Reflections on Seattle

After several thousand miles of travel, 3 locations, 4 hotels and lots of different experiences I have now returned home. My final day in Seattle was spent sorting out and going for a walk (between the showers) around Lake Union near my hotel. The flight back was relatively uneventful and I managed to get from the airplane docking at T5 to my having my case within 20 minutes which was quite impressive!

Having been through Seattle three times on my holiday I have begun to get an impression of the place! Architecturally and geologically it is quite interesting, surrounded by mountains and water with some unusual buildings (the space needle and the new central library being two particular favourites). I also enjoyed seeing more of what it is actually like to live there by meeting a friend of mine who now lives in Seattle. The city also has a lot of public sculpture about (including the excellent Olympic Sculpture Park) which was good to see.

The hotel I chose (Silver Could Inn at Lake Union) was quite comfortable, and was a very spacious room. It is the first time I have had a working (gas) fire in a hotel room I have stayed in! Location wise it was a little out of the way, but it had a free shuttle bus to get downtown and a more central hotel would not have been as spacious for the price!

One of the highlights had to be seeing history made with the election of Obama. I can't wait to see what the impact is of his taking office. Of my predictions I am three from four, with the only incorrect prediction being that Gregoire held on as governor (fairly comfortably - compared to the other two local results this one was declared quite early - it is only today that I have seen a result in the Reichert/Bruner race!).

Overall I have a good time on my holiday and enjoyed the places I visited. None of them are really places where you could go to for a fortnight, but the way I had structured it worked well, with just enough time at each to see all that I wanted to see. Lots of memories (and photos) to take away - now back to the travelling for work!

The first shall be the last

The last full day of my holiday (before travelling) was "First Thursday" in Seattle. This meant that it was the first Thursday of the month, and therefore several attractions were offering free entry. It was also a very wet day, with the heavy rain that was threatened turning up. Still, to have gone this far in the holiday without a fully wet day (considering where I have gone to) was quite good going!

My main stop of the day was the Seattle Art Museum. This, with free entry, had a selection of art from different ages and styles. For my taste there was slightly too much focus on Native American/First Peoples art and not enough contemporary art, but it passed a few hours quite successfully! After this I sheltered from the weather in a coffee shop for a while, and also went round a few shops.

My final stop of the day was the Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum located at the "Seattle Centre" (near the space needle) which was offering free evening entry. The Music part of the museum offered some historical displays (on electric guitars and Jimi Hendrix to name two), often with multimedia aspects. It also offered a hands-on room where you could use many instruments. I took the opportunity to have a go at playing the drums. Not sure I will be taking it up professionally though... The Sci-Fi museum was a bit disappointing though - the focus was on Star Trek/Star Wars and I didn't manage to find one reference to Doctor Who in the whole place!

Reflections on Portland

Before I head back home, I should tie up some loose ends with some reflections on Portland. Portland is not a traditional tourist place, but I managed to find plenty to do there. The town itself is not the most interesting place architecturally - the most noticeable thing are the many bridges that cross over the river. There is also a lot of homelessness about (something that I have seen in all three locations, but particularly in Portland). However, it does have several things going for it, not least the public transport system which is plentiful and, in the centre, free. (It does stop every two block though so it is usually just as quick to walk).

The hotel I stayed at (Hotel Fifty) had definitely benefited from its recent makeover and was quite comfortable. It also had some good design features such as a way of turning on the water in the walk-in shower before you walk into it. Location-wise it was within walking distance of most things, particularly shops, giving it a similar feeling to being next to Broadmead in Bristol or the centre of Swindon. However, the museums and galleries there were well-stocked given the size of the town so it made for a diverting place to spend a few days.

Eye of the needle

Wednesday brought some good weather to Seattle, possibly for the last time on my trip, so I made sure to get out and about. First stop of the day was the Olympic Sculpture Park, which is run by the Seattle Art Museum and has a selection of sculpture by the waterfront. As this is near the "Seattle Centre" I walked over to there to take the monorail back downtown. From here I bought some coffee from the original Starbucks and drunk it sitting outside! (This time wearing a coat rather than just a t-shirt).

