Urban Hiking

We went wandering in Seattle on Sunday - who could resist such a nice day? Our goal was the Queen Ann neighborhood, a great big hill full of stately mansions and curvy streets just north of the Space Needle, offering great views of the city and the sound - and largely accessed through staircases rather than streets. Did I mention it was a steep hill?

Now, I don't do hills very well. This we know. But hills are good for you. Not only that, at the top of most of them are big panoramic views that are as irresistible to me as a snassage is to a puppy. So off we went. With only a little bit of time necessarily lying on the median grass gasping for air, we found our way up to Highland Drive where the little parks and overviews are just waiting to impress. And we found stairscases. All manner of stairscases.

Of course we also had to make our way to the waterfront for lunch at Anthony's - and were sorely tempted to call a cab for the walk back to the garage where we had left our car. But we resisted. Refreshed after lunch we were, and able to finish our Urban hike.

(I call it 8 miles; Mark, of course, thought it was more like 6 but what does he know?)