I had less than a day in Seattle – the question of what to do? What can I fit in six or so hours before I had to get to the airport?

After a less than memorable US$30 room service breakfast, I headed off in need of cash, real coffee, some breakfast, a camera full of photos, and perhaps a bit of shopping.

Cash you say? Well, it was much, much harder than one would imagine. I think I would have had an easier time finding a place to get cash in Vietnam – actually it was! There were plenty of ATMs, plenty of branches open with friendly, helpful staff, but noone was able to give me any money.

Bank of America – Sorry, we cannot process your transaction at this time.
WaMu – Sorry, we cannot process your transaction at this time.

Now at this point, I’m thinking I’m alright if I can pay for my days activities on credit card, or perhaps get a cash advance. Oh, how wrong I was. Then again, using a credit card to pay for a cup of coffee might prove a little difficult.

Travelex – “Sorry Sir, we need cash to buy currency. You can’t use your credit card.”
Sheraton – “Sorry Sir, we can’t do advances on AMEX.”

Now, I’m thinking, I’m going to go to Jack In The Box and get me a soda cup and start panhandling, but there’s one bank I haven’t tried yet.

Wells Fargo – Here’s some greenbacks. Woohoo! Thankyou very much.

Cash in pocket, it’s time to do some browsing, shopping, perhaps drink some terrible coffee. With that done, I could continue my mission down to Pike Place Market. The market is situated on the waterfront and is the second-oldest continually operational farmer’s market in the country. There’s a lot of action going on here, from jewellers and flower merchants, but the real action is with the fishmongers.

At Pike Place Fish Markets there’s a sense of real theatre. Lots of fish being flung left and right. The ringleader, Justin, beckons a girl up to the counter to catch a fish that needs to be prepared after a customer has selected it. There’s no passing produce around here – they specialise in their fast service, and the quickest way to move the goods is to throw them!

You could watch these guys for an hour, but I’ve not got that amount of time today – next stop, the Space Needle.

*Groan* Another tower you say. Don’t they look all alike? You’ve got Centerpoint in Sydney, Skycity in Auckland, and now the Space Needle. But, whilst they may look the same from the ground up, it’s how the world looks from on top. It was a grey day, misty with rain, but not too cold at ground level. At 520 feet, it was a different proposition and I had to keep my hands in my pockets when I wasn’t snapping. Amazing views across Puget Sound, Elliot Bay, and Seattle itself. On a somewhat clear day you can easily see Mount Rainier, but today there was no chance of that.

After walking back through Belltown, it was time to refuel with a sandwich and some shopping. I came across some guys handing out flyers on 4th near Pine and they noted that there was an ex-Chinese restaurant, which had a group of independant designers offloading gear. Sounds good, down we go. Some small purchases made, some more time killed. I’ve not got quite enough time to do anything else significant as I’ve got to get a cab to the airport in about 45 minutes.

A Dance for Peace & Social Harmony event is being held at Westlake Park – an audience of about forty are looking on as one performer delivers a traditional Hare Krishna dance. There’s colour and movement, and a great opportunity to do some people watching, all through the viewfinder.

Back to the hotel, a cab ride to Sea-Tac and before I know I’m flying with one of the most incompetent airlines in the world before I get onto a Qantas jet at LAX.

Seattle’s one place I’ve got to spend more time in. There seems to be a lot on offer here, and even though I spent a week in Washington State, and most of it in Tacoma, Seattle has a real attraction, something I can’t quite put my finger on at this moment in time – I’ll have to get back to you on that.

Check out the full photo set for Seattle/Tacoma.