I then walked along another part of the waterfront past the ferries, ending up at Pioneer Square. This is the area where I stayed on my very first night of the trip. Back then, at night, it seemed a slightly dodgy area (and I had no idea that my hotel was 50 meters from the water) but in daylight it had a lot more historical and architectural merit to it. I also visited Powell's which is a famous Seattle bookshop.

From there I headed back to the Space Needle. This is obviously an icon of Seattle, and rightly so. The views from the top were magnificent - speaking to a guard there he said that some of the views were the clearest he had seen, particularly looking towards the Canadian border. You also do not realise how Sattle is surrounded by mountains until you are up there. Being Seattle, there was naturally a coffee shop up there, so I had a coffee as it gradually got dark, giving another view of Seattle at night.

Vote early, vote often

A few reflections from Election day in America:

- Going about Seattle yesterday there were people on street corners holding up signs, usually for the Obama/Biden ticket. This is in Seattle, Washington, where there fact that Obama would win the state, and therefore the electoral votes, was never in doubt. It is impressive to see the commitment that people have to their cause - I can't ever remember seeing something like that in the UK.

- Election coverage is not quite on the same scale as it is in the UK. Possibly this is because, with local coverage and advertising breaks, there is not as much time for the amount of debate that there is in the UK. With polls closing through the evening, the big times occur at the top of the hour when states are declared by the networks as to who has won them. However, they are careful to only do this when voting has finished in a state. Therefore, although it was obvious that Obama had won from the moment he won Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, it was only declared when the big western states (including Washington) closed at 8pm local time. However, this efficiency (and the time zone I am in) means it was all done and dusted before bedtime!

- The big gadget for explaining results are touch-screens which can do all sorts of manipulation of maps and data. This is much better than Jeremy Vine wearing a cowboy outfit (as seen in the last local elections in the UK) - can we have this too, please?

- In the end, the Democrats got a victory that has been on the cards for the past 2 years. The Republicans played all the right cards to try and win it, by selecting in John McCain a candidate who was not a mainstream Republican (personally I would have liked to see Rudy Gulliani in that role, but McCain was a sensible choice) and in Sarah Palin someone who helped bring new life to a campaign that was nearly over in the summer. If the Democrats had selected Hillary Clinton, then the race would have been significantly tighter than it was last night, and McCain (with, I expect, a different running mate) could conceivably have won.

- The replacement for election ads on the TV appears to be Christmas ads - is it really that time of year again?

History

Barack Obama will be the 44th President of the United States. For someone of his background to be the nest President is a huge step forward for the US and for the world.

Two years ago I was in Washington DC when the Democrats moved to the majority in the Senate and in the House. In my opinion, one of the key movers in that victory was Barack Obama. From seeing the crowd reaction to him as he campaigned I was confident that he would be the Democratic candidate for President and, given the way the nation was moving, the next President. Today I have been here in Seattle, Washington to see that come to pass. Having read much that Obama has written I am pleased to see him reach that post today and wish him well with the doubtless challenges that lie ahead.

Election Day in America

Today America goes to the polls to elect a new President and a lot more besides. As ever, it has been very interesting to see the race live (as it were) on the ground. Whilst both the main candidates get coverage, it is noticeable that amongst the VP candidates Sarah Palin is very prominent (almost as prominent as McCain) whereas Joe Biden is almost invisible. Indeed, there is more coverage of Joe the Plumber than there is of Joe the VP candidate. Being in Washington and Oregon there have been relatively few adverts for the presidential candidates on the TV (both states are firmly in the Obama list), but there are some close local races (including something called State Lands Commissioner) which mean that we get our fair share of (usually) attack ads.

It is also good to see the general encouragement for people to get out and vote. Even slightly disreputable locations are encouraging people to use their democratic rights (see picture).

The time zone differences mean that coverage for me starts mid-afternoon, with people voting locally potentially knowing the result (or at least which way the wind is blowing) before the polls close locally. Whilst this may not change the result for the Presidential elections, it might have an impact further down the ticket.

