Seattle

After two nights of freezing my nads off in my tent, the queen-sized bed at the Green Tortoise was a welcome change. Seattle is famous to many as being the home of Starbucks, Amazon, Boeing and Microsoft, among others but for me 'it is all about the music'. From '92 to late '94 - when Noel Gallagher entered my life, my music collection was purely Grunge and almost entirely Seattle influenced. Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Mudhoney and Soundgarden washed down with a strong dose of Jimi. It was cool to stroll through Belltown, the area where the scene began.


Todays scene is based on Capitol Hill where the liberal west coast-itis is found. Cool cafe's, bars and thrift stores where all the cool kids hang out. much better than Vancouver's Commercial Drive but still no Haight-Ashbury.

Seattle also saw my baptism into the wonderful world of couch surfing - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couch_surfing
Such a wonderful idea yet such a simple one webbing together the global network of backpackers and rescuing us from the evil clutches of Hosteling International's (HI) butchering of independent travel.

Myself and three french lasses were hosted by John (Delp) a real cool lad who divides his time between the kitchen of the restaurant that he runs and playing the diverse range of zany musical instruments he has procured over the years. So easy going a guy that he was, that he stayed with his girlfriend and left his home to the four of us for the night. Ridiculous really.