Having had the best nights sleep of the entire trip, we were up and raring to go. A quick Starbucks coffee for breakfast and we checked in to our Clipper Vacations ferry down to Seattle. We managed to get ourselves an excellent window spot and enjoyed the 3 hour journey. By the time we reached Seattle and got through customs, we were able to check straight into our room at HI - The American Hotel, which thankfully was far nicer than the hostel room from the previous day!
After freshening up we set off to join Bill Speidel's Underground Tour, taken around by the lovely Sarah. We learnt about the history of the city, the history of the tunnels that can be found under Pioneer Square and what the tunnels have been used for over time. The city had to be rebuilt after the Great Seattle Fire in 1889 however it was required to be elevated as the city regularly flooded. Initially the city didn't have enough money to do both at the same time so all local businesses agreed to rebuild first and then in time they would raise the sidewalks. The original ground floors of the buildings would then become basements interconnected by the old, lower sidewalks, therefore these tunnels have been left behind. They have had many uses over the years including shopping malls and speakeasies however now are mostly used as a tourist attraction or storage.
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Following a comfortable flight from Reykjavik we thought our luck was in as we sped through customs & passport control - fortunately getting in in front of the 20 million Danish Scouts on our flight (okay...it was maybe more like 30) - and our bags were some of the first off the carousel. However, our luck changed as the heavens opened and the biggest thunderstorm we have ever seen started. This meant everything came to a standstill and we had an hour to wait for our airport transfer meaning we were delighted when we finally arrived at our tiny, tiny room in the Yotel at 22:00 (03:00 GMT, 02:00 Iceland). We took in the amazing view from our window, ordered some room service pizza and crashed out with some Friends on the TV (The One Where They Can't Remember Which Episode They Watched).
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