On the road in Seattle. . .

I've come to the beautiful city of Seattle for a few days inbetween conferences. It's my first visit and I'm loving the vibrancy of the streets (and their steepness - I adore cities on hills), the fact that coffee shops have latte happy hours starting at 7am, the long pedestrian paths along the waterfront, the terrific bookshops, the shoe shops, the seafood, and of course I had to check out their new main library.

While the design has had its critics, I quite liked it. It certainly stands out among its neighbouring buildings (I never have a problem if a library wants to draw attention to itself, architectually or otherwise). and once inside, all the floors are flooded with natural light which allows for very comfortable reading. The chairs are extremely comfy and well-padded, and though there is a lot of open space, the acoustics are such that you don't hear a lot of echoing voices or computer tapping. The third photo with the Dewey Decimal numbers on the floor is part of their four floor spiral system. You can follow the gentle ramp continuously through all the non-fiction sections, leading to the magazines and documents. The red stairs lead up to the fourth floor which contains meeting rooms - the walls, ceilings and floors are all painted different shades of red.

And there's a great view of the city high up on the tenth floor.