So many things to do, so little time! Walking around the Public Market is most enjoyable. Traders are only allowed to sell produce which has been made, grown, fished or produced in the State of Washington and, apparently, the authorities are very strict about this - even visiting the farms and factories to check! Stall holders were handing out tasters left, right and centre and very friendly and chatty. We tried fresh fruit, dried fruit, cheeses, smoked fish, breads and teas - it was a veritable feast! The flower stalls added so much colour and freshness to the market - I have never seen such beautifully presented items!

Then, of course, there's the famous fish traders that have turned the mundane task of selling fish into a theatrical performance when they fling the sold fish over to the counter! God bless Americans, they're so easily entertained! A variety of buskers line up on the streets and play their instruments. It's like a miniature carnival. Coupled with the fantastic weather, our stopover in Seattle has been fantastic!

We popped into Seattle Coffee Works - owned by coffee wizard extraordinaire, Sebastian Simsch - where I had a delectable latté. The assistants are total coffee snobs, I mean connoisseurs. I wanted to buy a packet of ground coffee but they only sell beans which they then grind for you on the spot. The guy wouldn't sell me the coffee to go because I told him I would be travelling with it for 2 more weeks and he said it wouldn't be fresh enough after 2 weeks! They had a bar where you could try different coffees and a unique cold press coffee device. They REALLY love their coffees in that place!

Did a quick(ish) shop at Target and Ross before heading to Lowell's Restaurant & Bar for lunch with beautiful views of the harbour area and highly rated by the locals. We both had the fish tacos with Washington cod and pico de gallo. Oh my god, it was so tasty and fresh! Just perfect! I've only one had a better taco than this and that was a smoked marlin work-of-culinary-genius in San Pancho on the Pacific Coast of Mexico!

Then, with all our bags in tow, we walked to the cruise terminal to board NCL's Pearl ship. It is HUGE and quite garish. Not at all what I expected. I don't really know what I expected, but it wasn't this. There's thousands of people milling about. In fact, I spoke to one of the crew members and they said that there are 2500 passengers onboard out of a capacity of 3000. After dumping the bags in our windowless room, I head out to the Spa. It's a beautiful oasis amidst all the chaos of buffet-eating, beer-drinking, techno-pumping noise. So, I promptly sign up to the $120 additional charge to use the spa facilities for the week. Not something I'd budgeted for, but the rest of the public spaces are just too crazy and I need to escape to somewhere peaceful and quiet.

The ship launches off into the sparkling blue bay and I watch the surroundings from the calm and soothing cocoon of the sauna (which has 180 degree views from the bow). Aaaahhh, this is the life!