Seattle highs #2: Pike's Place (market)

We were told that this feature of Seattle life was perhaps the most touristy of them all, and I agree. But there is also something mesmerizingly exotic about Pike's Place that makes it a must-see - even to the casual visitor to this main city of the state of Washington.

We went there twice. On our first visit occurred on a reasonably hot day in June, just as our minds were beginning to prepare for the next stage of our journey, the ToloNation event: the family reunion at Fort Worden outside of Port Townsend. As was our custom throughout our stay in the US, we opted for public transportation to get us to our destination.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, PLEASE!

First, going by bus saved us a lot of money (renting a car is surprisingly expensive 'over there'). The total amount spent on bus return tickets for our group of nine travellers, proved to be a mere 20 dollars or so, whereas the cheapest rental cars required outlays of 125 dollars (or more) - per day. Second, going by bus allows for everyone, the ones holding a driver's licence included, to relax, sit back, and just soak in each and every impression of genuine, daily, humdrum, routine life. What you get to see isn't the Hollywood, manicured version of America, but the genuine thing. We saw the tired faces, overheard the back-seat bickering, and felt as safe as we possibly could.

Once off the bus, we did the archetypical Norwegian routine: we walked down to Pike's Place. And life as a pedestrian is quite comfortable, especially if the place your heading for is located at the very brim of seaside Seattle, a soothing succession of descending slopes away from the down town area. The salty, pungent sea air told us we had arrived just where we were supposed to. And after a few minutes of merely scanning our surroundings, we were set to explore yet more foreign turf.

SHOPPING SIGHTS, NOT ITEMS

Pike's Place has been there for more than a century, continuously drawing the hungry and the curious to this feast of visual and tangible delights. For fear of losing track of our children, we had to concentrate hard on maintaining our family formations, but apart from that the teeming throng of people just added to the alluring atmosphere. If there were any pickpockets around, and by all counts there must have been some present because of all the people, we certainly were lucky anough to escape their watchful eyes. My money bag was gently caressing my chest, positioned underneath my t-shirt, swinging lazily from one side to the other. I was determined to put up some resistance in case of being mugged, but no one seemd to think this lanky fellow was worth troubling.

Americans are famed for their unparallelled skills when it comes to providing first-class entertainment. So it was no surprise at all to notice among the thrifty shopkeepers and energetic vendors a band of very vocal people clamoring for attention. These males in their late thirties and early forties were there chiefly to sell fish, but also seemed to think that it was no waste of time to do their utmost to put smiles on their customer's faces. And thus it was that, without much warning, they exploded into what bore a striking resemblance to a neatly choreographed excerpt from a Broadway musical.

FILET OF FISH WITH A CHANT OR TWO

Delicious filets of fish went flying gracefully into the air from one pair of hands to the next, accompanied by loud, synchronized chants evidently aimed at customers. 'Our fish is is even more classy than our act', they semed to say. Whatever else they managed to get out of this outburst of energy, I don't know, but their act surely jerked passers-by out of their afternoon docility, awarding the attentive audience with this rare combination of commercialism and entertainment.

I've been to markets in several other cities by now, but Pike's Place more than holds it own along e.g. the Khan el-Khalili of Kairo. It may not be mammoth in size, but Pike's Place was such a welcome exception to the overly ordered window displays that lined our path as we causually strolled around, just to get the feel of inner-city life. We didn't shop much at Pike's, but were enriched by just perusing all that could be bought for a fistful of dollars or so.

GIVING OUR FEET SOME REST

Yes, we eventually did grab a bite or two. When our feet and our palates couldn't bear it any longer, we paused to purchase a voluptuous mixture of Vietnamese and Chinese take-away food from a pair of friendly Asian ladies, before finally being able to rest our frames in a nearby park, where we incidentally bumped into one of my wife's and brother-in-law's many not-so-distant-anymore American relations.

More about that soon.