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The very first Starbucks in the world was opened in 1971 at the Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle. Since the Pike Market Place is a historic area, the city council imposed strict design guidelines on the buildings, which is why the store retained its original, simple look.

Since I was already in the Seattle area, I decided to head to the Market and have a cup of coffee at this Mecca of coffeeshops. It looks like many tourists thought of the same thing since the inside of the store was fairly crowded. But the staff were very accommodating and despite the long line that greeted me when I entered, it took only a few minutes before my turn finally came up.

Like in the Philippines, pretty much every other corner has a Starbucks coffee shop, though I noticed that the interiors of the Starbucks stores in Seattle are more simple than the ones in the Philippines.

Despite the news that Starbucks is closing 600 stores in the United States, the brand is everywhere.

Our hotel room had complimentary Starbucks coffee.

Even the United Airlines flight to Seattle offered Starbucks coffee to the passengers. Starbucks really is the city’s biggest claim to fame.