grey stone facades, original signs and marquees and mosaic floor tilings still intact.  One building still has a neon sign that reads "State Hotel - Rooms 75 cents".  If only it were true!

The Grand Central Arcade (formerly the Squire-Latimer Building) contains two levels of shops on the ground floor and basement (which used to be the ground floor of the original town of Seattle before it was re-graded as described in the Underground Walking Tour).  One of the major occupants is the Grand Central Baking Company.   The seating area in front of the bakery is breathtaking with its high ceilings, floor to ceiling arched glass windows, large chandeliers, large wooden tables and a working fireplace with two armchairs that are the highly coveted spots.  We had a delicious shrimp salad sandwich and mushroom soup that were perfect for a cold wet day, but were not fortunate enough to snag the fireside seating.

The Smith Tower was one of the tallest buildings in the world (at 42 storeys) when it was completed in 1914.  Named for typewriter tycoon Lyman Smith (of Smith and Wesson typewriters), its facade is made of white terracotta while the lobbies are marble and onyx with brass trimmings on the operator-manned elevators.  Along with an observation deck, there is a "Chinese room" on the 35th floor containing a chair gifted by the Empress of China.  The legend is that any woman who sits on the chair will be married for a year.   We were told on our tour that the top pyramid of the Smith Tower is currently rented to an artist and a ladder can be used to climb to the pinnacle.

The Artic Building used to a men's club in 1916 and prominently features gorgeously ornate columns each highlighted by the head and tusk of a walrus.  Today, it is a luxury hotel called the Arctic Club Seattle.

Because major "chain" stores are banned from Pioneer Square, it continues to be populated by charming smaller establishments (Toronto, take note!).  Globe Books specializes in older books including the Cherry Ames series about a WWII nurse who solved mysteries - a precursor to Nancy Drew.  There were also Dover Thrift Edition paperbacks which specialize in titles and authors that are public domain and sell for an average price of $1 to $2.50.  Rich picked up a couple of books of short stories and the book "The Thirty-nine Steps"on which one of our favourite Alfred Hitchcock movies is based.

A store called UtiliKilts sells kilts with pockets for tools.  A sales clerk came out modelling one and we were tempted to ask him if he was going regimental.  A gift shop called Fireworks had a book called "Porn for Women" with glossy photos of hot men who love to shop, go to craft shows and vacuum.  The quirkest shop though was one called Shotgun Ceremonies that offered quicky Vegas-styled marriages.  Included in the price are 2 shot glasses, personalized framed photo and an interactive ceremony.  They also seem to offer lap dance lessons.

Just a few blocks from this area of great shops and attractions, the streets get a bit sketchier.  Here on Yesler Way, we have the original "Skid Row", so named because the sloped road was the path that logs from Henry Yesler's sawmill came sliding down.  Today the term has come to mean "a rundown, dilapidated urban area with a large, impoverished population" which is still appropriate since several homeless shelters can be found here.

West Coast 2012: Seattle - Underground Walking Tour

If you walk around Seattle in a north-east trajectory away from the water, you quickly notice how steep and hilly the streets are.  There were some inclines where I actually wished for a rope tow to haul me up like on the old ski hills.  The magnitude of the slope really hit home when we entered the Seattle public library on Spring St and 4th Avenue from the ground floor elevator, but exited back onto street level onto 5th Avenue on the other side of the building from the 3rd floor.  We were told on our walking tour that the top floor of the Seattle library is a great and free way to get a nice view of Seattle, without the cost or lineups of going up the Space Needle.

We learned quite a bit about the history of Seattle through the hilarious and quirky Bill Speidel Underground Walking Tour, first started in 1965 as a way to protect the heritage buildings in the Pioneer Square area.  Back in the 1800s when Seattle was first settled, it was much lower in elevation relative to the water table.  This had the unfortunate effect of causing the sewers to back up every time the tide came in.  The guide describes with great glee how geysers of raw sewage up to 10 ft high could shoot up from the toilets (originally called crappers after inventor Thomas Crapper).  Residents were known to time their trips to the bathroom based on daily tide schedules published by the newspapers.

Through a series of unfortunate circumstances, in 1889 a small grease fire caused by spilt glue grew a great fire that wiped out the entire town.  It did not help that the fire started in a carpentry shop full of sawdust, rags and turpentine, that most of the town was made of wood, that nearby stores contained dynamite and loose ammunition, and the fire chief was out of town, leaving inexperienced volunteers to try to fight the fire.  Being low tide, there was insufficient water so the firefighters tried to contain the fire by blowing up buildings.  Not knowing how to do this properly, they just caused the fire to spread more.

