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Seattle, Washington
The more we move ahead the more we're stuck in rewind
The start of the slideshow and the first of the stopovers was in Seattle, Washington. Even though I have been to Seattle before, I chose it for the connections (logistically it's not easy at all planning a free business class round the world trip) and also to provide a cushion just in case I couldn't get out of Newark. My first flight left the weekend right before Halloween, one which has been unlucky weather wise for the past few years, when surprise blizzards and superstorms seem to abound.
This first picture is an overview of the city from the observation deck of the Columbia Center, somewhere I had never actually been before, either because it didn't exist (it's been open a while actually) or possibly because I never knew about it (bingo). It's not especially popular but I don't know why- it has tremendous views, far better than the Space Needle (which is too far from anything good) and the Smith Tower (which is nice but also kind of short).
One of the newer attractions in the city is the Chihuly Gardens and Glass Museum at Seattle Center. Since he spoke at one of my graduations, I have followed Dale Chihuly and have seen his work in multiple places. This new museum is now a permanent home to the same temporary exhibit that I saw years ago in Chicago and then again in the Bronx. It might be familiar but it's still impressive. And as an added bonus, it's easy to spot familiar reflections in the glass of the immediately adjacent Space Needle.
Of course the Chihuly Gardens and Glass Museum at Seattle Center is more than just glass balls in a garden with a reflection of the Space Needle. All that glass you have come to expect is there, including things like this.
If you're all the way out at the Chihuly Gardens and Glass Museum at Seattle Center anyway, you can either take the monorail back to Westlake or just walk the extra ten minutes to see this, the Olympic Sculpture Park, where favorites like Wake by Richard Serra and The Eagle by Alexander Calder are faithfully waiting to see you again.
Just like it was hard not to stop by Olympic Sculpture Park, it’s way, way harder to go to Seattle and not at least make the time to pay your respect to Rem Koolhaas' landmark Central Library. After all these years it still looks good and occasionally still looks just as revolutionary at still is.
I tried this trip to see things I have never seen before (or at least haven't seen in a while). In Seattle, the most interesting outcome of this plan ended up being a visit to the Chapel of St Ignatius on the campus of Seattle University, about a mile or two east of downtown. The building was designed by Steven Holl and was wonderfully complex for such a small space. This is the chapel, with all of the vaulted ceilings, carefully punched windows and empty pews you can (probably) handle.
One of the driving forces that caused me to pick Seattle (instead of say Los Angeles or San Francisco) as a North American safety stopover was because of the connecting flight. From Seattle, I was able to select a flat bed business class seat on an ANA flight on a brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. I had seen these planes being assembled at the Boeing plant in Everett and followed along as the fleet was often grounded (for some reason they seem to catch on fire a lot). The planes are a composite construction that promises to better absorb turbulence (it seems to work) and a more comfortable cabin since humidity levels don't have to be so low (it seemed better). All things considered (and despite the giant "787" painted on the side of the plane), the flight was just another flight and the plane was just another plane, except for one thing. The window looking out was far bigger than any other plane and included electronic shading. A feature that allows you to darken the window but still see out to the massive, dangerous ocean thousands and thousands of feet below. Pretty fantastic in person.
This picture is from my window seat looking back to Washington and SeaTac and the always ominous volcanic cone of Mount Rainier.
