Seamless Seattle

A dazzling city – “one heck of a gem”! Bridget falls in love with the Emerald City of Seattle in Canada

An invitation to fly business class from the Emerald Isle’s capital, Dublin, to the Emerald City of Seattle on the inaugural flight with Aer Lingus is not an offer you get every day – not even as a travel writer. I was as thrilled as if I’d received ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz.

The seamless connections from regional airports such as Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester are almost as good as clicking your heels three times and saying: “There’s no place like Seattle”.

Toasting our on-time departure with a glass of champagne, I decided that if I ever won the Lottery, this is definitely the way I’d travel. What’s not to love?

Looked after by friendly cabin crew, eating a meal as good as in a restaurant served with your choice of drinks, watching the latest films, even working with complimentary wifi and snoozing under a duvet on the lie-flat seats; no wonder we felt elated when we arrived 30 minutes earlier than scheduled on our nine-hour flight.

There were a lot of highs during our three-night stay in the Pacific Northwest. One of our first ports of call, of course, was the iconic 605-feettall Space Needle, built in 1962 for the World’s Fair. You definitely need a head for heights for the views from the observation deck – and more so when the new, glass-floored rotating restaurant opens.

We also viewed what is nicknamed the ‘Frasier’ skyline from Kerry Park. Being a long-term fan of the TV programme and particularly Eddie the dog, I think Simon, Minnie and I would fit right into the Seattle lifestyle. The reason is that there are six times more dogs in this city than children, with many residents being dubbed ‘Dinkwads’: Double Income, No Kids with a Dog.

These golden nuggets of information were given on our quacking Duck Tour – ideal for getting our bearings and enjoyed by children (for those who have them). The amphibious vehicle romps past tourism highlights such as the Seattle Aquarium and the Great Wheel as the passengers show their appreciation or otherwise for their guide’s goofy commentary with their duck-billed hooters.

We splashed down in Lake Union, where the original house boat from Sleepless in Seattle can still be found – along with other swanky floating palaces costing millions of bucks.

I loved riding the Monorail after a visit to the Frank Gehry designed, futuristic MoPOP Museum and crazily colourful Chihuly Gardens and Glass. After a tasty and fascinating foodie tour of bustling Pike Place Market, we found a sunny and secluded roof garden to enjoy an ice cream overlooking the waterfront with its ferries, whale watching tours and cruise ships.

But the best view from on high has to be of two whales swimming side by side

Toasting our on-time departure with a glass of champagne, I decided that if I ever won the Lottery, this is definitely the way I’d travel

that we spotted from our float plane. They were even clearer than the whales we’d seen from the Clipper boat en route to the San Juan Island – a nature lovers’ dream with its hikes, mountain bike trails and the only dedicated whale watching park in the world.

Apparently, we were also jammy with the weather as it was mainly hot and dry during our recent May visit. Seattle is nicknamed the ‘Emerald City’ because it is so green, but less flatteringly, it’s dubbed the ‘Rainy City’, too.

Aer Lingus (aerlingus.com) fares from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Seattle cost from £289 each way and £1,399 in business class including taxes and charges. For more on Seattle, visit Seattle-WashingtonState.co.uk