We were mid-bite on our Bratwurst Sandwich mit Pommes Frittes ($8) when Spain's Fernando Torres scored the sole goal, and we celebrated quietly with a swig of Franziskaner Dunkel Weissbier. A friend of ours whooped and threw her hands up in the air. She suddenly felt very alone, she mentioned later. Not surprisingly, the crowd at Feierabend, the German-style bar down the street from REI, was solidly in Germany's corner. At least we assumed......

Paul Allen's development of South Lake Union, with at least a dozen new buildings devoted to high-tech enterprises and grandiose plans to become a highrise virtual downtown, extends uphill and eastward to encompass the residential neighborhood known as Cascade. REI built its headquarters here and surrounded it with a lovely garden; the grand old St. Spiridon orthodox church stands guard over a street of new construction. One facade of Alley 24 remains untouched; the......