Here There and Everywhere

Expat wanderer

Winter Wonderland

Snowstorms make for dangerous driving, but oh, so beautiful moments. I wanted to share some with you:

00winterstorm1.jpg

00winterstorm2.jpg

00winterstorm3.jpg

December 4, 2007 Posted by | Adventure, ExPat Life, Holiday, Living Conditions, Seattle, Weather | 6 Comments

Books on my To Do List

You’ve seen the books stacked next to my bed. I read constantly, but the stacks never seem to diminish. Maybe because I have an addiction – I buy books faster than I can read them.

Here are some of the new acquisitions to my “read me” stacks:

00bookstoread.jpg

They all look so good, I don’t know where to start.

December 3, 2007 Posted by | Books, Cultural, Detective/Mystery, ExPat Life, Seattle, Shopping | , | 15 Comments

Emmet Watson’s

There was a crusty old journalist/columnist at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer named Emmet Watson, who loved good food. He opened his own little place, hidden down in the Pike Place Market, back behind a lot of other shops. It even has a small outdoor eating area for the summer months. If you want some of Seattle’s best, most authentic northwest seafood, this is where you head. He isn’t around anymore, but his small restaurant still is, and worth a trip to the market.

Emmet Watson article:
00emmetwatson1.jpg

Interior of restaurant:
00emmetwatsoninterior.jpg

Hand written menu on brown paper bag:
00emmetwatsonmenu.jpg

Captain’s seafood basket:
00emmetwatsonseafoodbasket.jpg

Cioppino:
00emmetwatsoncioppino.jpg

December 3, 2007 Posted by | Adventure, Community, Cooking, Cultural, Eating Out, Living Conditions, Local Lore, Seattle | 4 Comments

Pike Place Market Fresh!

More photos from one of my favorite places on earth, the Pike Place Market:

00mktrepresentative.jpg

00mktseafood.jpg

00moremktseafood.jpg

00mktveg.jpg

00mktgourmetpasta.jpg

December 2, 2007 Posted by | Arts & Handicrafts, Community, Cooking, Customer Service, Entertainment, Living Conditions, Seattle | | 4 Comments

Pike Place Market Readies for Christmas

I’ve always loved the Pike Place Market. It’s like the heart – and stomach – of Seattle. My favorite time of year is November, when there are far fewer tourists, but still fresh vegetables, fresh fish, and wonderful arrangements of pine boughs and Mexican peppers (called “ristras” when all strung together.)

00mktchristmas.jpg

00mktchristmas2.jpg

00mktflowers.jpg

00mktristras.jpg

December 2, 2007 Posted by | Adventure, Arts & Handicrafts, Christmas, Community, Entertainment, ExPat Life, Living Conditions, Seattle, Shopping, Travel | 3 Comments

Not Your Kuwait Parking Lot

When I first arrived in Kuwait, two very kind Kuwaiti ladies helped me take care of an important errand, showing me exactly where to go, who to trust, etc. Their kindness to me moved me greatly. As we left, I said “you have been SO kind, I insist on paying for parking” and they totally cracked up, almost limp and helpless with laughter, and then they explained to me that parking would cost 150 or 200 fils (around 50 – 80 cents).

In contrast, here is where we parked to go to the Pike Place Market:

00notkuwaitparking.jpg

December 1, 2007 Posted by | Bureaucracy, Community, Humor, Kuwait, Living Conditions, Seattle, Shopping, Social Issues | 9 Comments

Hard Core Divers

I can hardly believe my eyes. On some of the coldest days of the year, there are still people eager to don their wet-suits and hit the marine reserves, do a little diving. I can’t imagine; it makes me shiver just to think about it!

00hardcoredivers.jpg

December 1, 2007 Posted by | Adventure, Cultural, Entertainment, Living Conditions, Seattle, Travel | , | 7 Comments

Signs, Signs

I love signs. The very first sign I remember photographing was in Kenya, where it said “Elephants have the right of way.” This is a couple signs we came upon while walking along the waterfront, and it occurred to me that in this very law-abiding community, there were all kinds of signs telling you what you can’t do . . . LOTS of them!

00signssigns.jpg

And because we ate at the Rock Tavern, I keep hearing this song going through my head and thinking my sign says “Thank you very much, Lord!”

December 1, 2007 Posted by | Arts & Handicrafts, Communication, Community, Cultural, ExPat Life, Generational, Humor, Living Conditions, Seattle, Social Issues, Spiritual, Travel | 2 Comments

Rockin’ Pizza

It was cold, so cold it was even . . . SNOWING! We were in the mood for pizza, and we had seen a tavern along the road that claimed a wood burning oven, which is our favorite kind of pizza. We ventured out in the cold and snow, made it to the tavern, and it turned out to have a rock theme.

It was a very fun place, with a fake old brick interior, booths, a stage – I guess for competing rock bands, but there weren’t any live bands that night – GREAT smells, and great looking pizzas coming out from the kitchen. It was called the Rock Tavern, and they played classic rock songs, some really old ones like from the ’50’s, too.

This is what it looked like inside:
00rocktavern.jpg

Here is what I had; it was called Evil Ways, and had artichoke hearts, spinach, sundried tomatoes and a basil pesto cream sauce – oh YUMMMMM:
00pizzaevilways.jpg

Adventure Man had Ripp’s Revenge, which had kalamata olives, marinated mushrooms and sundried tomatoes – also YUMMMMMMM:
00pizzarippsrevenge.jpg

By the time we left, it had stopped snowing and none had stuck.

November 30, 2007 Posted by | Cooking, Eating Out, Entertainment, ExPat Life, Seattle, Travel, Weather | , | 11 Comments

Christmas Card Santa

It’s time for that old tradition, sitting on Santa’s lap for the annual Christmas card. It’s funny, you warn your kid about strangers, and then once a year you stand in line waiting, and then plop your kid on this total stranger’s lap and expect him/her to smile for the camera. And some of those Santas are very scary looking! This one had a kindly look, and I didn’t hear any of the kids screaming. 😉

00santaslap.jpg

Note to Error – this is also taken at the Alderwood Mall.

November 30, 2007 Posted by | Christmas, Cultural, Family Issues, Holiday, Seattle, Shopping | 7 Comments