Australians take over Seattle before their World Cup match against U.S.
For one Friday afternoon, Seattle partially transformed into the Land Down Under.
Thousands of Aussie fans descended on Seattle ahead of the U.S.-Australia World Cup match at Seattle Stadium in a formidable wave of green and gold Socceroos jerseys. Many of them were visiting the Pacific Northwest for the first time, braving the 7,000-mile-plus journey into a different hemisphere to show up for their team.
What the Aussies found was not the gray, rainy metropolis the rest of the world normally associates with Seattle. Instead they discovered a sunshine-filled city on the Puget Sound, along with beautiful scenery, cream-cheese-topped hot dogs, and more unique Seattle gems.
The action started hours before the noon kickoff - Aussies gathered by the thousands at Victory Hall in Sodo for a fan march to Seattle Stadium at 9:45 a.m. Friday. Among them were Geoff and Deb Purcell, a couple from Melbourne who were attending their fourth World Cup. Dressed head to toe in Socceroo gear, the couple held an inflatable kangaroo above their heads as the crowd prepared to march. Staying in Capitol Hill, the Purcells had spent the previous evening at Summit Public House.
"It's been awesome," Geoff said of the city. "We had drinks and hung around had lots of fun with the locals."
Before long, the parade kicked off, with cheers of "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi oi oi!" and taunts of "Who are ya?" to rival U.S.A. fans. After arriving at Seattle Stadium, fans without tickets made their way back to Victory Hall, including Melbourne couple Mitchell Anderson and Chloe Sharp. "We went to (Pike Place) Market, had a couple drinks and put in an early night for today," Anderson said (the couple had made the 20-hour flight from Australia just the night before the game). "It's beautiful," he said of the sunshine. "It's just like Melbourne."
Another chilly Pacific Northwest phenomenon, the Seattle Freeze, seemed to melt ahead of Friday's match. Ashley Smith, who watched from Victory Hall with her sister, brother-in-law and niece, loved how welcoming Seattleites had been to the family from Adelaide, South Australia. When they heard about the concept of Seattleites having difficulty making friends, they shook their heads in disbelief. "Everyone is so friendly here," Smith said. "We've had a lot of Seattle people say, ‘We're glad that you've come.'"
Aussie visitors were enamored with the Seattle Dog, but family members Fran, Alejandro and Nicholas Pinerio said the cream cheese and onion-topped brat was no match for an Australian meat pie.
Los Angeles-based food vendor Aussie Pies and Sausages set up shop at Victory Hall, serving up "dog's eye with a dead horse" (sausage and gravy meat pies topped with ketchup). Throughout the day, they served pies to Aussies and Americans alike. "It's good for people to try something new," owner Jay Jay Wolfpie said.
Perhaps the largest culture shock to visiting Australians was how expensive everything was. "An Uber was like $60 American for a 10-minute drive!" said Perth, Western Australia, resident Robbie Gioigi. "The Uber prices are ridiculous." Meals were probably not much cheaper for Gioigi and his mates - they said they ate at Brazilian steakhouse Fogo de Chão on Thursday. Though they could do without the sticker shock, Gioigi and his friends loved the city's architecture - namely in Queen Anne, where they were staying, and the surrounding scenery.
"What's that big mountain you see when you fly in (to Seattle)?" Gioigi's friend Darren Sime asked. Locals kindly informed him it was Mount Rainier, as well as the classic phrase, "The mountain's out."
As fun as it was to explore Seattle for a day or two, Aussie fans couldn't say the same for their beloved soccer team as the Socceroos were shut out, 2-0, by the home team. But in true Australian fashion, fans chose to be easygoing about the loss. Lyn Cameron, 62, originally from Woy Woy in New South Wales and now living in Kalama, Wash., proudly waved a Seahawks-themed Australian flag outside the stadium after the game.
"The Americans came to win," she said. "But the support here was amazing. We were here all the way from Australia. The atmosphere here was really, really great."
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