On the bright side, this gave Seattle the opportunity to rebuild and regrade their town on higher ground.  Eight foot tall retaining walls were built above the old town using the rubble of the fire as land fill.  This resulted in the series of tunnels and walkways representing the original town that are now part of the Underground Walking Tour.

We were led down flights of stairs scattered across the current Pioneer Square area that revealed a subterranean underworld chock full of remnants from the past.   Seattle was rebuilt one street at a time with the roads being constructed first, then the sidewalks.  People were required to climb ladders to traverse from pre-regraded to post-regraded streets.  The situation was precarious as horse and carriages or drunken men would occasionally slip and fall off the edge, plummeting down 8 feet.  This was described as the "One Step Program" for alcoholics and 17 deaths that occurred were labelled "accidental suicides".  Passersby below had to be wary of horse droppings falling down on them from above.

 We were shown examples of original shops where you can still see signage, door frames and windows. Storekeepers did not want to wait for their street to be rebuilt before reconstructing their businesses, so they were told to recreate their buildings with two entrances, one on the ground floor and one on the second floor which would eventually become the new ground floor.   Historic photographs showed evidence of these dual entrances.  We saw the remnants of a raised crapper (which brought memories for me of a scene from Slum Dog Millionaire), a sign for steam baths and one representing Seattle's Original Water System.

After the higher grade Seattle was completed, the underground tunnels continued to be used for various purposes including cold storage and even to hide a bank vault.  In order to be able to see, a series of glass covered sky lights were built in the ceilings of the underground.  They can still be found today at street level and are often purple in colour.  From the tunnels, you can actually see the shadows of pedestrians walking over the skylights.  The guide turned off the electrical lights that were added later, in order to show how effective the skylights still were during the daytime.

During prohibition, the tunnels were used to transport illegal alcohol smuggled in from Canada.  People started dumping their garbage down there and for while, the tunnels were closed due to bubonic plague and rat infestation (our tour group squirmed uncomfortably during this part).  To ease the rat situation, the city offered to pay 10 cents for every rat tail captured.  This plan backfired as youths started raising rats in order to turn them in for the reward.

As usual, the tour ended in a gift shop which had the pleasant surprise of also being a comprehensive museum of photos and memorabilia of the time.  There were photos, short biographies and other information about the main players who first settled and developed Seattle in the 1800s - Arthur Denny, Dr David Maynard and Henry Yesler, whose names now grace major streets in the city.  Photos show the devastation of the fire and the fascinating regrading effort that created the underground tunnels.

There was an archival photo and many souvenirs of Madame Lou Graham, who ran Seattle's most profitable brothel, although she called her girls "seamstresses" and so they became her "sewing circle".  The tour guide sardonically talked about how Seattle in the 1880s became the early "fashion capital" with 2500 seamstresses registered within a 3 block area.  The town levied a $10/month sewing machine tax but the tax collector could not find a single machine.  Upon her death, Lou Graham donated a quarter of a million dollars to the school system.

Quite the tribute was given to the original crapper as replicas can be found in the museum, as well as in each stall of the Ladies' washrooms, or "Temple of Convenience" as sign reads.  The stall doors have whimsical names such as "Edith Head", "Lovely Lou", "Royal Flush" and "Old Faithful".  The Men's washrooms are called "Gentlemen's Privy Chamber" and while they do not have the ornate toilets, their stall doors read "P.Shy" and "Oval Office".

West Coast 2012: Seattle - Capital Hill / Broadway

We went up to the Broadway/Capital Hill area of Seattle to watch a movie that was part of the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF).  It seems like every city now has its own film festival and they all have acronyms similar to Toronto's TIFF (Boston - BIFF, Calgary - CIFF, Dallas - DIFF ...).  Part of the attraction was to see the historic Egyptian Theatre, named after its current Egyptian-styled decor that was added in the 1980s when the building was converted into a theatre.   Built in 1915, it was originally the home of Freemasons and still bears masonic symbols throughout the interior and exterior.

Compared to TIFF, almost everything seemed about SIFF seemed smaller in scale including the number of venues, length of lineups for the movies and ticket prices.  We saw a matinee for only $8 per ticket!  However SIFF runs for a whole 25 days as opposed to TIFF's 11 days.  I found the standard "turn your cell phone off" video to be amusing.  The tag line was "Warning, objects may shift when using your cell phone", accompanied by a cartoon image of a guy getting hit in the head with a tossed bag of popcorn.