So, some predictions. For the Presidential race history will be made whoever wins, but I am sure that it will be Obama who wins it. However, I think it will be closer than some of the polls have been suggesting, and there is a possibility of a blue (Democrat) state turning Red. However, there are enough red sates turning blue that Obama should take it.

Further down the ticket there are three local races which are close. In Oregon the Senate race is close between Gordon Smith (Rep) and Jeff Merkley (Dem). I think this one could be a Democrat gain from the Republicans. In the House races, the Washington 8th is a close race between Dave Reichert (Rep and incumbent) and Darcy Burner (Dem). The main topic here has been whether Burner does or does not have a degree in Economics from Harvard (the conclusion being that she has a degree from Harvard in Computer Science, but took several courses in Economics). Reichert may just hold on here. Finally, the race for Governor of Washington is exceedingly interesting. Incumbent Chris Gregoire (Dem) won by 133 votes last time. She is running against Dino Rossi, who brands himself as being of the GOP rather than a Republican (GOP - "Grand Old Party" - being just another name for Republican). This could be the one "Republican" highlight of the night as he appears to have a chance (although slim) of winning here. However, it could be close and it might be a few days until we get a result.

Only a few hours until the polls close now - I'll be sure to be in place to watch it all play out!

Monday Market

Having taken the Amtrak back up the coast I arrived in Seattle for a longer stay this time. I began my first full day with a visit to Pike Place Market. This has a vast collection of stalls and small shops, from souvenirs and crafts to fruit and fish. It is also the site of the original Starbucks coffee shop, from which the global chain was launched. (An interesting side on Starbucks - they had apparently been advertising free coffee tomorrow for anyone who voted. However, this is against the law as it is viewed as paying people to vote, so it will now be free coffee for anyone who asks for it! Guess where I am going tomorrow...)


From Pike Place I headed to the Washington Trade Centre to visit the Tourist Information Centre there. However, I also found that the Trade Centre has a large display of art, with both special exhibitions and permanent pieces on display along its many corridors. Also out the back was the Freeway park - an interesting area which you could see had aimed to be a concrete oasis but hadn't quite made it.


Later in the afternoon I headed to the central library. It seems like markets and libraries have been themes on this trip so it is good to have done both in Seattle. This library was possibly the most impressive library building I have seen. Opened just a couple of years ago it is a fantastic space inside and features many interesting features such as the fact that the floors are set on a spiral so the book shelving just goes on continuously following the dewey decimal system. It doesn't sound much but it impressed me!

Champion!

To say that Formula One isn't popular in the US is an understatement. The race this morning (local time) wasn't being shown on any of the channels on the hotel TV and reception had no suggestions. Fortunately I managed to (a) find a sports bar open at 9am in the morning and (b) persuade them that they did have the right channel to show it. I therefore watched the race in a room off the back of this bar - the only person watching. And boy, was it worth it. Has a world championship ever come down to the last corner before? Talk about edge of your seat stuff. Congratulations to Lewis - he took the hard way but he made it in the end.

One good thing about the US coverage is that they at lease sound embarrassed about cutting to an advert break and try to get them out the way at appropriate times - more than ITV do after years of coverage. Thank goodness coverage moves to the BBC next year.

BTW - the US commentators stated that David Couthard's next job would be TV presenting next season - not sure if this is known in the UK but assuming it is true then I think this should be good news for the BBC's coverage.

Bridge town

The day started with light rain and a trip to the Portland Saturday Market. Fortunately (given the weather if not for aesthetics) it is mainly situated under a road bridge/ramp so I could browse most of the stalls (mainly craft stalls) without getting too wet. From there I headed to the Oregon Historical Society - the local history museum. Here as well as displays on the development of the local area there was a very interesting exhibition on the work of Raymond Loewy who has influenced the design of hundreds of consumer items over the years from refrigerators to cars to Concorde.

