Seattle Snapshots: Part 1

I start off my morning errands with the purchase of a loaf of fresh bread at Le Panier Bakery in Pike Place Market, plus a short latte. I'll sit at the window counter (if there's a space available -- the place is really busy during the tourist season) and drink my coffee while I people watch and catch up on text messages and email:

Le Panier French Bakery

One of my other regular stops is the Bavarian Meat Market, tucked away inside a corridor. It's not easily accessible by tourists, so it's not as frantically busy in the summer time, and it has a fairly regular clientel who come for the very German cheeses, sausages, deli meats and condiments. I make sure I buy some of their fresh potato salad every week -- it makes the German blood in my veins sing:

Bavarian Meat Market

At the main entrance of Pike Place Market, there's a brick paved road to the left side that heads down and then curves sharply left. This takes you to the grimier section of Post Alley. The street itself is fine, but the walls are some of the most graffiti strewn you'll find in Seattle.

Part of a graffiti covered wall in Post Alley

The "Gum Wall" in Post Alley started small, but over the years has turned into a mass of chewed gum spreading like an alien virus across the brick walls. I always feel a little queasy just walking past it:

Detail from the Gum Wall in Post Alley

And this is a sight I get to see regularly out our windows -- Colman Dock in Elliott Bay, where the transporation ferries come and go. It's strikingly beautiful in the early mornings as well as when the daylight starts to fade:

Colman Dock in Elliott Bay