If you were to read ‘things to do in Seattle in one day’ we would probably have ticked nearly all of the boxes! Today was our first day of proper sightseeing fitting in with the tourists so to speak. After spending some time photographing our quirky and retro-stylish new home for the next few days with Kirsten and Danny we set off by foot, saving a few pennies and keeping us fit up and down all those hills. So with trainers on and a backpack (we really did fit in with the sightseers!) we set off toward the International District. It’s not too far from our neighborhood and before long we reached Pioneer Square via the train station. It’s a lovely square with coffee shops, bars and small galleries, naming Davidson Galleries as a nice little space to start.

As it was still fairly early we thought we’d try to Seattle Underground Tour. They are located on 608 First Avenue and will more than likely have a large queue of people making their way inside. The tour starts with an introduction with a fairly humorous guide (called Dave) who gave us some history into how Seattle became as it is. When the tour started the big group was broken down into 3 and we went off with comic Dave for ours. We were guided through the basements of Seattle’s underground, which were once the pavements of New York one story down from street level. This was made possible after a large fire in the early 20th Century, which was a blessing in disguise as the city had originally been built at sea level and wasn’t very favourable for sewage disposal. The tour was made to be fairly amusing and allowed for a story-telling method, the underground itself kind of looks like the basement of buildings though. It was pretty good in all honesty and our wrist band meant we would be able to get a few discounts after wards for food and a trip up the Smith Tower.

Following on from touristy thing number 1 we went to The Seattle Art Museum, this we would recommend. It’s a good space with lots of contemporary and classical art, enough to occupy a whole day if you had the time. It was good to see some of the American contemporary painters such as David Salle and Jasper Johns on display. Along with some interesting installations. So from the art museum to the Pike Place Market, via the sea front. This market is worth seeing, yes it’s touristy but it has a good vibe and atmosphere to the area along with Starbuck’s first coffee shop, street performers, fresh flowers and produce. It is a little like stepping back in time with original signage, cobbled streets and various restaurants and ice-cream parlors.

From Pike Market we walked back along the streets to the Smith Tower, it was now nearly 4pm. Completed in 1914 it was at the time the 4th tallest building in the world and houses an observation deck at the top. We spent around half an hour at the top and the views out to sea, to the Olympic Peninsula and over to Mount Rainer were pretty impressive. We do like a good observational tower!

After perhaps our 7th mile of waking back to our abode we decided to chill out, ate leftovers from the previous night’s Vietnamese food and caught up on the blog.

Seattle Art Museum – Suggested entry fee $15 ($2 off each with a voucher)
Underground Tour – $16 each
Smith Tower – $6.50 (with a dollar off)

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

Toast and jam for breakfast. Destination today: to re-visit the Harajuku and Shibuya district and delve deeper into the backstreets. We have both agreed that our favorite places to visit in Tokyo so far were the fish market and Harajuku. The fish market is so different from anything we have ever seen or had the pleasure to document, you could spend a whole week there, if your stomach can handle it! You really get to know the local tradesmen and atmosphere that goes with such a busy market place. Harajuku in contrast offers current trends in fashion and art. There are some great little backstreets to explore and plenty of coffee-shops where you can watch the passers-by. In search of a cafe recommended in the Lonely Planet we found that the Bape cafe is not longer around! Not to be disappointed we settled for the Freshness Burger Company, Dave had a good ole cheese burger whilst I opted for a veggie one. You can’t eat Japanese food everyday…can you?

Following lunch we found one place that really stands out for us s a highlight so far; the Design Festa Gallery quietly positioned away from the main hustle and bustle of the Harajuku area. An artist’s studio complex, something that looks like it should belong in Berlin. Graffitied walls, personalised art studios, illustrations that spill onto the stairways and lovely white spaces with which to exhibit your work. We love these kind of places, somewhere that really gave a real feeling of what is happening in the Tokyo art and design scene.

Moving on from the Design Festa we walked down to Shibuya crossed the famous Shibuya crossing (several times) just so we could get loads of photographs of people crossing, it’s a pretty cool experience actually (photography geeks!) Deciding that we’d had enough of the pizazz going on in this area we once again resided to the friendly Sakura Hotel before going out in search of Sushi. With so many food choices it’s really difficult deciding on somewhere to eat that we know will offer the food we like and at a good price. Noodle bars, Japanese pubs, conveyor-belt style, street vendors and so on. We can safely say that we haven’t always made the best choices in this department with a 50/50 success rate! Settling on an underground sushi restaurant we were faced with food that we would never encounter back in the UK and tasted a few things we would not want to go through again! Helen’s stomach was turned upside down and Dave almost gagged! All part of the experience.

Tomorrow we are leaving the Tokyo metropolis behind to seek out a slightly more peaceful guesthouse based in the Mt Fuji area.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

After a good nights sleep, all of 10hrs, we got up at 5am and thought we should use the jet-lag to our advantage. We grabbed breakfast from the hotel; toast, jam and tea, then left in search of the Tsukiji fish market via the underground. This is lesson number one of Tokyo… The underground is owned by two companies. They both own different lines and you can get either an individual or a combined ticket to travel on the whole network. We bought the wrong ticket and needed the station masters help.

Once we had sorted the underground ticket we hopped on and headed for the fish. The market is the largest seafood market in the world and has over 800 businesses all under one roof. It’s a huge place with many dangers. Very busy with not only workers, buyers and sellers but also mini trucks that move with surprising speed and agility. It was a great photo opportunity with live crabs breaded ready for the fryer, beheaded fish heads with quivering fins, and tuna the size of a small car! Industrial saws slice and dice the fresh meat with precision ready to be bought by local shops and restaurants. We had a nice chat with a friendly gent who wanted us to spend as much money as possible in Japan. We duly followed his instructions and purchased some Sashimi from the local market. It was marvelous.

We walked to Ginza which is where lesson two was learnt… In Tokyo almost all the designer / high fashion shops don’t open until 10.30 – 11.30am on a weekday. So with two hours to spare we wandered the streets looking for the Leica Ginza Salon which had a free mini photography exhibition along with a few iconic Leica cameras to make our mouths water (photography geeks). After a morning session of passing through underground shopping centers and the vast numbers of restaurants we went back to the hotel for 40 winks.

Late afternoon saw us take in Roppongi Hills and Tokyo Midtown followed by a not so great bite to eat in a nearby food chain. Cold noodles are not Dave’s favorite dish. A trip up Tokyo tower later, based on the Eiffel Tower, gave some great night-time views across Tokyo along with school-kids, families and some quirky cosplay clad locals.

Finishing the night off with a good old Bagel and hot chocolate followed by a stint at Roppongi’s A971 bar for a cheeky beer we discussed the delights of Japanese culture.

Tomorrow promises a bike ride around the Imperial Palace and the famous Harajuku district. Two days in and we are loving it!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)