Shreds of black cloud loom in overcast skies.
The Necromancer keeps watch with his magic prism eyes.
He views all his lands and is already aware of the three helpless invaders trapped in his lair.
Some cities, like Buenos Aires, are colorful and gay. Other cities, like Seattle, are grey and brooding. But that doesn't mean they aren't interesting and fun to experience.
Recently, Supernova had the good fortune of traveling to Seattle, Washington on business. He greatly increased his foreign policy experience by taking an elevator to the top of the Space Needle and seeing Canada from there. He could practically see Canada's prime minister rearing his head as a Canada Airlines jet flew overhead.
The purpose of Supernova’s travels was to participate in a conference regarding sustainability. There were people from all over the country there, who met to discuss performance-based environmental improvement at the private- and public-sector levels.
The conference was held at the historic Mayflower Park Hotel, which lies at the core of Seattle’s financial district. However, Supernova did not stay at the Mayflower Park Hotel. Instead, he chose to stay at the Holiday Inn Express, which provides a delicious, free breakfast buffet. All Holiday Inn Expresses provide hot and cold cereal, eggs, biscuits & gravy, fruit, juice, yogurt, bagels (and bacon & sausages for you carnivores out there). Starbucks coffee shops abound in Seattle, although Supernova never bought any of that enterprise’s caffeinated beverages. Instead, he drank Holiday Inn Express coffee out of his reusable aluminum mug.
Since it was Supernova’s first time in Seattle, he made sure to take in some of the sites, including the Needle (aforementioned), downtown Seattle, the Elephant carwash, and the riverfront.
Downtown Seattle is quite hilly in some areas, akin to San Francisco, so be prepared to get a real leg and butt workout if you plan to walk. Downtown Seattle is, architecturally, not very interesting. Modern day, grey buildings abound and there is very little trash on the streets. In fact, visually, in Supernova’s humble opinion, Seattle is a bit bland and sterile. Culturally it is far more homogenous than L.A. White-colored flesh is predominant, with sparse evidence of Latinos, Asians and African Americans. Mexican restaurants, ubiquitous in L.A., are few and far between in downtown Seattle.
As for public transportation, it is nothing compared to L.A. Yes there are buses, and even a trolley, but subways are non-existent. And there is only one train, which is just a monorail going from the Needle tower to downtown.
The cleanliness of Seattle was impressive. I didn’t see any graffiti anywhere and the streets were free of trash. There were even recycling bins on the streets, something that L.A. sorely lacks in spite of Mayor Villaraigosa’s claim to be the ‘greenest’ mayor in Los Angeles.
On the way to and from Seattle, Supernova carried his own mug, thus avoiding the use of disposable plastic cups on the airplanes and in the conference. If all travelers did this, our landfills would last much longer.
He also carried all of his hotel newspapers home with him to be recycled in L.A.’s blue bin. The Holiday Inn Express’s breakfast buffet only provides its clients with Styrofoam plates and plastic silverware. Supernova used the same Styrofoam plate and plastic spoon everyday, and then took those items back to L.A. with him where he placed them in his recycling bin (L.A. recycles all Styrofoam). You too can do the same!
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