A massive thank you, Seattle!

Hello Seattle,

We just returned from Seattle after visiting your city from Sunday morning to Monday evening in the context of the Belgium-Egypt game. It was my first time back in Seattle in at least 20 years, and it was the first time altogether for my son.

We cannot thank you enough for the wonderful experience that we had in your fair city (we both live in Cincinnati, although I grew up in Belgium). After we arrived, we picked up our rental car and drove into Ballard, to a coffee shop called Artemis Coffee, which came recommended by a friend. Damn fine place for a Sunday morning coffee, and the fact they have the Financial Times to peruse just added to the pleasure. Afterward we headed to the Museum of Pop Culture, and it was fantastic. Better than the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in my opinion. We then dropped of our rental car near the hotel across from the airport, and took the Light Rail line 1 back to the stadium area where we had a great lunch nearby. Afterwards we checked into the hotel and took a nap. Early evening we took Line 1 back into Capitol Hill, which we really liked A LOT. Got some beers at The Last Drop, a great craft beer place.

Sunday morning was all about the soccer game. The fan zone around Lumen Field and the Mariners stadium was great. We participated in the fans march to Lumen field, a lot of fun. The game itself was a surprise to me on several levels: it was sold out, despite the ticket prices. There were thankfully no ICE or other immigration irritants. Everyone was just enjoying themselves. We (Belgian fans) were sitting next to fans form Egypt but other Belgian fans were nearby. Not a single issue. Everyone was cheering for their team.

I must add a word about the merch: we got to the stadium at 10:30 and immediately stood in line to buy a commemorative scarf. It sold out before we got a chance. How is this possible? That’s like selling out of beer at a beer store. But then after the game, by some miracle, the scarf was available again and so we scooped two of them up.

After the game, we decided to check out the Pike Public Market. What a sight! We could only dream about that in Cincinnati.

By the time we headed to the airport in the evening for our red-eye flight back to Cincinnati, exhausted as we were, we were elated with out experience. You cannot believe the amounts of conversations we struck up with people from both of Seattle and elsewhere. People couldn’t have been friendlier.

Bottom line: THANK YOU SEATTLE, you gave us 2 days we will never forget