Sleepless

I've still got another night left in Seattle before getting back on the bus, but thought I'd get this written now.

Look Mommy, it's Superman!

Overall impressions of Seattle - small and expensive. You can walk to wherever you need to get to easily enough and pretty much all the attractions are $20 and half the size of places that would be $15 anywhere else.

The best thing I've seen here (other than the Blue Angels turning up again unexpectedly) is EMP Museum. Certain things send a shiver down your spine when you see the scale and atmosphere of something that is truly awesome, and the opening to Thunderstruck by AC/DC being played at Donnington did it for me. I must have spent an hour watching the videos of AC/DC gigs. I also got to indulge my geeky side seeing iconic items such as Captain Kirk's chair, Buffy's Mr Pointy and a dalek (totally ruined by the inevitable "what's a dalek?" being asked by someone walking past). And after the number of kids who've said "Hey look mommy, it's Superman" (or the occasional "Spiderman") as I walk past wearing me Superman hoodie, it was a special thing to see the actual Superman costume from Superman III.

There's one thing in Seattle that really impresses and that's the market. It just keeps going and it's really easy to get lost, but there's loads of really good food and it really made me miss me kitchen. I did however manage to stock up on a stupid amount of fruit which disappeared pretty quick.

Chihuly Garden & Glass

Even when you're only down in Oxfordshire, hearing a northern accent is an amazing thing and you end up gravitating towards that person. So to hear a Mancunian accent on the table next to me in the hostel was an amazing coincidence and we were able to have one of those conversations between strangers that are only completely normal to Northerners - apparently artificial insemination is expensive and difficult to get through all the psychological tests; a much cheaper method of becoming pregnant whilst single involves 2 pints of Stella and a trip to Wetherspoons on a Saturday night.