Beyond the Books: Tales of a Bibliophile

Every place has their focal point; their treasure and their holy grail. It's where locals know to avoid on major tourist holidays, and where every traveler has to get a picture in front of to prove they were actually there. For the city of Seattle, that place is the Pike Place Public Market.

Walking through the streets of downtown, you can smell both the salty air of the water and the fishy smell that is a little like fish and lot more like sewage. Cars are backed up through the streets, and the sidewalks are filled with tourists and locals alike headed towards Pike Place. The open air market is known for their fish, but more specifically the fishmongers who throw fish that customers purchase before it's wrapped to take home. When we arrived you could easily see it was a spectacle as hundreds of people gathered around to watch as the men tossed the fish, yelling sounds I couldn't understand. The crowds went wild every time as they caught the fish, clapping and cheering them on. It was certainly invigorating, getting caught up in the commotion, but just beneath the fish is where I found the Market's real treasure.

I took the stairs that led down to the lower level of the market, wondering what shops awaited me. Would they be just more stands of locally grown produce like the first floor? Or the standard gift shops with city branded mugs and shirts, and key-chains with your name on it (of which I'm lucky to ever find mine, thanks Mom and Dad)? Instead, it was more than I imagined.
It was a vast open area, filled with countless shops and bustling with owners sharing the stories of their success. There were fabric stores, antiques, and even movie collectibles. At the end of the first floor was a small bookshop. Walking through the awning, I immediately fell into the aroma of lightly worn pages and the must of tattered dust jackets. With a sense of peace and happiness, I skimmed every title in the $2 section multiple times. Finding new treasures I could enjoy over and over again, I couldn't help but smile. It's always hard to choose, but supporting a small shop I purchased a few extra. My parents found me with a stack an hour later, my wallet a little bit lighter.

Some tourists might be happy leaving with a few pounds of salmon, but I found the treasure to be leaving with 10 books for under half the cost of their dinner. It's easy to accept the face value of a city through its landmarks, but they often mask the true treasures hidden right around them.