 The movie we watched was a comedy called Gayby about a straight woman named Jenn and her gay best friend Matt deciding to have a baby together (in the same vein as the movie "Friends With Kids" except in this case there is no chance of this couple suddenly realizing they were meant to be together).  This was a lighthearted movie with many funny moments including Jenn and Matt's attempts at conceiving "the old fashioned way", and their subsequent attempts at online dating with people of their own sexual orientation.  The director, Jonathan Lisecki who was also the writer and played one of the characters in the film, was on hand for the screening and participated in a quick Q&A after the screening.

The Capitol Hill area has some interesting murals and graffiti as well as a sculpture of Jimi Hendrix on Broadway Ave, but incongruously now sitting in front of a paint store. I wonder whether it used to be a record store when the statue was originally placed there.  And then to our surprise and delight, we stumbled across the new location of the Elliott Bay Book Company.  This was listed as one of the highlights of the Seattle's  Pioneer Square, so we were disappointed to find it was closed there and did not realize that it had been relocated.

As an additional unexpected treat, we found that an author's talk was being held at the book store that night.  The book was called "Rule of Thumb - Ebert at the Movies" by Todd Rendleman and deals with the influence of Roger Ebert's film critiques on the American movie industry.  Rendleman is a professor in communications specializing in film and criticism at the Seattle Pacific University.  As he read excerpts from his book, it was clear he had a passion for the movies even as a boy, as he persuaded his father to drive him across the border to neighbouring states so that he could watch more features.  He spoke with admiration and respect of Roger Ebert, who "views movies as friends you want to meet" and changed the way audiences watched films.  Ebert's perspective was that what was important about a movie was not just "what it is about, but how it is what it is about" - that style was just as important as content.

Rendleman told the anecdote of how Roger Ebert was disappointed with the ending of Fatal Attraction and suggested that the ultra violent sensationalist ending (which was demanded by audience focus groups including one from Seattle) compromised the film artistically.  He suggested a better scene for the film to end on, just to find out from Glenn Close that this was indeed the original ending before the predictable Hollywood ending got tacked on. 

One of the most interesting sections of the book is the one called "Misfires".  In this chapter, Rendleman gives examples of where he thought Ebert was wrong in his critique of a movie and then provides his own analysis as proof.  In the question and answer period, I asked whether Roger Ebert had read this book, and whether he changed his mind on any of his writeups based on Rendleman's misfire rebuttals.  As of right now, Ebert had not read or commented on the book (although he did write a forward for it).  Being minor film buffs ourselves, it was really interesting for us to hear Rendleman speak and read from his book.  I plan to read the rest of this book, and hopefully hear one day whether Rendleman's challenges of some of Ebert's critiques lead him to reconsider them.  We were thrilled to have this experience that was off the beaten path and not recommended by any guidebook.

West Coast 2012: Seattle - WestLake Park

My favourite intersection in Seattle turned out to be the corner of 4th Ave and Pine Street, largely because of the sculptures in Westlake Park, but also in no small part because See's Candies shop resides here.  I first came across See's Candies in San Francisco and became addicted to the See's "Little Pops" Cafe Latte gourmet hard candies which have a rich coffee flavour but is not too sweet.  I also really adore the California brittle which a delicious chocolate covered almond toffee brittle.

It didn't help that we had to walk right by this intersection en route to most of the places that we were headed towards.  Neither did it help that each time we went in there, we were each proffered free sample of an entire See's chocolate or truffle.  It seemed totally at the whim of the server what to offer and she seemed to almost size you up to determine what you should get.  Somehow we kept finding reasons to buy more candy and chocolates on each of our three days in Seattle and we unabashedly accepted our free sample each time.  Ok, enough confession about the sweets.  On to the sculptures in Westlake Park!

Westlake park is a beautifully tiled public plaza with street level shops (including See's Candies!), trees and benches.  It spans 4th Avenue between Pine and Pike Streets and is across from Westlake Shopping Plaza.  According to Wikipedia, it is considered "Seattle's town square".  These images shows how this park usually looks.

Lucky for us that during our visit, there were not one but two art exhibitions happening in Westlake park. First, the trunks of the trees were painted a bright florescent blue as a warning by Australian artist Konstantin Dimopoulos against deforestation.   Then Icelandic sculptor Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir's installation called "Borders", which consisted of pairs of androgynous humanoids in silver and bronze colours (made of aluminum and cast iron respectively) were scattered throughout the park.  Some were sitting on benches, some standing with various postures.  While we were looking at them, one lady actually asked us if they were statues or real people in painted suits posing for money.   We did not know originally that Westlake park did not always look like this and we marvelled at how great Seattle was to have such an amazing exciting public space.  Now we just feel fortunate that we were able to see these temporary exhibits and feel excited for what this space might hold next.

