Day 4 - Monday

Today I thought I’d explore one of Seattle’s famous landmarks, Pike Place Market, home of fish throwing and the first Starbucks coffee shop. It’s also home to some interesting little shops and stalls.

I spent ages in a great book shop, the man behind the counter obviously loved books and he would spend time talking (not giving a sales pitch, just enjoying talking about books) to almost everyone who came in the store. I bought a battered but beautiful copy of ‘Catcher In The Rye’, a book I’ve been meaning to read for years but never got around to. I browsed in some unique and entertaining shops, I recommend the lower levels of the market and taking time to visit shops like:

* The shop that sells old Posters and Advertising, they have thousands of adverts taken from Magazines, I guess from around the 1920’s to 1950’s mostly, lovely to just browse for a while.
* The magic shop with one of those fortune telling machines (like the one is the film ‘Big’) out in front.
* The Comic store, I spent ages in here, comics, books, film and TV memorabilia, so good. I spent more money than I intended to here! I bought a set of 5 delightfully drawn books depicting the Japanese animation ‘Spirited Away’ or ‘Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi’.
* The Giant Shoe Museum – just very, very odd!
* Browse the Farmers Market and you’ll be offered tasters of everything from juicy cherries and slices of pear to chilli jelly and not least demonstrations of ‘The Copper Massager’ !

The market has a pleasant atmosphere and despite throngs of tourists, no-one seemed too bothered by the leisurely pace which you’re forced to stick to. At home there always seems to be someone who’s in a hurry and is pushing past you in those situations. I have to admit that sometimes that person is me but on that day I didn’t mind doing ‘The Zombie’. ‘The Zombie’ is the name my friends and I give to the slow, shuffle way you walk when in a large crowd.