Masses of aromatic flowers … mounds of fresh raspberries and cherries … mountains of ice-covered silvery salmon…. This is Pike Place Market, known affectionately by many as the Heart and Soul of Seattle, and no visit to the city would be complete without multiple excursions to taste, sip and sniff your way through its crowded corridors overlooking the waterfront.

We visit the market every morning during out stay in Seattle. The first day we pick up a map at the Information Booth on Pike Street and First Avenue. With over 100 farm stalls, 200 commercial establishments and hundreds of artists and craftspeople in a labyrinth of multiple floors, you would be forgiven for getting lost.

Pike Place Market is the oldest, continuously operated public market in America. Back in 1906, the people of Seattle (and particularly the farmers) were incensed by the price gouging perpetrated by middlemen who bought onions from the farmers and resold them to customers with a hefty mark-up which they kept for themselves. At the suggestion of a local councilman, a market was set up that would allow the farmers to sell directly to the customers. The project was so successful that on the first day, within two hours, the farmers had completely sold out and people were clamoring for more.

Since then there have been misguided initiatives to destroy the market and replace it with office buildings and parking lots. Fortunately, the public outcry was such that the market has now been turned into a historical preservation site attracting 10 million visitors a year.

As you enter, look for Rachel the Pig under the Public Market sign. Weighing 550 lbs, this iconic, bronze piggy bank, designed by local artist Georgia Gerber, is the unofficial mascot of the market. Visitors regularly deposit coins and loose change and the donations are used to contribute to social services including help for senior citizens.

Directly behind Rachel the Pig, you can’t help but notice the crowds of people milling around the Pike Place Fish Market, their cameras pointed and ready to shoot. Suddenly a cry goes out from a fishmonger and an enormous silver salmon flies through the air to the back of the counter. Cameras click furiously to capture the action. This happens every time a customer decides to purchase a fish. Once the fish has been selected, it is thrown to the back for packing and possible shipping. You can have your fish packed in airline-approved boxes to take home with you. There is even a webcam installed to catch the action so you can watch the antics of the fishmongers from your living room.

Wander down the ramp one level to Post Alley where you will find the Market Theater Gum Wall, one of Seattle’s landmarks. The brick walls of the alleyway are covered with used chewing gum! Notwithstanding the germs, perhaps you will be inspired to add your used chewing gum to what has become “A work of art.”

Back upstairs wander through the mind-boggling variety of flowers and foods. Hundreds of boutiques of affordable star lilies, peonies, roses, lavender and other varieties of flowers sit in glass vases waiting. If you are sitting at an outdoor café on a Friday evening, you can’t help but notice that almost everyone walking past you is carrying home a vase of flowers to brighten up the week-end.

As you meander, merchants will offer you samples to tempt you to buy, allowing you to graze your way through the smoked salmon, fresh peaches, dried fruit and nuts, chocolate covered cherries, blackberry jam. If you can leave the market without being laden down by shopping bags, then your willpower is stronger than ours.

On the lower floors built into the steep hillside, quirky shops entice the visitor to discover a variety of items. Although many are stocked with touristy souvenirs, they are still fun to explore. Since the market is supposedly haunted, keep your eyes open for pesky ghosts harassing the vendors. There is even a Ghost Tour you can take if you want to learn more about them.

Once you have finished strolling through the market itself, wander across the cobblestones of Pike Street to taste your way through the stores on the opposite side. One of our favorites is Beecher’s Handmade Cheese where we stand in line to pick up a tub of steaming macaroni and cheese, a delicious mix of penne pasta made with their own homemade cheese. While you wait, watch through the window as the cheese maker turns creamy white milk into cheeses with names like Marco Polo (flavored with pepper corns) or No Woman (flavored with Jamaican Jerk spices).

Further down the street pick up a latte at the Original Starbucks where you find huge lines being entertained by musicians. Notice the original mermaid logo on the window. With coffee and lunch in hand, wander over to Victor Steinbrueck Park on the north side of the market where you can picnic on the grass overlooking Elliott Bay under the watchful eye of totem poles.

Seattle’s Pike Place Market will excite your senses and stimulate your appetite Be sure to visit when you are hungry.

IF YOU GO
The Pike Place Market is located between Virginia and Pike Streets and First Avenue and Pike Place in downtown Seattle. It is open 362 days a year; there are different opening times or the shops, stalls and restaurants but generally the produce is sold between 0700 and 1800. Although there is some parking in the area, you would be best served to use Seattle’s excellent public transportation system or else walk. Directions can be found on the market website (www.pikeplacemarket.org as well as www.visitseattle.org for information regarding ongoing events. If you find the market too overwhelming to explore on your own, there is a Market Heritage Tour that runs from June to August (Tel 206-322-2219); alternatively a Seattle Food Tour  will let you taste your way through the city. And don’t forget the Ghost Tour .

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