West Coast 2012: Seattle - Hotel Max

We stayed in many nice places this our trip through the Okanagan Valley and Cascade Mountains, but my favourite is the ultra funky and artsy Hotel Max, located in our final destination, Seattle.  From the black marquee with hot pink text, the shiny, lacquer-finished scarlet red lobby desk, the contemporary art hung throughout the hotel, to the lobby's water dispenser (flavoured daily with different fresh fruit) and the gumball machine that dispenses large pink gumballs (matching the hotel's signature text colour), everything about this place exudes a chic, hip and fun vibe.

The rooms are small but beautifully decorated with an original painting in every unit.  We chose one of the larger rooms in the hotel that managed to tuck a full bathtub into the tiny washroom.  The tub was long and deep enough for me to fully immerse myself in hot water - heaven after each long, brisk day of walking around outside.  A pillow menu offered you the choice of soft, medium, firm, extra firm, u-neck, body and reading pillows.  Our room came with a nice firm pillow so we didn't bother switching, but in retrospect, I should have tried some of the other ones just for fun.  Something that I've never seen before was the choice of religious reading material, ranging from King James Bible to Torah, Scientology, Koran, Morman, Buddism and more.  This really was an all inclusive establishment.  Instead of the usual spiel on the hanging door cards indicating whether or not you wanted your room made up, the Hotel Max indicators just say "Yep" or "Nope" .. very cool.

But the best part of the hotel for me were the room doors, each adorned with a different black and white photograph.  Each floor seems to be represented by a single photographer and some floors have a clear theme, be it rock bands, street performers, or Paris scenes.  This of course was irresistible to me and I had to make a late night trek up and down the hallways of each floor to see them all.

This turned out to be a great place to stay in Seattle, as it was within walking distance of most of the main attractions like Pike's Market and Pioneer Square and even Broadway.  The room rates were not too bad for such a central location and such a unique hotel.  The only drawback was the overnight parking which was a hefty $33 per night.

West Coast 2012: Leavenworth, Washington

En route to Seattle, we stopped by Leavenworth, Washington (not to be confused with the penitentiary in Kansas). Leavenworth once had a booming logging industry, but fell on hard times when the railway which brought in business was re-routed to bypass it.  In the 1960s, in an effort to save the town (reminds you of an old Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney movie), it was converted to a Bavarian village, inspired by the Cascade Mountains which would stand in for the Alps.  Today it is a bustling tourist stop and even the mainstream businesses such as Starbucks and Subway Sandwiches are housed under Bavarian styled decor.

On a kitschy scale of 1-10, Leavenworth is an 11. Everywhere you turned, you found statues and images of goat herders or lederhosen/alpine hat clad dwarfs, children, animals.  Even some of the store keepers are dressed like they stepped out of the Sound of Music.

 A year round Christmas store called Kris Kringle (similar to one in Niagara on the Lake) featured all sorts of festive ornaments, decorations and trees including a 5ft tall plastic revolving Christmas tree that sprays fake snow into the air.

Another cool store is "The Hat Shop" which featured any kooky thing you could image putting on your head.  It was more like a costume shop than a hat store.  I could have spent the whole day trying on hats but Rich would only indulge me for so long, and only for one photo (see the faked forced smile that is more of a grimace?)

There is a Nutcracker museum dedicated to nutcrackers of every size, shape and form including an entire set of Wizard of Oz nutcrackers.  Over 5000 different nutcrackers were on display.

You can't be in a Bavarian town without eating bratwurst and schnitzel, so we had one for lunch and the other for dinner.  The bratwurst was deliciously seasoned and juicy and came with a wide selection of mustard including various ale infused ones, curry, apricot ginger, chipotle, jalapeno, etc. as well as heated sauerkraut.  The schnitzel was just ok but the atmosphere of the restaurant made up for it.  We sat in a cozy wooden alcove and were serenaded by accordion music.  We finished off the evening with some freshly made struedel from the bakery.

On the way to our motel, we came across a strange sight... a goat seeming to be standing right next to the busy highway into town.  Upon closer inspection and after talking to some townspeople, we found out that the goats were mascots of the neighbouring inn who owned the golf course down in the valley that the goats (there were more than one!) overlooked.

The next day, we drove over the Cascade Mountains heading west towards Seattle.  Before scaling the mountains, it was a chilly 14 degrees Celsius and drizzling.  As we climbed higher and higher, the temperature dipped lower and lower until it hit zero degrees and suddenly the rain had turned to snow and we found ourselves in a mini "snow storm".  Luckily we soon started to descend and before long, we were back to a balmy 14 degrees again!  Funny how quickly your perspective can change.