Here we are now......entertain us!!!!!

it is pouring down and we are sitting in starbucks. laws of physics (and bill gates) would conclude from this that we must be in Seattle ...and they would be correct -we are indeed in Frasier's home city and have wasted no time in acting like the locals in heading for the nearest coffee shop as the rain lashes outside (its not particularly hard to find one when there is one in your hotel but hey i am romanticising here). from what we have seen so far its a pretty cool place - especially at night when the skyscrapers are all lit up, it makes the downtown skyline quite spectacular to see when you first enter the city on a bus. we had actually intended to get the train from vancouver but unfortunately there was a rockslide on the track which halted proceedings, so we got AMTRAK's finest bus service instead. It was an excellent journey apart from the severe grilling we got from US customs officials at the border - anal and thick are the only descriptions which spring to mind which i can actually put into print. to be fair i got through no bother but mr murray obviously looked a trifle dodgy - i tried to tell them this was how he usually looks but they let him go regardless.

we were so sad to leave vancouver - we had such a great time there, it was a really beautiful, clean place and the locals were so friendly. i think we saw most of the main sights and even though we were in a city we took time to relax and made the most out of the hotel's spa facilities (even though i nearly end up with heat stroke in the sauna as i couldnt get away from a chatty local who was very passionate about what we should see in washington -i think our itinerary is going to be a busy one). On the final couple of days we explored further afield and visited Granville island and Kitsilano, 2 great and very different districts.

we took your advice jim, and visited the brewery at granville island where we were treated to some really nice (and strong) ales and lagers. I had forgotten what afternoon drinking does to you and we soon found ourselves rather steamin after probably not even 2 pints - i did mention the beer was strong didnt i ?? we then headed back to the hotel for a wee shower in order to wake up (ie sober up) before going back to the pub to watch the ice hockey on the telly - it was a really important game for the Vancouver Canucks, which incidentally they ended up losing so are now out of the cup. Maybe Ricky and I's patronage did not come at the best of times - 2 games we watched and 2 games they lost, and apparently their season was going from strength until we turned up!!!!!!! i think Canucks fans are happy to see the back of us.

the next day after waking up with rather sore heads we returned to Granville island although this time it was to visit the public market (amazing food) and the surrounding artist studios. ricky headed for a walk in order to try and clear his hangover, whilst i spent a very pleasant couple of hours just strolling about wishing i had ricky's credit card to clear. i think we have got to that point where everything is starting to fall apart and needing replaced - in the last few days i have "had" to buy a new handbag, a new watch and a new book. seriously though our clothes and shoes have taken a good bit of battering through the continual usage and crap washing facilities, so it looks as though time in new york will be spent buying some new togs so we look respectable when we get home, shame eh?

After tearing ourselves away from vancouver, we bussed it to seattle (only takes 3.5 hours and this includes a very enjoyable 1 hour stopover at the scenic US border) and found ourselves back to earth with a bump in our very non luxury hotel. It is however a really friendly place and we are only a couple of blocks to the space needle, which we visited this morning for some cool views before the rain descended. we then made our way to Pike Place market, where we scoured for some nik naks before we sampled the delights of the cafe culture. hopefully it will clear up a bit before we head out tonight, we are aiming to get to Belltown (home of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, smashing Pumkins and grunge culture - ricky is in depressing teenage music heaven) for some food and perhaps if we are lucky some live music. Tomorrow we head to washington which we are both really excited about - we are looking to catch a ball game on sat night so it would be nice if we have lost our losing curse before then.

until then i shall quote the late, great Dr Crane's and bid you.......Goodnight Seattle xxx