Day 3
Can't believe this is the last day already! First thing in the morning, coffee and breakfast! I was debating to try the waffle in Moore Coffee Shop we saw on the first day or try this waffle place called "Sweet Iron" and I decided to try Sweet Iron. (Bad choice) We ordered coffee, the Bacon + maple syrup waffle, and Berry compote + whipped cream waffle. It was mediocre, honestly, it was a little disappointing. (even the coffee!) In order to make it up for this unfortunate experience, we went to another coffee shop called "Storyville Coffee" and they have excellent coffee!! After I got a good cup of coffee, then, we can continue our itinerary. Today, we wanted to explore the Northwest part of Seattle. First destination - Fremont Troll! The Troll was sculpted by 4 local artists, and the goal was to rehabilitate the area under the bridge, which has become a dumping ground and haven for drug dealers. (Information from wikipedia) It was a really cool sculpture and it was huge!! Must have been a very challenging project! Then, we crossed the bridge (right above the troll) to the south lake union, where you can find a lot of historical landmarks around. We found a boat called Lotus, and she was built in 1909, so she is over 100 years old but still beautiful!!! The owner said that the boat is still seaworthy and they take her out every summer! Almost everything inside is original, and there are 3-4 bedrooms in which tourists can reserve and stay. The room looks cute and cozy, might not be a bad idea to stay on the lake next time! We walked around the lake a little bit before heading back to the city. From the park around the lake, you can see the space needle pretty well.
Lunch time!! We are not missing any opportunities to try different restaurant around here! There is a very popular pizza place called "Serious Pie" in the downtown area. There are actually 3 locations for this place, but we chose the one in downtown because of the itinerary. It wasn't too long of a wait, and the pizza was DELICIOUS! Very creative toppings and the crust was so thin, but just thick enough. We ordered the pizza with roasted morels, crawford farms asparagus, and taleggio. The waitress said that each pizza could feed one person, but we just had breakfast not too long ago, so we decided to have a light lunch and just ordered one pizza. (Now that I think about this, maybe I should have ordered 2! It was soooooo good) After lunch, we decided it is the right time to enjoy some art. Next destination - Seattle Art Museum (SAM). You definitely will not miss the SAM, as it has a giant sculpture outside the building. It is a kinetic sculpture, meaning it moves, and it is called the hammering man. Basically, it is a giant man hammering right outside the museum. Hammering Man is a project by Jonathan Borofsky which have been installed in various cities around the world, kinda like the LOVE sculptures around different cities. Interestingly, the Hammering Man rests his arm every year on Labor Day, so don't go on Labor Day if you want to see the moving Hammering Man.
I have learned something shocking!! Maybe you guys have already known, but if you don't, here it is!! Most of the museums' entrance fees are only suggested!!!! Basically you can pay any amount you want! (because they get funding from the government to run the place) They don't usually tell you the price is suggested because they want you to pay for the suggested price, but you can actually pay less than that if you wish. I can't believe I did not know about this all these times!! Well, that being said, I would still suggest that everyone pay the full price to support art!
Different people have different tastes in arts, and the exhibitions they had this time weren't my type of art. But exhibitions change all the time, so check before you go if you are picky like me! Next destination - Ferry ride! It might sound stupid, because we are not trying to get to the other island. All we want is to experience the ferry ride and see the city view from the ferry. We took the ferry from Seattle to Bremerton. It is an hour ferry ride, and you only have to pay for one trip, the return trip is free. We spent a very relaxing time on the ferry, enjoying the breeze and the view. We walked so much these 2 days, (sore feet...) it is kinda nice to sit for a while.
What's for dinner? I made a reservation at an Italian restaurant called "the Pink Door" tonight. The review seems to be very positive and it has different performances every 30 minutes from 6:30 - 8:45 at dinner time. The entrance is literal enough, a pink door! The restaurant has a very charming, homey feeling to it, which I really like. We ordered Tjarin (Pancetta, aspragus, sugar snaps, green garlic & raw egg yolk), the mushroom risotto with parmesan crip and the Cioppino. The Cioppino was okay, the seafood was not as fresh as I thought. But I really like the pasta and the risotto. That is a very nice spring vegetable pasta, and the raw egg yolk gave it a very creamy texture. For the risotto, the waiter said that they made their own mushroom stock, and you can definitely tell! The risotto was cooked right and the parmesan crip was definitely a plus. We ordered 2 desserts, but they were okay. (can't believe I did not get ANY satisfying dessert on this trip!!)