Later in the afternoon I went for a walk alongside the Willamette river which flows through Portland. To do this I walked over the steel bridge which was fairly fascinating in itself - it has two desks, each of which can be raised independently to let ships through. The bottom deck is mainly rail plus a footpath. On the top desk there is room for cards as well as two lines of the local light transit and a footpath - of course I had to cross both to see what it was like! Some of the best views of Portland can be seen from that top deck. Form there I walked along the side of the river, partially on a set of floating platforms, until it started to rain so I crossed over another bridge to head back to my hotel.

Fall Back

The clocks change in the US tonight - catching up with the UK on daylight saving time (for the past week the time difference has only been 7 hours!) it is interesting to note that this day is known as "fall back" - not just an aide memoir but an actual name for the day. Indeed, the hotel has put a note under my door saying "Just a reminder, time will 'Fall Back' 1 hour this Sunday morning at 2am".

Fathers and sons

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I went to see "W" at the cinema a few days back. At the same time I was reading Barak Obama's book "Dreams from my Father". It is interesting to see that the relationship with their fathers has been key to the lives of the current and the next president in very different ways. If "W" is to be believed (and it is a film, not a documentary) the relationship between the two President Bushes "41" and "43" was and remains a strained one, with the W generally being a disappointment to his father. This is a strong contrast to Barak Obama's tale of not knowing his father - following his parent's separation when he was very young he only saw his father once at age 10 before his father died. However, his father still managed to make a strong impact on Obama and his book is a really interesting memoir on the rather unusual background of the man who is very likely to be the next President.

Reflections on Vancouver

Ever since my laptop ran out of battery at the coffee shop in Seattle I have been meaning to pull together a few thoughts on Vancouver and my time there. The first thing to note about Vancouver and Canada is that it isn't that different from the US. They've definitely been buying road signage in bulk to give the place that all-American feel, and I have already blogged on the domination of US television.

The city of Vancouver itself is a nice city with plenty of green areas and some great views. It is undergoing a lot of development currently - it has the Winter Olympics in 2010 and related to this there is a lot of building going on. How much of it is officially related, and how much is purely private development I do not know, however it certainly felt like there would be a much bigger legacy in Vancouver (for doubtless a smaller investment) than it looks like there will be for all the money being spent in London. There will even be a new line on the Skytrain which goes out to the airport. The Skytrain sounds exciting, but generally is just a version of the Docklands Light Railway. Ticketing is fairly inexpensive compared to London - $2.50 for a one zone ticket which is totally transferable between train, bus and boat within a 90 minute period - quite impressive.

As for my trip there I had a good time. Despite it being a very last minute arrangement, the hotel - Park Inn & Suites - was quite comfortable for what I paid although I would have appreciated an armchair in the room. Whilst the location wasn't downtown, it was walkable if you wanted and as noted above public transport was quite good. It was also on the right side for areas such as Granville Island which was probably my favourite place of the places I visited. Overall I think I had the right amount of time there - whilst there were other places to visit around and about (I could have gone further out) I had plenty of time to see that which I wanted to see.

Raining art

If it is Friday, it must be raining, right? Well of course! However it is nothing like the rain seen in Japan last year and, unfortunately, I think the rain will be with me on and off for the next week. However, won't let that stop me getting out and about! Spent mostof the day in the Portland Art Museum. This was much bigger than I expected, with both local art and some international pieces from many different eras. I was in there so long it even stopped raining by the time I had finished!

Later in the day I made the mistake of going to a mall. Apparently, a mall is the place to go trick-or-treating. Therefore there were hundreds of small kids (and many adults too) going round the shops getting all the sweets they could. You've got to feel sorry for the shops not taking part who had resorted to putting out signs saying "we have no candy"!

Happy Halloween!

I believe that I am constitutionally obliged to say "Happy Halloween" being in the USA. Halloween is certainly a big - and commercial - event here in America. Dressing up appears to be de rigeur - and not just as ghosts or witches. The hosts of the Today Show on NBC this morning dressed up as fairy tale characters - not sure if this work work with the Today Programme in the UK though...

