Trip Date: August, 2022
I recently moved to Seattle from the UK by way of Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. This was the reason for the road trip that has been the source for a number of my recent posts – with a few adventures from this journey still to come! The VR gallery for today will follow the experience of visiting the Space Needle.
I had a week free before starting work, and was staying in the downtown area for the first month, so I decided to buy the CityPass. This includes admission to the Space Needle and Seattle Aquarium, and I chose a harbour cruise as well as entry to Chihuly Garden and Glass and Woodland Park Zoo as the other attractions. Seattle was experiencing a heatwave when I arrived, which was different to what I was expecting – having been told Seattle closes matches British weather, namely, near-constant rain. This meant that by the end of the 25 minute walk, I was decidedly baked! For my trip, I chose an entry time roughly an hour before sunset to give me a chance of seeing the city at night from this great height.
The Space Needle is visible from lots of points throughout the city, my walk home from work is down the road that ends with the Seattle Center, and it stands prominently against the sky at both Chihuly Garden and Glass and the Pacific Science Center:
Information around the entrance to the Space Needle and the lift (or elevator) tells you that 1,000,000 people had visited the Space Needle by 1962, and that the chief engineer had previously designed gantries for Nasa. Billboards boast of glass benches that tip backwards 520 feet above the ground.
It doesn’t look that bad in this image, in fact the height doesn’t seem concerning in any of these images at all, but I have to say that I experienced a fair degree of vertigo! This was perhaps not helped by the fact that the glass panels on this observation deck were not solid all the way around, and the memory of seeing people freely leaning against the glass looking down or sticking their arms through the gaps makes my hands sweat! I would say that for that reason, this VR gallery may give you similar feelings, or may serve as useful immersion therapy for anyone scared of heights…
Going up the Space Needle on my second day in Seattle was a great way to discover the city. I was able to take in the different elements that make up Seattle – the bay, and the islands of the Puget Sound, the industry of the harbour, the piers leading right into the heart of a downtown studded with skyscrapers, and the marinas and tiny sailing ships making their way along Lake Union. I will save the best of these views for the VR gallery below, however here you can see the view from the deck as the day drew to a close. The night shots were taken from the lower, revolving deck that sported a glass floor. Unfortunately I was not able to get any good VR shots from this deck at night without a tripod, I may try again in the future.
For a helpful guide on navigating the images in the VR gallery, please see the tips pinned to the left-hand side, or follow the link to the How To page. The gallery can also be viewed on non-VR devices such as a mobile phone or laptop which will allow you to pan around the images. This gallery contains 11 images and will loop when you get to the end. Please click the image below to enjoy the VR experience:
Very nice. That is a treat to see Chihuly’s glass. I’ve seen pieces of his in the past.
Thank you! I am planning to post a separate VR gallery of Chihuly’s work at some point in the future – it’s all so stunning.