In Seattle, we stayed with our friends Andrea and Utsav and their adorable German shepherd Titan. Jan had met Titan on the very day Andrea and Utsav picked him up as a tiny, 8-week old, very shy puppy. Now, two years later, he is a fully grown man, not scared at all, and very, very active. “Hyper” is actually the word that Utsav prefers. And we have to admit, we can’t remember having ever been welcomed this enthusiastically—including jumps, kisses, heavy tail-swinging and running around.

Andrea and Utsav were also happy to see us, although they showed it differently. ;) Being the perfect hosts, they gave us recommendations for Seattle and showed us around the city. Utsav works at Microsoft, so we even got a tour across the Microsoft campus that houses the offices for 50,000 employees, including shuttle buses, shopping-mall-sized common areas, a soccer field and a Microsoft gift store.

Utsav also took us to the Pike Place Market, an indoors and open-air market and a must-see when you’re in Seattle. In nearby downtown, the Monorail reminded of what the future looked like to people in the 1960s: For the Century 21 Exposition, the “World Fair” that Seattle hosted in 1962, an elevated train was built (#WhereWeGoWeDontNeedRoads) that connected dowtown Seattle to the the Seattle Center, the area where the Space Needle, the EMP (Experience Music Project, a museum for music, sci-fi and pop culture) and other sights and museums are located.

Seattle is blessed with an abundance of water and nearby forests and mountains. At the time of our visit, there was also an abundance of cranes sticking out from the cityscape: In recent years, many office and apartment buildings have been constructed to accommodate the thousands of people moving to Seattle attracted by Amazon, Microsoft and other firms.

There was, in fact, also a bit of Sleepless in Seattle to our 2-day stay there: After warming up with mini golf at Flatstick Pub, we continued playing beer pong and flip bup in a garage with Andrea’s and Utsav’s friends late into the night.

Comment and share

Before heading to Seattle, there was one place we had to pay a visit to. Hint no. 1: It involves a cherry pie that will kill you and—excuse me—a damn fine cup of coffee. Hint no. 2: It is set in the fictitious city of Twin Peaks.

We had started watching the early 90s cult show “Twin Peaks” because it stars our beloved mayor of Portland in the show “Portlandia” (see our previous post), Kyle McLachlan, also known as The Captain in “How I Met Your Mother”. And because it was conviniently available on Netflix. From episode 1, we were hooked. Just as much as the main character FBI Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle McLachlan) was hooked to the delicious cherry pie at the RR Diner in Twin Peaks (though, admittedly, he had a somewhat serious coffee addiction).

When we found out that the diner that served as the RR Diner in the show really existed (and still does!) and is located in a town called North Bend 30 minutes east of Seattle, we knew we had to go there. In reality, it is called Twede’s Café and, damn, its cherrie and boysenberry pies are good! And Agent Cooper didn’t lie about the coffee, either.

Comment and share