We left the famous and filthy streets of New York for the relatively spotless and anonymous byways of Seattle, and both of us were quickly enamored of The Emerald City. (I haven't felt camera-inclined so far this trip, but here's the New York subway and one reason we liked Seattle: the sticky pecan bun in the bakery cafe where we had breakfast.)
In lieu of a normal hotel I booked us a place on airbnb.com, where people with extra rooms/apartments can list them to travelers, setting their own prices and rules; it’s halfway between hotels.com and couch surfing.com. (I am going to list that comment on comparisons.com.)
We were staying in “contemporary artist loft downtown” which turned out to be in a building otherwise occupied by artists' work-studios, and I had kept it a surprise for K. When I stopped at a random building as we walked through the International District, K’s confusion was delightful. “Honey, that’s not a hotel…”We were curious about the artists who have studios there, and as we left for dinner last night met one of them in a quick chat as we left the building together. We stepped into the mom & pop sushi place downstairs saying “I would have liked to talk to him more.” That’s the awesome thing about services like this, meeting normal (ie not working in tourism) people when you travel.
I read in the paper that the guy who wrote “It’s a Small World After All” died the other day, and they said that song is the most-played tune on Earth…not sure I believe that…but either way, it IS a small world, and a few minutes later the artist guy came into the restaurant and sat at the table next to ours. He was shortly joined by his co-renter (they are both tremendously talented comics illustrators) and we had an impromptu sushi dinner party for 4.
I love traveling.
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