Unfortunately, last night’s keynote address at Boeing was an unmitigated disaster. A dozen or so aeronautical engineers picketed outside the front gate with placards stating “we have standards to keep” and “no imbeciles allowed”. I told the limo driver to turn around and get out of there. Apparently, they started a vicious social media campaign against me and Boeing couldn’t guarantee my safety. So be it. Their loss.

The Fremont district sits about 10 mins by bus NW of the CBD alongside the Union Lake, an expanse of water big enough to land seaplanes and house all types of watercraft. The film “Sleepless in Seattle” was shot there as there are a lot of houseboats moored. Fremont was a big hippy town in the 60s and those hippies are now very rich because the place is very easy on the eye, has superb houses and views and a hip neighbourhood. There are 2 famous landmarks of note in Fremont. Firstly the “Troll Under the Bridge” which is a huge troll carved out of rock with one hand clutching a VW Bug and one glass eye. It’s was sculptured in 1990 as part of a local competition and sits right under a very busy bridge. The other landmark is a 10-ton wooden sculpture of Lenin that sits in the middle of Fremont which was brought over from Slovakia just before the Russians took it over in 1988 I think. It’s not meant to be a political statement of any kind and without knowing too much about Lenin, he was an intellectual who had plenty of blood on his hands and this is depicted in the sculpture.

More importantly, I don’t pretend to know a lot about food, as most of what I ingest gets inhaled, but I am somewhat a connoisseur of the sandwich. I had without doubt the best sandwich EVER today at Royal Grinders. Do not miss the opportunity to eat here if you visit Seattle. It sits right behind Lenin so you can’t miss it.

I’m not sure if Google has its HQ in Fremont but there were 3 big warehouse-like offices right on the river in el primo locations and there was plenty of geeks wandering around having lunch in geek-like trances. We thought it would be funny to walk in the front door of Google and say, “any of you guys got a map?”

Anyway from beautiful Fremont to the Seattle Art Museum or SAM. It has an iconic sculpture out the front of a metal worker which is called “The Hammering Man” and his hammering arm actually hammers! He sits about 48ft tall and is very impressive. Below is a photo that’s better than anything I took.

There was a sensational exhibition in SAM today but we didn’t have enough time and frankly couldn’t afford it so hopefully, it comes to Melbourne and I can save up. The Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama has a uniquely beautiful style of painting and sculpture that has elements of aboriginal art. We were so lucky during our Japanese trip last year to visit the art island of Naoshima which contains lots of outside installations that are framed up mostly by spectacular natural backgrounds. Arguably the most famous is by Kusama called the “Pumpkin”. I’ll see if I can find a photo.

That bicycle around Naoshima was a memorable day. Pristine, however enough of that, this is our last night in Seattle and I wish I could say we are going out for a romantic dinner but no we are going to polish off the scraps in the fridge, they being fruit, bagels, potato chips and a cup of tea.

Before I go, I’m going to publish a poem or 2 from my humble school teacher girlfriend who’s curiosity and observations are as sharp as anyone I know.

“Take Me Out to the Ball Park” 

Women yelling at the wall

Does anyone answer your call 

Man going through a bin

Below the superstar’s grin 

They mill around in a daze

Like some post-apocalyptic dance craze 

We pass by with heads bent in shame

How is it that we are not to blame? 

Feel lucky that someone knows our name

Head into the stadium for the game. 

 

“Fremont Troll” 

Fremont Troll

You’ve taken a toll

People smile and strike a pose

Kids put fingers up your nose

Girls pretend you have them in your grip

Kids crawl over you and try not to slip

Fremont Troll please come to life

And escape from all this inane strife 

 

We have had a great time in Seattle. Despite the public transport challenges, it’s a very friendly city with lots of diversity. I’ll dial into Gates’ symposium this week and sort the transport out but overall it’s great place to visit. Like Portland, it’s a shame we couldn’t explore the countryside but that will happen over the next 5 days in West Glacier. Below are some photos from today. Cheers.