Seattle is very much like other big U.S. cities. A lot of huge office buildings like Wells Fargo, sky scraping into the air. And then, just around the corner from it, there’s a handful of people sleeping rough on the streets. If you’re not in a suit, you’re in a sleeping bag. That’s how I interpret places like Seattle. High living or low dwelling. High rises and homeless.
Did I like Seattle? Not really. It had a bit of late autumn foliage and water as you came into the city but it just seemed like when you got there it was another tired, slightly boring, big American city. For instance, try and get a burger in downtown Seattle at nine o'clock in the evening. Your only option is a hatch window at McDonald’s surrounded by people begging you for your money. I feel genuinely sorry for them. I feel appalled by the environment. It made me very uncomfortable. It’s not nice and it’s a huge social problem America is facing and I’m glad it’s not up to me to solve it. But as a tourist, sights like this make these places unappealing and unattractive. The very opposite of what tourism should be.
I took a spin out to Ballard one of the days and that certainly had more of a friendly, welcoming feel to it. Maybe the secret is getting out of the city and into the suburbs. But the city is where the games are. The city is where the team is. It’s the city that ultimately defines the team.
The home of grunge music, hearing Nirvana’s smells like teen spirit blasted out as the Seahawks took to the field was definitely a goosebumps moment. It was probably the highlight of my time in Seattle. The game itself was one sided with the Seahawks finding themselves on the wrong side of a 13-31 deficit come end of regulation. Christian McCaffrey told my eyes in person what they already knew in that he is very much the MVP of the NFL. On a balmy thanksgiving night,The 49ers dominated their west coast rivals to take a stronghold of the NFC west and put themselves right back in position for a run at this year’s Super Bowl in Las Vegas.
The Seahawks, well they seemed to annoy a quickly restless crowd. I left thinking head coach Pete Carroll must surely be feeling a lot of pressure despite a long and successful career in Seattle. Although there was a strong away support for the opposition, it seemed the most driving factor from the stands was that of annoyance from the home fans at their own team.
I must admit I left Seattle thinking “are these trips really worth it?” They’re so expensive and arduous to get to, why not just watch the games at home on TV? Thankfully Denver made it all seem worthwhile again.
Denver Colorado, with the Rockys twinkling at you in the background, is a very fun city. Lots of bars and restaurants. Lots of fun and craic to be had. And a very manageable, clean, comfortable, safe city. Exactly what I’m looking for when I’ve come so far, spent plenty of money and worked so hard all year for. A city to enjoy.
Meeting Martin Silke was a real special moment. Now living in Denver, I’ve made so many poker pals over the years that you really could bump into them anywhere in the world, as I did with Martin in Denver. A city I’d go back to, I’d recommend Denver to anyone who’s looking to go to a big U.S. city that’s slightly off the beaten track in terms of its notoriety and popularity. It was brilliant. I loved it.
The game itself was fun too. Mind you it got bitterly cold in the second half when the sun went in behind the stands. Nice to see the former Seahawk Russell Wilson catch some fire on the day for the Broncos. Having seen both his former and present team in such quick succession, I think he may have made the right decision leaving Seattle on a lot of fronts.
I liked the galloping horses visuals they used on the screen for first downs and the crowd interaction in general. Broncos country is definitely a fun place to be on a Sunday afternoon.
So that’s it for another year. Nice to have another two teams off the list and to be just over half way. I’d like to do more than two teams next year as I really didn’t intend spending so much of my life doing these! I actually thought I’d have the whole lot done in four years, how wrong I was! If I could get it finished in the next four years that would be a good achievement. I’ll aim for that.
I must admit I left Seattle thinking “are these trips really worth it?” They’re so expensive and arduous to get to, why not just watch the games at home on TV? Thankfully Denver made it all seem worthwhile again.
Denver Colorado, with the Rockys twinkling at you in the background, is a very fun city. Lots of bars and restaurants. Lots of fun and craic to be had. And a very manageable, clean, comfortable, safe city. Exactly what I’m looking for when I’ve come so far, spent plenty of money and worked so hard all year for. A city to enjoy.
Meeting Martin Silke was a real special moment. Now living in Denver, I’ve made so many poker pals over the years that you really could bump into them anywhere in the world, as I did with Martin in Denver. A city I’d go back to, I’d recommend Denver to anyone who’s looking to go to a big U.S. city that’s slightly off the beaten track in terms of its notoriety and popularity. It was brilliant. I loved it.
The game itself was fun too. Mind you it got bitterly cold in the second half when the sun went in behind the stands. Nice to see the former Seahawk Russell Wilson catch some fire on the day for the Broncos. Having seen both his former and present team in such quick succession, I think he may have made the right decision leaving Seattle on a lot of fronts.
I liked the galloping horses visuals they used on the screen for first downs and the crowd interaction in general. Broncos country is definitely a fun place to be on a Sunday afternoon.
So that’s it for another year. Nice to have another two teams off the list and to be just over half way. I’d like to do more than two teams next year as I really didn’t intend spending so much of my life doing these! I actually thought I’d have the whole lot done in four years, how wrong I was! If I could get it finished in the next four years that would be a good achievement. I’ll aim for that.
I would like to see another dome game soon. The one in New Orleans I saw a few years back is still ringing around in my head so maybe the Cardinals or the Falcons next year. I wouldn’t mind going somewhere warm too after almost getting frostbite on this trip.
Wherever is is I end up, I'm looking forward to trip number 11 already.
