Road Trip: Seattle

One of my favourite cities on this road trip was Seattle. It's such a modern city with so much to do; I feel like it is a little bit underrated! We visited Pike Place Market, it has a lot of fresh produce and fish, so much fish. A few of the stalls had samples of things like preserves and jerky, and 'donut peaches' which I'd never come across before. 

Pike Place Market 

Delicious donut peaches 

Gum wall at the Pike Place Market 

If you want a really beautiful view of the city, head to Kerry Park in Queen Anne. Whether it's during the day or at sunset, you get a great view of the Seattle skyline, and it's just a really relaxing place to hang out. 

Seattle from Kerry Park

Another spot that will give you a great view of the Seattle skyline is Gas Works Park. We were very lucky and had the loveliest weather when we headed over there, it was really nice to just relax in the sunshine. I feel like when I only spend 2-3 nights in a city, I am constantly rushing to see as much as I can, but it's important to take some time to just have a break and enjoy some downtime. If you are up for some drinks, head over to Capitol Hill, there're quite a few bars and restaurants. We went to Von Trapp's which has since changed it's name to Rhein Haus (personally, I think the former is so much better!), and after that, we went bowling at a bar/bowling alley called Garage, which I highly recommend as well. 

Gas Works Park

Gas Works Park 

Finally, if you're in Seattle, you have to check out one of the most spectacular art spaces I've been to: The Chihuly Garden and Glass Gallery. It is full of blown glass sculptures by Dale Chihuly, who primarily uses glass forms as his medium. I couldn't believe that such elaborate things were made out of blown glass, and the colours and shapes were so vivid, I'm so glad I got to go here. 

Chihuly Garden and Glass

Chihuly Garden and Glass

Chihuly Garden and Glass

USA Road Trip: Portland

If you're into excellent street food and craft beer- HEAD TO PORTLAND. I have wanted to visit this city for quite some time, the city piqued my interest after I'd watched a foodie documentary that focused on Voodoo Doughnuts a couple of years ago. While the Saturday Market, Powell's Bookstore and the food trucks preceded Voodoo on my Things-To-Do list, we did end up making a sneaky midnight trip to Voodoo following a session of 'Strippereaoke' (look it up). I had the Old Dirty Bastard doughnut, which was full of chocolatey Oreo and peanut butter goodness. 

Voodoo

If long lines aren’t your thing, try Blue Star in the Hawthorne District. I have heard that it’s really good- while we did visit the Hawthorne District; we chose to visit the thrift stores instead. Getting back to the food, Emily, Marci and I stumbled upon Wolf and Bears: we had the most delicious falafel wraps I have ever come across! They were inexpensive and so, so good. We also got some fresh lemonade because it was hot! Wolf and Bears was located in North Portland, on Mississippi Ave. We then headed to Interurban, which was a little bar on Mississippi.What I liked most about Portland was that everything was relatively close by- if you wanted to spontaneously head out for some food or a drink, you could just walk down the block and there'd be a cluster of restaurants, food trucks, bars and shops. 

Falafel at Wolf and Bears

Mississippi Ave. 

We also walked around the Pearl District- which had a lot of pricier shops (in comparison to the other districts), but it was still great to walk around. Powell's Book Store was definitely a highlight- it was huge! and the different departments are organised by colour. There are new and used books mixed in together on the shelves, which was pretty cool. If you're in Portland on a Saturday, I highly recommend the Portland Saturday Market. It is full of some amazing food stalls, and stalls that had some awesome handmade crafts. I picked up some catoos (temporary cat tattoos) from a stall called Business Catual. If you're into parks, gardens, and flowers, visit the Rose Test Garden! It was so beautiful (and free!)- especially because we went on a sunny day. They have some unique roses with interesting names (my favourites were Caramel Kisses and Betty Boop). 

Powell's

Portland Saturday Market 

Market 

Pioneer Square

Rose Test Garden 

Finally, we had the most delicious Ethiopian food at a restaurant called Bete-Lukas. There were six of us, so we shared a giant plate of 6 different sauces- it was a great way to bring everyone together. We headed to the Cascade Brewing Barrel House the next day, which had a lot of IPAs- if you're into that. I also had a feta cheese and fig panini which was excellent. Overall, I freaking loved Portland. I will definitely be back!

Cascade 

Bete-Lukas (excuse the poor quality photo)

Choc Cherry Milkshake at Burgerville

USA Road Trip: Stop 1

I am back from a 16 day road trip up the Pacific Northwest! It feels really good to have some downtime after spending so much time on the road... although not as long as my friend and travel buddy Emily who had driven all the way across the country, starting in Connecticut! I flew over to San Francisco, after debating whether or not to take Amtrak-- but that would have included way too much travel time. I stayed in The Mission area- near BART stop 24th and Mission. When I have just a couple of days in a city, I usually tend to visit the places that are further away from where I am staying first, because it seems to be the most efficient way to see everything I want to see. I used the train to get downtown, tickets were around $2.75 (USD) and then buses to get around the city (bus tickets were $2 and lasted around 3 hours). My first stop was Haight-Ashbury- a district I have always wanted to visit, mainly for its thrift stores and architecture. 

I spent a lot of time walking down Haight, all the stores were so unique and creative, and the op shops (thrift stores) were some of the best I have ever been to. A lot of locals I spoke to said that they were also slightly cheaper than those in The Mission. I was very lucky to be able to stay with someone who lived in San Francisco, she took me out with her friends and gave me a really good insight into what life was like in the city. I met some incredible people in this city, everyone seemed full of new ideas and perspectives, I had some great conversations and the city had a really progressive vibe to it, which was something I really admired. I also noticed that a lot of people use Lyft to get around, especially at night time- so if you're heading there, this might be a handy app to download (or befriend someone who has it!) I also visited the touristy places like Alamo Square and Pier 39- which was a lot of fun. A word of warning- if you plan to walk up Lombard Street, wear comfy shoes, it is STEEP. 

A store that sold over 1000 soda flavours and lollies

View from Lombard St. 

Alamo Square

View of the Golden Gate Bridge from Pier 39 

I visited some really interesting stores in The Mission, if you're a home decor enthusiast, I highly recommend Aldea which was full of really unique home ware, I particularly liked their kitchen stuff- definitely spent some time mentally decorating my fantasy home. I also really enjoyed the Clarion Alley Mural Project, coming from Melbourne, I can't help but be on the lookout for wall art- so I was stoked when I stumbled upon this. A lot of cities I have been to seem to have a 'cool' district or area that is known for being culturally diverse and interesting, I felt like the entire city encapsulated this atmosphere. I didn't make it to Twin Peaks, but I got a really great view of the city from Dolores Park, which was near some great second hand bookstores. I particularly liked Alley Cat and Dog Eared Books. 

Murals at Clarion Alley 

Aldea, on Valencia Street 

Alley Cat Books

Dolores Park 

Providence, Rhode Island

Adventuring alone

As I have mentioned before, the first time I travelled all alone was at the end of 2011, when I visited the U.S. One of the things that stuck out the most to me was the diversity of each of the cities I visited, even though they were so close to each other, particularly in the East Coast. After some time in New York, I Megabus-ed it over to Providence, and even though it was just a few hours away, it was so different in comparison. It was really quaint, and laid-back and it just had such a nice vibe to it, I was pleasantly surprised. 

New York City