The University of Washington is one of the most scenic campuses I’ve been on. As you drive through the roads inside the campus, it feels like you’re driving through a small forest. The highlight of the campus around this time is the “quad”, where cherry blossoms are in full bloom for a short period of time. There were probably more people concentrated here than the rest of the campus combined, especially since it was around the end of finals and the beginning of spring break.
Apparently selected as a top ten restaurant in the world by the New York Times, Din Tai Fung draws in a lot of people for their dumplings and noodles. There’s not many locations in the USA, yet two of them happen to be in Seattle. One is in University Village, next to the UW campus.
Gas Works provides a view of the Seattle skyline, as well as the remnants of an old coal gasification plant.
Vancouver is ~2 hour drive from Seattle, so we spontaneously decided to drive up to Lynn Canyon 30 minutes north of Vancouver to visit the suspension bridge. We also rented some bikes to bike around Stanley Park.
Pike Place. When it comes to the food scene in Seattle, all of my friends suggested various locations at Pike Place.
- Pike Place Chowder
- Beecher’s Handmade Cheese
- Starbucks - this is the original Starbucks (yes, the craze all started in Seattle)
It’s really hard to see Mt. Rainier in the background of the city because the weather during the spring hides it among the clouds. I was super lucky to fly into Seattle on a clear day. I was about to fall asleep for the last 20 minutes of the flight and the descent, but I looked out the window and was awestruck by the mountains that I just had to stay awake and marvel at the beauty of the Pacific Northwester from the sky.