Books & Bushes

Arrived into Portland Wednesday evening on the Amtrak Cascades train. After my earlier comments about American trains this one, disappointingly, didn't have the acres of legroom that you usually get. However, it did have leather seats (even in standard class) and showed a film during the journey so it is not bad considering it only cost me $44 to get all the way from Vancouver to Portland!

For my first day in Portland I headed out to Powells' bookstore. This is the largest independent bookshop in the US, taking up a whole block. I found that, had I been in Portland earlier the day before, I could have attended a Guardian event on the elections there. Never mind! After that I went to the Museum of Contemporary Craft, which had a great exhibition on using everyday items in unexpected ways, including a display of cotton reels which, when you looked at it through a glass sphere, became a classic Campbell's soup tin!

After lunch I walked through the Tom McCall Waterfront park. Now this, apparently used to be an expressway - it sounds very green that it is now a park until you see that there is still a fairly large road next to it! Then, to continue with the book theme of the day I visited the central library in the afternoon, before going to the movies to see "W" - a surprisingly sympathetic biopic of George W Bush by Oliver Stone.

So much more than TV Times...

One of the interesting aspects of Vancouver is the TV situaton there. Being close to the border there are both US and Canadian stations available. However, they protect the market for selling US TV shows into Canada by ensuring that the station switches to the local station with the rights when the show comes on. Therefore, on Monday night the "local" NBC affiliate switched from City TV to Global TV as it moved from "Chuck" to the new "Heroes". What this does mean, though, is that the job of a Canadian TV scheduler must be quite dull, as it mainly covers reading TV Guide to see when the US show is on and flicking the switch.

By the way, if you ever thought that dancing on Strictly Come Dancing was bad, you'll be glad hadn't seen Dancing with the Stars in the US. Last night saw Cloris Leachman (an actress) finally leave in week six. In the UK contest she would have made someone from GMTV look good. Even in the group dance (an old-skool hip-hop dance!) she had to stand at the back as she couldn't take part actively. See here for her taking part: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVmnk6aF_40. However, fair play to her - she is 82!!! What's noticeable compared to the UK is that even this dance gets 5's all round - there's definitely vote inflation in the US!

Stopping in Seattle

How's about this for a holiday experience - using wi-fi in a trendy Seattle coffee shop. It's just the kind of place Frasier Crane would frequent (if he ever went down the "wrong" end of town that is - I wouldn't recommend the station area as a "must see"!). It's even called Zeitgeist! Am in Seattle as the stopping off point on my journey from Vancouver to Portland - the bus got in an hour early so I have 2.5 hours to wait! Only another90 minutes to go though...

The Englishman who went up a mountain to find it still being built

Vancouver maintained its batting average with another beautiful day Tuesday. I started the day by heading to the Vanier Park. Here I walked around the area and visited the Vancouver Museum, which told the story of Vancouver over the years. One of the best exhibits there was a proper 50's/0's jukebox which you could use and play music of the time on. Another impressive item was at the end of a special exhibition on Stanley Park, where they had two screens of photos of the park streamed from the internet, and some "viewpoint" looking stations which you could use to select the picture you wanted to see in more detail and have it come up on a big screen.

After lunch I headed across town and caught the seabus to North Vancouver. From here I took a bus to Grouse mountain. Here you took a cable car up to the top of the mountain for views of Vancouver and other attractions. Getting to the top, the views weren't that clear (despite signs to the contrary at the bottom) as the city itself was quite hasy. However, the actual area was a big letdown. They had the builders in (preparing for ski season no doubt) which meant that a lot of areas were fenced off and those that weren't had diggers etc working around them. Whilst I appreciate that it is off season, to not even be able to walk to the peak due to building was a bit much, particularly as it was still full fare (nearly £18!)! Still, managed to look around a bit, take some photos, see two bears who were living on the edge of this building site and watch a film of aerial photography before running out of things to do and heading back to town.

Is it summer?

