Seattle: The city that respects nature and inspires technology (IMAGES)
Amazon's buildings, the train that passes over the streets, and green spaces are some of the elements that pique your interest
Words, images: Mary Moysiadou
Recently I was invited to my nephew’s wedding in Seattle.
A city that I hadn’t visited and was really anxious to see it. After 13 hours of flying, I reached my destination.
Once I stepped outside of the airport, I could feel the cool breeze blowing. We went to the car park of the airport, which has 7 floors, the biggest car park in America.
When we got onto the highway, I realized that there were 5 lanes and an emergency lane on each side.
A lot of cars but not so much traffic as everyone was going the same speed, 70miles/110km. A nice flow. An environmental law which Seattle has is the fast lane (the 5th lane). If you are a vehicle with 2 passengers and above, you can use the fast lane. Otherwise, you remain in the other lanes which are usually busy.
Nice trick to make you not use your car alone and cause air pollution.
After one hour, we reached my nephew’s house, typical American house with two floors and 4 bedrooms. Everything in America is BIG!
Visiting the city center was an amazing experience. It combines the old buildings with the modern skyscrapers. The old Pike Place Market place with handmade products and the first Starbucks in the States.
A lot of the skyscrapers are Amazon buildings and the most interesting building is the Amazon Sphere. The Sphere was built for the employees of Amazon to relax in a cool and refreshing atmosphere with plants from Amazon rainforest.
They are allowed to drink coffee and work there as long as they want for free. What a wonderful environment to work! Visitors can visit this unique place by paying a small fee.
They even have a parking spot for the baby’s stroller. WOW!
Another thing which amazed me was the Monorail, a train which goes over the main roads of the city center. Easy access to the city without using your car. A city which respects the environment.
The buses can carry your bike on the front and back to allow bikers to travel to the center and use their bikes to get around.
Seattle is a city which loves nature as it is built in the forest and near the mountains and sea.
There is an old light house from 1905 and all the forest have parks and trails so you can walk in mother nature and enjoy fresh air and oxygen. Every place is respected by the citizens and the city council. Everywhere there are places to sit and enjoy the view with parks, rubbish bins and paper bags for your dog’s needs too.
There is a lot to do and see in Seattle.
It is a city which combines modern life with a peaceful walk in nature. I recommend it to people who love nature and a quiet pace of life.
