Friday – June 22, 2012
This morning was overcast and raining lightly. My body-clock is slowly readjusting to Pacific time, but I woke up early anyway. Jeff had read about a wonderful patisserie two blocks from our hotel so we walked over there for morning coffee. The Belle Epicurean is located on the ground floor of the Fairmont Olympian Hotel. As we walked into the elegant lobby of the hotel, the friendly doorman engaged us in conversation about Seattle weather.
La Belle Epicurean
It was cool and wet outside but warm and cozy in the Olympian lobby. Soft classical music played as we looked for the patisserie. We found it downstairs on the Fourth Avenue side of the building. Diplomas from the Cordon Bleu in Paris hung on the wall which were earned by the chef/owner of this famous eatery. We ordered wonderful croissants and good cappuccinos and enjoyed them in a European atmosphere.
Exterior of the Best Patisserie in Seattle
Our next goal was the main branch of the Seattle Public Library. We had read about the building when it was built in 2004 and have wanted to see it ever since. The unusually designed building looks like randomly stacked diamond-shaped pieces of glass and steel which defy gravity. This building replaced the 1960s “modern” rectangular-box-style library which had replaced the original 1906 Carnegie library.
Seattle Public Library
Fifth Avenue Entrance
The architect was the innovative designer Rem Koolhaas from Holland. The library has 10 floors of public spaces which include seven floors of stacks of nonfiction books and about 400 computers for public use. There is a large children’s area on the ground floor and a “teen” area upstairs on the third level.
Interior
“The Living Room”
Follow the Chartreuse Escalators
The best way to tour the library is to obtain one of the large preprinted guides at one of the entrances and then take the chartreuse escalators and work your way up to the 10th floor. The Seattle Public Library is an amazing building which should set a high benchmark for libraries across the country.
Searching for Books in the Stacks
The Tenth Floor
Computers & Maps
After we toured the library and wished we had a library like this one near our home, we left to walk to the famous Pike Place Market. It was still raining. On our way, we stopped off at Gelatiamo on the corner of 3rd & Union Streets to sit and take a break. This is another of Jeff’s finds. We had a little snack of tasty gelato and then continued walking in the rain.
Gelatiamo
The Pike Place Market is probably the most famous tourist destination in Seattle and is a lot of fun. On a rainy Friday afternoon, it was packed with tourists. Since our last visit to Seattle, it seems that the market has grown larger with more stalls and sellers.
The Pike Place Market
Typical Vendor
Doughnuts For Sale
To their credit, the market has kept out the national chains. By law, only single owner-operators are allowed to rent space in the market. Starbuck’s is the only exception because the one here is the original shop.
Tourists Waiting to See the Flying Fish
Flower Seller
Beautiful Bouquet
We stopped at Mee Sum Pastry to sample their chicken “hom bow”. We shared one and although it received rave reviews on some food blog, we were a little disappointed. After walking around for a while, we stopped at The Crumpet Shop on First Avenue for some crumpets and tea.
Hum Bows For Sale
Tea and Crumpets
Our next destination was SAM – the Seattle Art Museum, but we were getting tired and we needed a break. We stopped off at the Four Seasons Hotel across the street and sat in the comfortable lobby near the fireplace to rest for a little while.
Still Raining
Rain Rolling in from the West
It was still raining when we went outside so we decided to skip the museum and return to our hotel. It’s supposed to rain for the next five days. At least it’s not cold. We walked up the steep hill to 6th Avenue and called it a day.
Tee-Shirt Shop