Bellevue, Seattle, WA, USA

The last week (July 18 to 26), we have spent in Seattle, WA, USA where
Paul attended a computer science conference and Elena was (mostly) on
vacation. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency at Bellevue since it hosted
the conference. Bellevue is a small suburb/part of Seattle which seems
to be populated mostly with rich and successful people (e.g. Bill
Gates ;-)), and the surroundings is quiet with expensive stores and
restaurants.



On Sunday the 19th we went with Cristina, Tibi, and Johan to the
Olympic National Park. The drive there included a ferry trip to
Bainbride Island and a stop at the Discovery Bay Railroad Park. In the
park, we experienced the scenery at Hurricane Ridge. On the way home
we stop in Port Angeles for dinner and experienced some congestion on
the way to the ferry.

The next day, we went to do some shopping. We visited Best Buy in
Bellevue and the Tulalip outlet. In the evening the conference started
with Welcome reception where we met with more friends.

The next days (to Friday) we interleaved with working during office
hours, some running, and going to Seattle in the later
afternoons/evenings. We visited the Pike Place market, the dock area,
the conference dinner at a boat tip with Royal Argosy, many other nice
restaurants and shops, the Olympic Sculpture Park, and the Space
needle (at least its base).

On the Friday evening, we went with Johan to the Seattle underground
tour -- a very nice guided trip in Seattle underground (what used to
be the sidewalk level just after the big fire), some nice pubs in the
Pioneer square area, and later to China town. On the Saturday, we went
with Cristina, Tibi and Johan to the Qwest Field stadium to see
Seattle Sounders vs. Chicago Fire. We first had some problems to find
tickets, but some minutes after the game started the street prices
leveled with the original prices and we managed to find tickets and
enter the sold-out game. Unfortunately, in the 2nd half, Fredrik
Ljungberg (Seattle Sounders) received a red card and the game quality
degraded substantially. After the game we made a short stop in China
town (from where our three companions left to the hotel and airport)
and we continued to Pioneer square and further to Pike street. Here we
shopped at Ross (for the 3rd time) and then went to see the Torchlight
parade, which started with a running race, then the crowning of a
parade queen.

To summarize, Seattle and its surrounding areas are well worth a
visit. We heard that we were extremely lucky with the weather. We also
heard that all Seattlers say so to foreigners since the population of
Seattle has grown by 100% in the last 20 years - judge for
yourself. Anyway, when the weather is nice Seattle is a very nice
place!

Photos!