Monday, January 13, 2014

Montana Ski Trip - Seattle Days 1 and 2

The last 8 days has been quite amazing. A while ago Kate and I organised a ski trip to Montana. We chose Whitefish, Montana, because the Amtrack train passed through the town, making it very convenient to get to without a car. A positive to this was also that we had to go through Seattle, so we decided to stop off in Seattle and explore there one last time.
We departed early on Saturday the 4th of January for the 6am train from Vancouver to Seattle. We were super excited, and it was great to be traveling by train as buses generally suck and are uncomfortable. Being able to get up and move around made the trip so much nicer. The train trip from Van to Seattle was amazing. It was so much more picturesque than I expected. We saw lots of beautiful farm land and coast line throughout the 4 hr trip.
We arrived in Seattle and checked into our downtown accommodation. It was nice for the price, well located and had free apples. You best believe I made the most of these, stashing up a good 10 or so apples to take to Montana with us. After settling into the room, we headed for Capitol Hill for some coffee, food and exploring. It is really quite close to downtown, you could walk it no worries. We spent all afternoon out there, and after chatting with the locals decided that Seattle is rad and super friendly. People recommended that we go and check out different things so our day spontaneously evolved based on locals advice. We hit up an amazing coffee shop called "Vivace", a great little cookie and ice cream shop called "Hello Robin" and was directed to an amazing park that we never would have known about without speaking with the residents that had an old water tower that offered amazing views of downtown.



After a full afternoon we headed back downtown and quickly dashed to Pike Place Market to stock up on french baguette, washed rind cheese, and "Sound Brewing" beer. Some of the most amazing beer I have ever had. A quick relax and a few beers at the hotel, than back to "Long" Thai restaurant for an amazing dinner.

The next day was another day spent in Seattle. This was an amazing day. Firstly Kate and I went for a good hour long run along Seattle's waterfront running trail. It was a beautiful clear morning. An amazing way to see a lot of the city. We followed the run with a market shop at Pike Place Market. This was such a great experience. The market was still quiet and not full of tourists so we were able to speak with a lot of the vendors. We visited the seafood place that is known for throwing fish. Here the fish monger gave us so much great information on what was fresh and where all the seafood came from. We got some amazing scallops, squid and sole. He also shucked the most amazing oysters I have ever had right there for me.
We next hit up a fruit and veg stand where we got amazing service from the owner, making sure we only bought what was in season. The we were off to a butcher that was recommended by the fishmonger. This butcher was amazing, 25 day dry hung beef. We bought the Rolls Royce of meat. One huge steak for $25, but as we found out later in the trip - it was worth every cent. Probably the best steak I've ever eaten.



The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around, getting coffees and finding some cool places for lunch. We were due for the train at 4, so we headed that way a bit earlier to make sure we had time for a beer at Elysian brewpub. After the brew pub it was time head to the train station.
Seattle's King Street station is beautiful, so we had a bit of time there to check it out, and then got on our train, and settled into our sleeper car. The train was pretty empty so we were treated to some champagne, and included with the sleeper car was dinner, so we had a nice big steak for dinner. We then settled into a long 14hr train trip across the USA. Washington to Montana. We were really glad we got a sleeper carriage. Next stop Whitefish, Montana.

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