Day 51: Hanging Around Our Seattle Neighborhood

A Bit of Shopping, a Bit of Walking, a Bit of Football, a Bit of Laundry

Pike Place Market

Today we spent the day in our neighborhood-- or at least our neighborhood for this week.  We headed out in the morning to check out The Market-- and found that it was wall to wall people seemingly watching and walking more than buying.

It was hard to distinguish between the tourist traps and the real shops, as everything was clustered together in one big commerce pit.  But, with a bit of guide book help we found some fresh and reasonably priced fish (NOT from the flying fish place), and some fresh vegetables to go with it.  A later stop at the French-Spanish market two doors down from the condo supplied the mustard, olive oil, and French Cider to round out the meal.  It was a cooking success.

But-- I'm jumping ahead.

After snagging the dinner provisions we headed back to the condo to put them in the fridge.  It took a bit of figuring out, but the condo has a private door from the terrace onto Post Alley just next to the market.  So, we just head out our door, go down a flight of stairs, cross the terrace, and we're a block off the market and right in the thick of things.  So, once we figured out the keys and the door code, we were thrilled with the location.  We can start each day with a trip across the street to get something gourmet to cook for dinner, and then get on with the rest of the sightseeing.

Today that sightseeing consisted of touring the galleries in our section of town. These included a really high-end glass gallery, its lower-end off shoot, and a gallery we first visited during a 10th anniversary trip.  We stretched our budget to purchase one of our favorite glass sculptures at that time, and were hoping to pick up another piece from the same artist.  However, they did not have any new pieces.. ( I sent him an email, and it appears his studio is still active, so we may get there yet!)

We attempted to revisit several other spots we thought we remembered, and found that nothing was really the way we remembered from 15+ years ago.  But, walking around was still fun.

Today being Saturday, it is Virginia Tech football day.  So, having no luck finding a sports bar that could get the game (CBS Sports Network for goodness sake!), we decided to get some takeout and hook the computer into the TV so we could stream the game on Hulu. (You can always get the game, but sometimes it costs-- and of course the rental Xfinity package did not include it.)

We didn't want to go far, so we took some advice from Thrillist and headed over to a Turkish takeout joint for lunch.  According to the review, it was a non-tourist choice and that it was the best food you could get from a place that always has empty food cases.  Sure enough, when we got there they were out of all their Borek choices.  Luckily, there was another batch in the oven that would be ready in 15 minutes.  So we headed back into the market and while we were waiting I picked up a little glass shell.  We then got our Borek right out of the oven--  we ended up with half of the complete batch.  It was well worth the wait, and piping hot even after we raced it back to the house so we could dig-in while we watched the game.  Though we both shook our heads at the restaurant operation-- with a bit more planning and staff they could easily have tripled business.  But, I guess as long as they continually sell out, they are happy (even if they have a bunch of disappointed potential customers).

Lunch done, we kicked back in the condo for the rest of the day.  Which really isn't as boring as it sounds.  There is always something interesting to see from our window-- the harbor is extremely busy, and the Great Wheel is continually spinning.  Here's a video example (if you listen closely you can hear the Tech Game in the background).




And, special for Mom here are a few pictures of the condo.  It is small, but functional and as noted over and over, the location can't be beat.

Bob Sits on the Couch Watching the Game

The Living/Dining Room (Disregard the Mess)

The Kitchen (and the computer work table)

In addition to football day, today is also laundry day.  So as I write this I am finishing that up so we can get to bed.  Tomorrow is museum day #1 at Seattle City Center.  Until then...

--Lisa