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For a non-resident, a trip to Seattle can span a broad range of emotions and feelings, from freeway fear to visual vibrancy. The harrowing negotiation of the freeway system during the flood and ebb of the tide of commuters is counterbalanced by the exhilarating views of the imposing snow-capped Olympic Mountains, majestic Mount Rainier, the impossibly green forests so close that they threaten to overwhelm the city, and the shimmering blue fingers of Puget Sound groping at the city’s skirts.

What was not so long ago a conservative, little known city in a little known state has burgeoned into the Pacific Northwest’s capital of culture, forward-thinking politics, outdoor recreation, and of cutting edge hip. Spawning the national obsession with fancy coffees, generating the newest trends in popular music, microbreweries, body piercing and fashion, and the creative mixing of cultural cuisines are as much a part of the Seattle scene as the explosive growth, the influx of Californians, the grid-locked freeways and bridges, and the long, gray, wet winters.

Seattle is equally progressive as an industrial/commercial center. The Port of Seattle is the nation’s major link to the emerging Asian and Pacific Rim countries, an important fisheries center, and is home to giants of the business world such as Microsoft and Boeing.

However, whatever your personal impressions of Seattle are, no visit to the city could be chalked up as a comprehensive life experience without a visit to Pike Place Market. So popular is this tourist attraction that a visit on weekends is reminiscent of the freeway system, except the gridlock is human rather than vehicular. The crowds surge around the colorful and vocal fish mongers performing their juggling fish routines, the kaleidoscopic vegetable and fruit stand displays, and the back alley and underground maze of shops suggestive of oriental bazaars and markets in Marrakech.

Is a visit worth it? You bet! Pike Place Market is the fuse to an explosion of the senses. Inhale the nose-filling aromas of cut roses, fresh baked breads, ripe melons, and garden-fresh Walla-Walla onions.

Tantalize your taste buds with still warm smoked salmon, crunchy apples, clam linguini or Hunan black bean sauce, right-out-of-the-oven sourdough bread, and an espresso from just roasted beans.

Dazzle the sight nerves to the brain with vibrations of light from the bright reds of hanging fuchsias and rows of tomatoes, the vivid greens of piles of lettuces and pots of ferns, and the yellows and oranges of squash, sun flowers, bell peppers, salmon filets, and birds of paradise.

Pick up a live crab, caress the soft fuzz on a ripe peach, and squeak your finger along the smooth skin of a cucumber. Listen to the booming sales pitches of the fish mongers, the cacophony of myriad languages and accents around you, and the oohs and aahs of the shoppers.

This is a sensory revitalization zone and an icon of Seattle’s identity. This is Pike Place Market.

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