Another beautiful day here in Vancouver - slightly warmer than it has been as well. Walked across the river to downtown this morning, with the first destination being the Vancouver Art Gallery. Here there is no permanent collection on display but a collection of special exhibitions. At the moment the main focus is on feminist art (am obvious exhibition for a single male to visit!) - it included some good abstract art, but also in parts seemed as if it had been curated by a man...

For lunch the weather was so good that I was able to sit outside in a t-shirt. It was a good job the colours on the trees showed it was autumn, as otherwise I wouldn't know! After this I had a wonder through the main shopping district in the downtown area before stopping of at the Vancouver central library. This is an intriguing building built in a "Roman Colosseum" style. It apparently has a "green roof" as well, but you weren't able to go up and have a look at it!

Walking by water

For my first full day in Vancouver I headed by bus to the waterfront area of town. Vancouver's growth over the years has been based on its role as a port and today it is still important, particularly for the cruise industry. First stop was the Vancouver Lookout! Harbour Centre Tower which gives 360 degree views across Vancouver. Given the number of towers I went up last year in Japan I couldn't pass on the opportunity! Also in the area was a steam-powered clock which was a slightly odd sight with the steam almost obscuring the clock-face!

Next was a visit to Canada Place. This was built for the Expo and is the stopping off point for many of the cruise ships, although none were in town today. It did, however, give a good view of the water planes taking off and landing. This was followed by a walk along the sea wall to Stanley Park. Here's a large green area on the edge of downtown, incorporating many walks and lots of wildlife. I saw some raccoons, as well as squirrels and many types of bird on just a short walk around the "lost lagoon".

An interesting innovation at the Lookout tower was that your ticket was valid or the whole day. This therefore enabled me to head back there after having some dinner to watch the sun go down and to get a view of Vancouver at night. Better than one occasion in Japan where I sat in a tower for the best part of an hour waiting for sunset to happen!

Under the bridge

Greetings from Canada! After an early start to catch the train (although, given the time difference from home, I was up with plenty of time) I caught the Amtrak Cascades line up from Seattle. The train, whilst relatively slow (4 hours for 140 miles) was a comfy way to travel. The legroom on US trains is superb - I certainly can't complain and that's saying something. There is nothing comparable in the UK. There were also some great views - if you were sitting on the left-hand side of the train. Unfortunately I was on the right...

Got to Vancouver and found my hotel. After some trouble with a last minute cancellation of the room I had booked through Octopustravel, I had booked a hotel last minute. Location-wise it was a little further out than I would have liked, but it is not too far and OK for the price. After checking in I walked over to Granville island, which is close to the hotel. This is a curious place, a mixture of arts community and cement works, with the main bridge to downtown cutting over the island. Still there were several galleries (both commercial and student art) to visit and a fantastic indoor market with all sorts of great-looking fresh produce (no kitchen, so no cooking, so no purchases, I'm afraid!) which, coupled with the weather made for a great afternoon.

Sleeping in Seattle

After the problems of getting to the airport, the flight over was smooth going. Only issue was the delay caused by the Queen returning from Slovenia & Slovakia just as we were ready to take off!

Seattle last night was only a stopover - time to grab a burger and get some shut-eye. This morning I take the Amtrak train to Vancouver. I'll see you from there!

Of T5 and transit trouble

It wouldn't be a holiday without some form of travel trouble. I start my North-West American Adventure on the hard shoulder of the M32 just outside Bristol - my bus breaks down (having been late due to technical issues) and we end up leaving Bristol about 1hr 45 later than we should be. Through this some poor customer service from National Express who (a) sent us out on a dodgy bus and (b) did not communicate AT ALL with the passengers during the time we spent sitting on the hard shoulder. Even the back-up bus appeared to get lost reaching us...

Anyhow, made it eventually to the new, shiny T5. They seem to have ironed out a lot of the issues, although finding departures from the bus depot was near impossible. Am now in a lounge (makes a nice change!) - all very swish even if it is just a "satellite" lounge (T5 is actually three terminals). Just a few minutes before the flight opens and I can get on my way. See ya later!