After a few days of things going wrong I so wanted to love Seatttle. And not be sleepless and stressed. The overnight Coastal Starlight train from San Francisco to Seattle did not start well. As I tried to put my newly purchased Chinese case in the overhead rack the wheels fell off. Broked. OMG! Now what!!
And I was in seat 44 - in the aisle and next to me in the window seat was a black guy the size of a sumo wrestler. Gulp!! Minnow me. And of course he snored. All night. Right next to me. More OMG! I probably got only an hour's sleep. And another rock-bottom moment.
It was a spectacular sunrise, but I couldnt see it, he had pulled the curtain and I sure wasn't going to disturb Mr Giant haystacks. Minnow me. But...
At 645am I went to get breakfast at the dining car. And the sun shone on me. I got turned away cos I did not have shoes on... but... I discovered the observation and lounge car. And joy! Snack bar, coffee and big-windows view. I did not go back to GHaystacks for the remaining 12 hours.
When we got into Oregon two people got on who were locals and they gave us a running commentary as we went past Crater Lake, Mount St Helens. More joy! Such lovely people. Me into it now! The scenery is lovely. And I have neever seen so many blackberries! They have blackberry festivals out here!
Our guides got off at Salem. Only to be replaced by two more who entertained us right through to Seattle.
And Seattle is cool. Not scary. Not hectic and nasty. It's beautiful. Happy me!!
I have updated my itinerary.
Have been on a boat trip. Have seen the aquarium. Have had my hair cut. And went to Bainbridge Island today. And there's an underground tour, and a monorail and I have had a fab spicy lunch and tomorrow am going to go on an Indian trip... and... and... and...
In a previous life I went on an oh-so-boring Coral's course that encouraged us to create an atmosphere in our betting shop - make customer service our priority- make it a fun place to come in to. They extolled this by showing us a short film of a fish market in Seattle.
And how surreal it was to actually be there. I recognised it immediately, even though I hadn't thought about it for a year... Couldn't believe it, there they were, laughing, shouting, singing, throwing the fish to each other. And yes, they drew a crowd.. and yes they were so funny and so good...and seemed so happy at work...
I can't wait to get back to Corals and to put these practises in now I have actually seen them. NOT!!
No comments:
Post a Comment