How Many People does it take to Cook a Wolf?

OK. So we loved Portland. And now we’re loving Seattle. We’re such butterflies…anyway.

Yesterday, we had a green and lovely ride into Bremerton, WA, from which we caught the ferry to Seattle. We followed the ACA route through Bremerton, which was truly the craziest route we have ever experienced. The main road stayed pretty flat and straight as we, tight for time to catch our ship, meandered around and up a number of steep hills looking down over the main road. Still, we figured, we’ll make it up on the downhill. No, no, no. Having climbed and…climbed, and…oh, climbed some more, we were forced to come down the steepest hills we have ever seen, where our brakes would not let us come to a halt before we were half way across the road crossing in front of us, and we were wondering what on earth the ACA route planners had been smoking when they conceived of this route. So, as Kat’s chain came off as well, as we were climbing, yes climbing again, after the steep downhills, up to the ferry terminal, we felt certain that we were going to miss the boat, quite literally. But luckily we put the chain back on and powered through with minutes to spare. Phew. And then it was a wonderful ferry ride into Seattle with some fabulous views.

We checked into our hotel just down the hill from the Queen Anne district of Seattle, and were soon round the corner in Ten Mercer enjoying a lovely dinner. Thanks to Natasha, our waitress, for a fab meal and for her restaurant recommendations which led us to our eating place tonight, ‘To Cook A Wolf’.

But, before we turn to that, we should mention what we have been up to today, a “non-cycling day” in Seattle. It has been a busy one, and involved us cycling across town to Velo Bikes, where we got new chains put on Trusty & Steed, and also finally managed to find the Ortlieb map cover for Kat’s handlebar bag that we have been desperately seeking for some time now…hurrah. Thanks to Lloyd & Aaron.

Tonight we made our way up the Queen Anne hill to “To Cook a Wolf”. This is a super-cool but wonderfully friendly place where they serve small plates of Italian inspired goodies…whatever is fresh and good, and they feel like serving. We had the tastiest crudo tuna (Ahi and Hamachi) as well as a chicken liver mousse to die for, and many other tasty dishes. But the thing we loved most was the number of genuinely friendly and interesting people that we met: Matt, the talented “crudo” chef all the way from Tennessee; Erin, a glamorous and lovely front of house; Mark, our charming and entertaining server, who gave us a number of tips for places to go next on our bikes; Jorg and Kevin, who sat next to us at the bar and whom we chatted away with happily for ages; and Ron, whom we met by the time we were onto our yummy dessert, and who stopped his car for us as we were walking back down the hill to give us a WA University jacket to keep us warm, and which of course Kat snaffled for herself without a second glance (Ron had already kindly offered us a lift which we had politely declined). What a special and unique experience…

Tomorrow, we will be taking in a couple of the main tourist attractions of Seattle, and fitting in a bit of laundry alongside…

Us x