So much for the food. What made this dining experience exceptional is definitely the performances! During our dinner, there were 3 different performances, and I do not know what they are called. It is like pole dancing, but not with a pole. Instead, the female performer was dancing in the air with the hanging ribbon/hoola hoop. They are slightly exotic, but very very nice performances. I just love it. After dinner, we have one last stop before going back to the hotel and pack - Kerry Park!!! Probably one of the best spots to see the city view! (with the Space Needle in it this time) But we decided we needed a coffee after the meal, so we went to this place called "Uptown Espresso". It is in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle. (We were going to go to Caffe Fiore, but it was closed) It is a very spacious coffee place in the area if you are looking for a place to study/read a book/chitchat with friends, and most importantly, the coffee was great! Then, we walked to the Kerry Park from the coffee shop, which is not too far of a walk, but it is very uphill. We figured it is probably a good idea after all the food we had the past 3 days.
Perfect timing! It was around 8:30-9pm when we made it there, and it is finally starting to get dark! And the view was spectacular! There is another park I was thinking of going called the "Seacrest Park". It is more like a skyline view instead of this close up view of the city. You can walk along the water, enjoy the sea breeze, and look at the city. Unfortunately, we have a 6am flight to catch tomorrow, so we decided to go back to the hotel and save this for next time. But if you have time, you should definitely go! On a clear day, the day view is very pretty too. On this note, our short 3-day Seattle trip has come to an end (*sob*until next time!). I will definitely come back if I have a chance! Bye Seattle!
*Travel tips* I reserved the rental car from enterprise a couple weeks ago for 4 days and it was around $180. And as you all know, you can cancel a rental car reservation anytime without any cost, so I checked again 2 days before the trip, and I got a new quote for $80! I was like "holy shxt!". And I canceled my last reservation and made a new one. That saved me $100!!!!!! I also checked for the plane tickets to see if there's any last minute deal since the ticket I got happened to be refundable. But I already had the best deal. Something to keep in mind! Always plan the trip ahead of time so that you have more time to look for deals (if the budget is a concern), and never forget to check again before the trip too!
P.S. I promise I will be continuing the South America trip posts!
We decided to go to the "countryside" of the Buenos Aires Province - Tigre. It is a day trip distance from the city Buenos Aires and it's reachable by train from the city. It is a town sitting next to the Rio Lujan, with historic museums and nice scenery. It is not only a tourist attraction, but a relaxing weekend day trip for locals. There are two train routes to get to Tigre. You can take the Linea Mitre Train, starting from Retiro Station to Tigre Station, or you can take the Tren de la Costa (train of the coast). In order to take the Tren de la Costa, you will need to first take the Linea Mitre train to the Maipu Station, then change to the Tren de la Costa and take it all the way to the final stop Delta. It is a little more expensive to take the Tren de la Costa, but the name probably already gives it away that the train ride is along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. There is a little ocean view and it is a pretty nice train ride, so I would recommend taking it one way and taking the simpler route the other way. Seven out of the eleven stations are original, and these stations have history, art displays, and entertainment.
That night, we planned to go to a Tango show. Well, Tango originated in Buenos Aires, how can we not go! There are a few places people recommended, and we went to this place called "Cafe de las Angelitos". It is around USD 80 - 90 per person and it is a package including transportation, dinner and the show. I was super excited! The food was okay..... a little disappointing (unlimited refill of wine though). But the show afterwards was AWESOME. I was expecting a few dances, but it was 2 hours of singing and dancing, and it was absolutely marvelous. I, personally, do not know Spanish, so it was very difficult for me to know what is actually going on. But, it looked like the show was telling a story, with occasionally solo singing, and tango dancing. It was such an enjoyable night.
