Seattle, Snowshoes, & Spaceships

So Stinky took me to Seattle for Valentine's Day this year.   We had a blast.   Friday we did the Savor Seattle food tour in Pike Place Market.  If you ever go to Seattle, this is a fast and fun way to try a little of everything the market has to offer.   We really enjoyed it.  We even went back on our last day to buy treats from almost every place we stopped on the tour.



Daily Dozen Doughnuts = Amazing!




Chukar Cherries = Delicious!

  

We also went to the Experience Music Project by Frank Gehry, which also houses the Science Fiction Musuem.   I liked the chocolatey outside (the building) and Jesse loved the warm gooey center (the exhibit).   A hit for both!


Jesse was really excited about the Star Trek, I mean Battlestar Gallactica Exhibit.



I planned the first day and Jesse planned the second.  I must say, I think he outdid me.  We went to Olympic National Park and cross-country skied the Hurricane Ridge Trail.   After that, we did a snow-shoe guided tour.   I had never tried either and really had a blast with both.  I fell a lot on the skis.  It seemed like the people making the tracks that had gone before me had really skinny legs and the ability to keep their feet super close together.   Most of the time I felt like a flamingo standing on one leg or a polar bear rolling around in the snow.

I couldn't get the entire tree without backing off the ridgeline and causing an avalanche.

That's Jesse close to the top in the orange jacket.

Clouds literally "rolling" in.  It was insane how fast they moved

Gaudi or Gaudy?

So my mom called this morning.  She's in the middle of planning her trip to Spain and wants to visit Barcelona while there.  Apparently she was researching on the internet in an attempt to find the "architecture" worth seeing in Barcelona.   So our phone conversation went something like this:

Mom:  I typed in "architecture in Barcelona" and all that keeps coming up is this Gaudi stuff.  Do you know him?

Me:  Yes, he did a lot of the known architecture in Spain.

Mom:   Well it all looks like piles of mud.   Aren't there any historic cathedrals or anything?

Me:   I'll get online and see what I can find for you.

Turns out, mom is just as good at internet research as I am.

Gaudi's Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona

High Line

I decided to do a post on just the New York High Line.  I love railroad tracks and the intersection of different transportation types and the patterns created by such.  The awesome thing about this elevated rail line is that it runs right through the buildings using it.  I just did a little blurb under my "new york tour guide" page about the same thing, but this goes into a little more detail.  

The high line was built in the 1930s and used for transporting goods from the produce and meat packing companies to the west side rail yard where it could then be put on barges in the Hudson river to be exported out of the city.  Negative attitudes were associated with covering streets with rail lines and the spaces in created below these lines, blocking out the sun and increasing the crime rate in these areas.  Because of this, the high line cut diagonally through the blocks it would utilizing and also through the buildings on these blocks.  Due to increased shipping by use of interstates and the trucks we all despise, the high line was forced to end its operation in 1980.  


There were mixed feelings about what to do with it, some wanted it demolished, others wanted it saved as part of NYC's history.  Luckily, in 2002, it was decided that it would be saved, at which point a public design ideas competition was held.  The winning entry included turning the high line into a large public park.

I loved these photos, all of which can be found on the high line's website.