Leaving Canada

I returned to Vancouver for the weekend, staying with some friends there & doing the usual drinking! It was good to catch up with everyone after Xmas & New Year, but my adventures had to go on!
I caught the Ferry across to Nanaimo, which is situated about halfway up Vancouver Island. It is a very small town, with very little to see/do, which is why I was glad to only be staying the one night. The hostel I stayed in was nice & I went out for some pool & beers with a Swiss guy I met there.

The next day I caught a bus to Victoria. Victoria is the largest city on VC island, & it is a very nice place too! The only downside to my timing was that it rained for the entire time I was there. From all of the tourism info, it does look like the place is manic in the Summer - as a lot of Canadians/Americans venture to VC Island, to check out the scenery. I kept my activities to indoor amenities; the BC Museum was pretty good - with lots of interesting artifacts from Canada's aboriginal past...

I also visited Minature World...which was excellent! There were lots of varying displays, from Canada's early Railways, WWI & WWII, Fairlytale scenes, world famous castles, etc etc. Well worth a visit!

After Victoria I said goodbye to Canada, got on the Ferry & headed to Port Angeles. I wasn't intending on stopping here, although no ferries went directly to Seattle in January - so I had little choice. I stayed in a "hostel", which actually turned out to be some Woman's house! The town was very unattractive, with nothing to it. I was glad to leave the following morning.

I arrived in Seattle & found my hostel with ease. I was staying right in the centre of Downtown, by the Market place. Seattle is a fairly nondescript place, in that it has nothing amazing nor awful about it! Perhaps I have visited too many N.American cities now?! Anyway, I did the usual of walking the most popular areas of the city, including the Needle (pictured above). I also happened to be by the International Fountain when the annual Winter Fire Festival was being held, to honour the Winter Solstice. This was a bunch of hippies playing with fire to music...pretty lame actually. I went out that night & met a bunch of cadets - meaning I drank so much I don't remember returning to the hostel!
The next day I nursed a thumper of a hangover (I am human afterall), & did very little. On my last day in Seattle I visited the Music Experience Museum. This was very cool! Pictured below, guitar art sculpture & Jimmy Hendrix's guitar from Woodstock.

The museum largely focused on the history of the guitar, & predominantly Jimmy Hendrix. There was the obvious homage to Kurt & Nirvana, along with some other punk/grunge era bands (inc Presidents of USA). Joined to the Music Experience was the Sci-Fi museum. In the most part it was a little too geeky for my liking, although there were some pretty cool exhibits

Star wars fans will appreciate these pictures (the ACTUAL death star used in the original films), whilst anyone who doesn't know who the grey robot below is - you need to watch "The Iron Giant"

Seattle didn't blow me away, although it didn't suck either (N.American slang is rubbing off on me, unfortunately). I packed up & got on a flight to San Francisco...a place I had heard a lot of good things about, & was eager to investigate!

Seattle, United States