Seattle Strange Things

I have been in Seattle for three days now. These are a few things that attracted my attention. Things that seemed strange or at least different for an Italian visiting this big country.

First things that catch your attention are things very near you… The bathroom! 🙂
The bathroom, in my hotelroom, has two lights. One is a standard light to actually see when you are in the bathroom…. The other one is to HEAT. It’s one of those lights that you also see in some fast foods or places where they want to keep food warm. It’s right above the WC and feels warm while you’re under it. Today, when I was going to take a shower I left my towel under it and it was a little bit warm when I got out of the shower. It probably did not have enough time to warm up more. Amazing!

Second thing are buses. I take the bus to go to the office. Yesterday was the first time I took it. Interesting thing is that in the very center of the city there’s a “Ride Free Zone“, which means that you can use the bus for free. You get on and off anytime you want. If you get on in a ride free zone and get off out of it, you will have to pay the full price of the ticket.
I think it’s a cool service because anyone can move around the center of the city for free without a car. Sounds like a good idea not to use a car. “Downtown” is actually bigger than the Ride Free Zone, but still seems a very good initiative.
Bad thing about the bus fares is that during the rush hour you pay MORE than during normal hours. This does not seem like an incentive to avoid using the car during the hours in which there’s the highest traffic problem.

Third thing, but probably most people who lives around here already knows it: it rains all the time.
Funny thing about it, though: most of my co-workers don’t use an umbrella. It seems like they are so used to the rain that they don’t “avoid” it.