Blood sausage is not vegetarian (neither is the risotto)

I finally posted the second half of my Seattle photos on Facebook, and figured I should probably write a bit about the rest of my trip too. So, let's see how much I can remember about the second half of Seattle three weeks later.

I'm going to start with the Sci-Fi Museum. While on its own merit it is a marvelous hub for nerds of all kind, and has collections even a person with nerd-like tendencies could enjoy, I contend it would have been made a million times better with my extremely nerdy, and oh so loveable friends back home in the Midwest. Watching them geek out over the robots like R2-D2, aliens like ET, famous/infamous spaceships and spacesuits would have been priceless. Taking into account my life aspirations being inspired by the leading women in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Adventures of Superman, and my sci-fi loving friends, I should have been less surprised by how much I related to and recognized in the museum. It rocked.

The Sci-Fi Museum ticket is a two for one with the Experience Music Project. The history of the guitar greets museum goers as the first exhibit, and a large multi color tornado outside the Jimi Hendrix room dwarfs anything in its path, almost as much as Hendrix blew away his audiences when he performed. Music always has a way of bringing me back to a place and time in my own history, but the museum has of showing how music shaped and reflected the moods of the nation as a whole that I loved.

I didn't go to the top of the needle. The top of the Columbia Center has a better view for less, and you get to see the Space Needle from above. It's like going for drinks at the Signature Lounge in the Hancock instead of the viewing lounge Sears Tower. Overall a better decision, although I have yet to go to the Sears since the section with the glass bottom was installed. I went to the Columbia Center with one of my hostel mates from Switzerland. We hung out for the last few days of my Seattle adventure.

I have a thing about drinking alone, I don't do it, just like I don't drink and drive. So, when they announced a pub crawl I convinced my new Swiss friend to join me and we trekked with the dozens of other hostellers to a few of Seattle's fine drinking establishments. We made it to Linda's, the last place Kurt Cobain was seen, and then the Comet, where bands like the Sound Garden got started (and where that night, a talented rapper whose name I can't remember, but is bound for greatness, took the mic) and we ended the night at the Cha Cha, a luchalibre (Mexican Wrestling) theme restaurant. It was already decorated for Day of the Dead. I'm still kicking myself for leaving Mexico before being able to experience Dia de los Muertos.

The next few day, my new Swiss friend and I learned never to order noir boudin, especially if you're vegetarian. After that mistake in the cafe whose decor and smells nearly transported us to France, I asked the server at Italian restaurant later that night about the Risotto I had been salivating over all day. This restaurant was part of Seattle's Restaurant week, which meant that I could enjoy a three course meal at a four star restaurant for $25. I was lucky enough to get a taste of high class dining this summer during Madison's restaurant week, and was excited to have discovered it in Seattle. So, back to the risotto. It was made with chicken stock. Dumb vegetarian rules I made up. They made me a main dish sans meat. It, and the tiramisu, were the perfect dishes for my last night in Seattle. After dinner we meandered back to Oliver's, the bar where the chocolate tour began. I had to try the Flatliner again, this time a full martini glass worth. It. was. amazing. And only made better by the crazy Chicagoan we met at the bar, and the insane sports conversation I miraculously was able to participate in because I could recall some sports info my cubs fan family members recite on a regular basis. Mostly that people from Chicago are used to disappointment. There was even hockey talk. Switzerland is big into hickey I guess, there team beat the Blackhawks last year. Leana was still psyched about that. I just thought it was great that on my last day of being away from home I ran into someone from Chicago. If I was the kind of person who believed in signs, I would say it was a sign that I was ready to go home. For now.