Cafe Pettirosso

I moved back to Seattle in 2001 and have lived here ever since. I have lived in the Capitol Hill/First Hill neighborhoods for that entire time, save one year.

I have walked passed Cafe Pettirosso, opened in 2000, innumerable times, I have eaten at every food establishment around it, and even had a friend working there for about a year, yet never had I gone inside. I didn't purposefully avoid it, it was just one of those places that I just never get around to trying.

Until I did.

I reached out to a friend I hadn't talked to in a while and she said we should meet up at the Cafe, since it's become her regular place.

The small storefront hides a spacious interior. The pastries were so buttery and just sweet enough for my savory preferring tastes.
And so, even after 14 years, there are surprises to discover in my backyard.

Summit Block Party IV

A beautiful weekend on Capitol Hill, where the fourth annual Summit Block Party took place on Saturday.

The event started as a way for residents of the Summit Inn, an artistic community, to show off their art and music to each other.

Over the years, more and more friends started showing up, until this year they had to get official permits and block off the street.

This is likely to be the last year, the Summit Inn got a new owner, but it's hardly the last community party that shows off the talents of the neighborhood.

Capitol Hill Library

I am proud to boast about the Seattle Public Library system.
Seattle has been in the top 3 most literate cities since the rankings started in 2003, a few times reaching the top spot. We love books, bookstores, librarians, so of course we invest in our libraries.
The downtown branch is famous for it's Rem Koolhaus architecture. Since the day it's opened I have referred to it as our secular temple. But the neighborhood branches are what really connect the city to the system.
We're able to order books from anywhere in the system and get them delivered to our local branch, free of charge. That includes movies and music- one of the last repositories of physical media in our city.
Well, I was dropping off some material at the Capitol Hill branch, my fabulous local, when I noticed a shelf of materials that didn't need a library card to check out. A library honor system, which just set my heart aflutter.

Doing a tour of the neighborhood branches (map) is a great way to get a feel for our city. Each branch really reflects the community that surrounds it. And each branch has amazing architecture- from the classic Carnegies of the early 1900's to modern beauties.
Depending on the season, you may even be able to participate in a mini-game, like the Passport program, which encouraged residents to visit each other's neighborhoods.

Traveling

Many people talk about their love of travel, few follow up with action.

There seems to me to be a perception in American culture that traveling for fun is the domain of the very rich. Sure, we vacation, but traveling to me is greater than vacationing.
A vacation implies a break from life, but I don't look at travel in that light. To me, travel is a part of a well-lived life, not separate from it. I do not travel to party, though my Couchsurfing adventures have introduced me to a few parties I otherwise wouldn't have gotten to experience. I do not travel to just check out museums, though I do love seeing the culture that a city chooses to display and highlight- in the same way I love wandering the streets of Seattle and stumbling upon a small gallery, or taking refuge in the Seattle Art Museum after a stressful day of work- these are parts of a successful trip, but not the raison d'etre.
I see guided tours of a city like a visit to a museum. I love history and most guided tours are simply a history lesson of the place you are currently standing in. Sure, I could research the history of a city and the destinations I'm interested in, but personal stories from a guide about the city they live in now is a part of the tour experience, and gives a perspective on how people relate the history of a place to their present. One tour I recommend to everyone who visits me in Seattle is the Underground Tour. A fun-filled hour that gives the best flavor of Seattle's founding and a perspective on how locals currently see our city. It's tour I go on myself every few years.

Travel is about experiences. I travel to connect myself with the world outside my apartment. And I do come from somewhere, Seattle if you were confused about the title. That history influences my perspective of the world and, if you know anything about Seattle, gives you a little understanding of that perspective.