One of my favorite places on this planet to date is Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington. There is something magical about the the ocean, all the fish, little shops in a labyrinth-like building. I only have two memories of this place, but many memories of the aquarium and shops along the pier. My first memory of Pike Place was when my two younger sisters and I went on a bus there with our older sister. We traveled the shops, walked all over, ate on the pier. Growing up in Seattle was magical. My next memory is from two Christmases ago. My younger sister and her boyfriend took me there when I was visiting for the holidays. Diana and I love books, duh, and found the best bookstore I've ever seen. (Not counting Barnes & Noble and the fictional BB&B from Fever.) I don't recall what it was called, but there it was in one of those hallways in the Market. I found a picture a few days ago online. This is the store, that's the guy we met.
Here is another picture that someone somewhere drew of him!
We didn't have nearly enough time in there. Her boyfriend had gone off to another shop and came back all too soon. He wanted to go buy cheese at another shop and cheesecake truffles at another. So, reluctantly, Diana and I paid for our purchases and turned away from the piles and stacks and shelves of books that were trying to hold us back with promises and whispers of magic. (She bought the first two books of
The Wizard of Oz, which is how she ended up online ordering the entire series, getting sent an extra copy, and giving that extra to me! I left this store with
The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke. I may have bought two books that day, but this is the one I remember.)
When I finally make money off my books, I plan to settle in Washington. I want to travel everywhere, but Washington is my home. It is in my blood. I want to live only an hour or two away from Seattle so I can spend my weekends browsing Pike Place Market and buying books and fish and cheese.
Love this place. Just beautiful, magical, and absolutely authentic!
So full of craic. That on the left of the above photo is the magic shop.
The famous sign! I see this sign and I have to smile. This is a place after my own heart. A place families can come together and enjoy life, a place that you can, in such a large impersonal city, connect with one another over fish and great books. The market is like a small town residing in a big city.
Love the above picture I found online. Beautiful. Umbrellas and crowds enjoying a rainy day in Seattle.
I miss my beautiful Emerald City.
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