Seattle trip Part 1

I visited Seattle with Kareshi last week. Although it was my second visit to this city, it was my first trip with Kareshi since we're officially together. One thing I'm very grateful is that he fully understands and grants my wish of leaving footprints on as many countries as possible, his support and respect really aid in strengthening our relationship.

Seattle is not very far from Vancouver,  approximately  4-hour bus ride would bring us across the border to a entirely different city relatively to Vancouver. We decided to have an on-foot tour around Seattle downtown due to the small city size. I enjoy the fact that the downtown map is not scaled down massively because 1 block practically takes about few minutes of walking, causing every part of the Downtown to be within walking distance. Moreover, walking tour allows me to capture the beauty of Seattle through its street culture, so I'm definitely buying this idea.

Despite the city size, there are several quirky attractions that make Seattle a worth-visiting city, and Seattle's gum wall is undoubtedly topping the chart. It is located at the Post Alley at Pike Place Market, a hidden underground which is very contrast to the merry atmosphere of the market. Being rated as the second world's germiest tourist attraction by trip advisor, I'm not surprised to see a long stretch of wall filled with colourful gums.

I felt delightful to see the variety of gum colours, simultaneously grossed out at the fact that a wall is plastered with human saliva, and that dilemma directly contributed to my short stay at the wall place. In my opinion, it's worth a single visit but I'm just not convinced to make a second attempt anymore.

Another recommended attraction on my list would be a place of interest for all the Starbucks fans. Seattle owns the first Starbucks cafe in the world which was opened in 1971. At this store, you don't see the typical green logo but the original brown logo, which adds a slight vintage sensation to the store.

Although I'm not a fan of Starbucks coffee as most of the beverages are overpriced and the brand is too commercial for my liking, this is still a place that's worth a visit just to tick off the must-do list. Yah I'm a typical tourist  and I know that. Kareshi bought a mocha frappucino from the store and he said it was not any different from any other Starbucks stores, so my two cents is just save the money but take some pictures when you come here.

Just like other typical Starbucks, souvenirs including mugs and coffee packs are also readily available here. I personally think that the coffee mug is a perfect fit for Starbucks lovers just because of the sentence 'the first Starbucks store', which may sound very appealing to many people. I've heard of people telling me the reason they like Starbucks is not really because of the beverages but the atmosphere as well as the successful branding（把环境也吃进去了).  That makes me think that this coffee mug is definitely a must grab for Starbucks fans under this classification.