Seattle - A Tea Town Part 3

Monday was going to be my last day in Seattle and there was still so much more to discover. I started off the day meeting an author friend Jeanne Sauvage.  She took me to tea at The Teacup. It is a lovely tea shop in the Queen Anne Hill area. They bring your pot of tea to your table and give you a timer. We connected over a couple pots of tea and even ran into my Japanese friends from the festival while we were there!

The afternoon I was on my own to discover Seattle. I headed back to Pike Place Market. My first stop was to visit Starbucks' original location which as I mentioned in my last post was named Starbucks Coffee, Tea, and Spices.

It is interesting to watch this business change over the years. The word in the tea world is that Starbucks has invested quite a bit into their Tazo Tea brand. If your interested, here is an article about it.  It will be fun to see what Starbucks does with tea in the next few years! It's not just about coffee anymore, so stayed tuned.
 
Pike Place Market is full of wonderful things.  Here's a quick video for the feel of the market.  It almost sounds like you could be in China! There were musicians playing throughout the market and this was just one of them.

 

As you can see from the video, there is plenty of fresh seafood to be had  at the market.  Here was my lunch which consisted of fresh crab cocktail and a calamari salad-YUM!

Along with seafood there is plenty of fresh produce and beautiful fresh flowers. 

 

 

 
My next tea stop was a Chinese tea shop named Vital Tea Leaf. It is an intriguing shop. The location is next door to the Four Seasons Hotel just down from Pike Place Market.

 The store carries many teas and teawares along with allowing you to taste free samples of tea. I sat down and was treated to some oolong tea served in a gaiwan which is a Chinese style of serving tea in a small cup with a lid and no handle.  Look closely at the pictures, don't you just love the white porcelain "extra hand?"  How many times do just need an extra hand?

After a day of tea and shopping, I walked back along the water instead of taking the monorail. It was suggested that I stop by Olympic Sculpture Park. It is full of sculptures by Internationally acclaimed artist Louise Bourgeois. Not only are the sculptures beautiful, but the view of Puget Sound is stunning.  Here's a quick video of the view of Puget Sound from the Park.

What a wonderful trip filled with lots of good tea.  Goodnight and Goodbye Seattle for now! 

I hope you have enjoyed the tour of Seattle, although it has been slightly tea slanted! I can't wait for my next trip to the Northwest to discover more tea places. Which tea place was your favorite in my tour? 

Happy Sipping with Memories of Seattle, Lisa