Adventure Time in the World’s Coffee Capital, Seattle
When looking for someplace cold to have a well-spent vacation, you might want to try heading to the West to check out the coffee capital of the world, Seattle, in the state of Washington.
Adventure Time in the World’s Coffee Capital, Seattle
This is where my family and I are currently at, and the moment I stepped out of the airport, I immediately felt the immediate drop in temperature–it averages around 7 to 15 degrees everyday. It’s currently springtime and I’ve never taken a more interesting walk around the neighborhood.
What’s nice about this place is that everywhere is accessible by train and nothing is too far out of reach. It’s much easier to commute to places here than in Manila. The trains aren’t too crowded and buses have well-designated stops; trains and buses come every ten minutes or so. Before we went to the famous Space Needle, we took a look around downtown, where all the nice shopping districts are. You name it; they have it! The bigger malls like Nordstrom and Macy’s are also filled with designer labels that the Philippines hasn’t been introduced to yet.
To commute to the Space Needle, you need to take the monorail located in the middle of downtown, otherwise known as Westlake City. The entrance to the monorail is situated next to Nordstrom, and it takes you right to the 605-foot establishment.
View from the Monorail that takes you to the Space Needle
The Space Needle is the main attraction in Seattle, and just like the Macau Tower, it has a 360-degree view at the top where you will be able to see all of Seattle plus a majestic view of the Olympic Mountains. An entrance fee of 19 dollars (that’s only about 850 pesos!) allows you to enjoy the view and take pictures for as long as you’d like. There’s also a revolving restaurant similar to the one in Eastwood below the observation deck along with a cafe and souvenir shop.
We also went to the Seattle Premium Outlets, where all the designer labels in downtown Seattle have clearance sales. What’s different about this place is that you can get the clothes that you’d normally buy in the Philippines for a much cheaper price, but the food (even just the food served in food courts) is highly expensive.
Aside from all of the shopping that we did, I really like the way that Seattle is a combination of nature and modernization. The culture is very much alive, as well. The 1st avenue in downtown Seattle is devoted to the public markets and hidden coffee shops and mini bookshops that give a very homey feel. Even the trees we walked by in our relatives’ neighborhood looks beautiful and Instagram-worthy. The people are overly friendly, too, greeting you and asking how you are when you pass by them.
Their use of space makes sure that people can just sit down, socialize, or even just bask in the sun; there’s a big open space in the middle of downtown and numerous park benches can be seen in public lawns and parks.
Another cool thing I noticed? Starbucks Coffee is on every corner of every avenue we walked by (they sell coffee at around the same price that we do). They also have cool-looking local coffee shops in the neighborhoods. This city does live up to its name.
So, during the summer and looking for a place to shop (extensively), walk around, enjoy the cold weather and sightsee with your family or friends, you should definitely try booking a flight to Seattle.
Photos by John Paolo Panaligan.
