Night time

Seattle Day 1

I may or may not have spent three hours at the top of the Space Needle today.

For the morning I went to Mars Hill church, at the Downtown branch a couple of blocks from my hostel. I hadn't intended on going, but when I looked for a nearby church last night I realised it was one of the closest, and would be interesting to visit. It was interesting. I walked in, sat down, sang some songs, listened to a talk, sang another song while walking up for communion, sang a final song and then everyone left. It was rather strange not to have after service coffee/meet people/catch up, and I'm not sure I liked it. But I think they have very strong programs during the week, so I suppose they rely on that for community. The sermon was on murder (they're looking at the 10 commandments), given by Mark Driscoll via video link from another church. I had issues with some large parts of the talk, but also thought there were some good points throughout it. I wondered if it was a matter of not being explained fully rather than disagreeable points though - often I was sitting there thinking 'hang on, how did you come to that again?' But the music was good ;)

After that I went for a walk to some of the shops, looking through a couple of department stores (feeling a little out of place in my backpacker's attire), before walking to REI (again) for a few things I'd thought to look for since yesterday.

I found a couple of presents, some socks and then was given free icecream by a company outside. It was pretty incredible. And delicious. I obviously timed my visit just perfectly.

After stopping at the hostel to do a bag swap, I set off for the Space Needle. My intention was to be there for sunset, and I gave myself time to be held up in queues or get lost on my way there. Neither of those happened. So I was at the top by 4pm, knowing the sun would set at 6:30. It was jam packed when I got there, and I could barely move. Then I got hungry and tired. So I had an overpriced hot dog from the cafe, and sat and enjoyed the view from inside for a little while. By the time I was feeling restored, the crowds had diminished a little and I could wander around with a little more ease. Time passed, and before long it was coming up to sunset. I got a good vantage point (just in time) and was there to see the sun going down over the far off mountains. The girls next to me were discussing whether they were mountains or hills, and if they had to have snow to qualify as mountains. I didn't say anything.

A little more of a gawp out at the increasing darkness, then back to the hostel. The one downside of travelling alone is that I don't particularly like staying out too late at night in an unfamiliar city. So here I now am, full of tacos from the hostel's free dinner, and just about all caught up on my blips. I hoped to make some friends over dinner, but ended up at the table with the large group of French travellers who had no interest in someone outside their group. I was chatting to a Canadian and Spaniard for a little while, but both have now left, and it's just about my bedtime. I have two tours planned for tomorrow, and underground and a regular city one (that's optional), plus a visit to buy an original Starbucks souvenir (sigh), and a few final presents. Then it'll be time to pack my bags for the last time, on Tuesday I'll be leaving North America, heading home. I made a burger date with Erica for this Friday today, that's an appointment in Hobart THIS week! Where has the last month gone?

Alright, time to clamber up onto my top bunk, tuck myself in, and hope there aren't any snorers in my room. This hostel is pretty cool - each bed has its own curtains, lamp and plenty of power points, but no dorm will ever defeat the curse of the nocturnal snarklenuffter.