Underground Seattle, manga, and lots of sugar...

This morning we went on a guided tour of Seattle's underground (the true ground-level city dating from the 19th century, before all the streets and sidewalks were raised by 15 to 35 feet to solve flooding and sewage problems). The history of how the tunnels came about is fascinating, but is too complicated for me to recount; go look it up somewhere. Most of the early buildings in Seattle actually have a floor or more underground, and many of the tunnel-like sidewalks are still passable, with original glass-block skylights set into the "top" sidewalk to let light into the tunnels below. (On my previous trip, I noticed all the glass block set into the pavement, but I thought it was just Seattle being artsy...)

I don't normally care much for guided group tours, but this one was very entertaining and informative! I just wish we could have had more time to examine all the junk, artifacts and pieces of history that are strewn about the tunnels.

After the tour, we had lunch at the Grand Central Bakery and visited a horse-themed store in the same building. Mom and Dad headed for Elliot Bay (she wanted to pick up the new book on Dan Patch) and Mark and I walked six or eight blocks to the International District to visit Uwajimaya.

Just as a note, it's really dangerous to turn me loose in Uwajimaya. It contains a big Asian grocery, which by nature sells things like Ramune (which I bought) and Pocky (which I bought in greater quantity). It also has a Kinokuniya bookstore on the premises (where Mark and I spent several hours browsing and listening to new J-pop singles in the music section).

I couldn't find any Matantei Loki or Weiss Side B in any language I could read (Loki was available in Chinese, but not Japanese or English), but I did discover something called Kuroshitsuji, which translates to Dark (or Black) Butler. I hadn't heard of it -- it's apparently fairly recent, since volume 4 was on the New Releases table -- but it looked interesting (and I'm a pushover for anything about butlers!), so I bought the first volume. I have a feeling it will challenge my Japanese translation skills. ^_^

[At right: The cover of Kuroshitsuji volume 1.]

Mark bought an Angela CD single and the latest volume of Flame of Recca, and then we split a sweet red bean roll (down, Laura!). Afterward, we browsed briefly at Pink Godzilla and another import shop a block or two away, then came back to the hotel.

For dinner, the four of us went across the street to an Italian restaurant called Mitchelli's, which was WORLDS better than the Italian dinner we'd had the night before (a place two doors down from our hotel, which cost about $30 per person, had mediocre food and was pretty lousy all around). Then -- because we still had our wristbands from the Underground tour, which promised us a 10% discount -- we went up the block to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, where I bought the world's largest chocolate-covered strawberry, a mint truffle, and a brick of chocolate-and-nut-encrusted English toffee.

Mmmmmmmmm.

Then we came back to the hotel, where my stash of Pocky and the chocolate and cherries we bought at Pike Place are currently located, and found mints on all our pillows. If there's one thing that is NOT in short supply on this trip, it's sugar!