Seattle 2017

This summer, I had the opportunity to travel to Seattle not just once, but 2.5 times :).

Trip #1 (July 21, 2017):

First it was in July when I made a last-minute trip out there to climb Rainier via Emmons Glacier. After the summit, I was dropped off at my hotel near Seattle while the rest of the group proceeded onto climbing Mt Baker, which they were unable to summit due to bad weather. For me, just the summit of Rainier was more than enough on that trip. My two big toes were hurting a lot and were bruised while descending down the mountain. I rested up at the hotel for 2 days straight before venturing out to explore Seattle. Though this was my third overall trip to Seattle, this was the first time I went out and took the bus and train to visit the downtown.

The receptionist at my hotel suggested me to visit The Public Market and Seattle Space Needle. I visited both plus a few more attractions.

At first I had to get my Indian lunch Buffet to satisfy my appetite. So I started navigating to an Indian restaurant on Pike Street called Dawat Indian Grill & Bar. The food was nothing but amazing (in my honest opinion). But before going to Pike Street on Westlake Station, I got off at International District station out of curiosity.

International District

After lunch, I walked to Starbucks Reserve, which is the world headquarters for coffeehouse chain Starbucks.

Then I proceeded onto visiting the Public Market, and bought some fruits and enjoyed some views.

Seattle Public Market

View from the other side of Public Market where you can enjoy a nice lunch bought from the market

Mandatory Selfie

Homeless Tent. I have never seen this in NY

Seattle Space Needle as I was walking towards it

View from the top of Space Needle. Mount Rainier was visible that day

View from the top of Space Needle

Night View from the top of Space Needle

My complementary photo for taking the Space Needle Elevator to the top 🙂

I came back to my hotel late that night by taking the train and bus. Next morning I headed out to visit Alaska! 🙂

Trip #2 (August 2017):

This, once again, was a last-minute trip. The purpose of this trip was to attend a Six Day Mountaineering Training course in the Cascades. This time I arrived with one spare day to explore Seattle a little bit more. I arrived on Friday morning, had the entire Saturday for exploration, and my training started at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday.

Instead of staying in a hotel, this time I booked a bed in a hostel. I stayed at HI Seattle Hostel in International District. It was probably one of my best hostel experience. I had a bed by the window with a view. I was also able to rent a locker to leave my duffel bag with extra gear I did not need during the training since I was going to stay at the hostel again at the end of the training, which was pretty nice. The hostel was clean, included in the price free unlimited breakfast, which was really good, towel, and a Wi-Fi that actually works everywhere around the hostel. Separate bedrooms and bathrooms and shower for men and women.

Dog on the Train who lay down right by my feet touching my leg a little and fell asleep 🙂

Feathered Friends

I went out for a walk in the afternoon after settling in at the hostel and visited Feathered Friends. They had so many cool stuffs in there 🙂

Bicycle culture in Seattle

Next morning, there was a free Seattle walk tour offered by my hostel. I joined that and visited a few places.

In the afternoon, met up with an old friend from NYC who moved to Seattle. I saw her after three years!!!!

Next morning at 6 AM, I left the hostel to attend the Six Day Mountaineering Training.

Trip #2.5 (August 2017):

I came back to Seattle and back at the hostel after the training. I again got a nice room at the hostel and a bed by the window with a view :). After resting up a bit and a nice shower, I went out to get dinner at Tsukushinbo. It was open late and the food was yummy. They made the rolls right before my eyes as I was sitting at the bar.