Welcome to Seattle

«My wife and I just prefer Seattle. It's a beautiful city. Great setting. You open your front door in the morning and the air smells like pine and the sea, as opposed to bus exhaust.»  — Ron Reagan

Apart from just being nice and beautiful as the Ronald Reagan's son, Ron Reagan, put it, Seattle has a lot more other kickers which may shot to attention of both an international visitor and local folks.

Seattle seems to be a hip city, a place where everything showy and trendy started off from. Being a native city and a home to Nirvana, Jimmi Hendrix, Foo Fighters, Heart, Pearl Jam and many many more, this northern US' capital is considered to be a local art and culture center. Just think about this, even grunge music has been born there, leave alone dozens of jazz bars dotted along Jackson street in the beginning of the last century. And now it looks like every Seattleite (yeah, that's how its residents are called) knows what indie rock music is all about.

The first Starbucks cafe is situated here (which still looks all this retro style), just a block away from Pike Place market where you can buy anything you want from delis to vintage clothing, and nowadays the city is considered to be the capital of the United States' green energy and engineering.

After visiting a renowned art museum, an ill-versed tourist may also be interested in throwing a quick look at Hammering Man monument which is erected just in front of it. The 48 feet tall monument of a man with a hammer in his hands which hammers each quarter a minute from 7am to 10 pm every day was set on the square nearby the local art museum to commemorate all the city's workmen whether they're programmers, miners or scientists. According to what the artist who designed that monument says, "people in Seattle don't live to work; they work to enjoy their lives."

For those who just don't feel like getting all this grungy kind of stuff the city is eager to stuck you full with, another Seattle's icon, the Bill Gates' house, has always got its doors open for a visitor. Although if you're still tempted by a bit depressive side of the city, famous graves of the city's residents are a must to see. Such prominent people as Princess Angeline, Chief Sealth (the city's namesake), Jimmi Hendrix, Bruce Lee and many others are buried here.

If you're one of these people who get easily tired of running around a thousand museums a day, wandering about those old tacky cemeteries and watching other people's houses, we've got a plan B for you. Take you car or you might just as well want to get to take a metro or a cab, since Seattle is considered to be in the first five of the most walkable cities in the US, and go straight to the Downtown which is going to strike you not less than the heart of the Big Apple did, if you ever happened to see that.

The Space Needle is a major Washington's landmark, a TV tower which rises almost 200 meters high penetrating into the skies like a needle, offers you a most mindbending panoramic view onto the city, its outskirts and the metropolitan area. The tower also features a restaurant where they serve delicious food, a department store where you can buy some souvenirs and just a breathtaking view on one of the highest and one of the most offbeat TV towers in the world.

More to it, as soon as you're in Downtown you'll find far more things to check out besides the Space Needle. To take some more amazing photos you'd better visit viewpoints at Smith Tower and Columbia Tower, meanwhile we're sure that to get a bit of rest after an exhausting day Myrtle Edwards Park, Volunteer Park and Pioneer Square will be the best places to chill it out for a while with a bit of evening booze continuation in International District, whilst the Seattle Aquarium will just blow your kids away.

Although the Greater Seattle maybe more than half done by now, the real golden dust is in the region. The metropolitan area is home to the famous Hat n' Boots monument in Georgetown, the Fremont Troll monument and the well-known local Archie McPhee toy factory.

Another name of the place is the Emerald city on account of the region's one-of-a-kind nature, because if you have decided on visiting that city, you may as well give it a though to drive around the state and enjoy its unique views.

— seattleandbeyond.net