After the finishing the Seattle to Portland road ride Michelle and I spent a couple days in Portland with Steph and Vince. Somewhat surprisingly, neither Vince, nor I, had any real physiological issues to deal with after the ride and consequently didn’t need spend our days recovering in the hotel. Instead we did it all, “active recovery” style, just like Michelle says to do. What the hell does that mean, you ask? Ummm, basically it means we did a bunch of walking around. I suppose I should be honest and tell you that quite a bit of our Portland time was not so active, unless you feel that moving food-laden utensils from plate to mouth qualifies as active.
We stayed at the Paramount Hotel while we were in Portland, which suited our needs fairly well. It was pretty much in the middle of downtown (on the west side of the Willamette River) and was within walking distance of just about everything we wanted to see and consume. My only previous experiences in Portland have been I-5 centric; not a great way to get to know a city. After a couple days, I can now say that I think I like Portland, at least the parts of it that I saw.
Saturday night after the Seattle to Portland ride. This is Director Park out front of the Paramount Hotel in Portland. I'm not sure what the building in the background is.
Restaurant #1: French cuisine at the Brasserie Montmartre. Pretty tasty, and table-side magic as a bonus. I know, it sounds cheesy, but it wasn't really. Live music was good too.
Director Park in the dark. There appeared to be some sort of programming controlling the lights since they were doing some colour changing type stuff around dusk.
The Multnomah County Library in Portland.
Portland has trams! We didn't ride them much, but they brought back memories of Amsterdam for me. It's probably premature to say since I still don't know Portland that well, but I'm pretty sure Amsterdam has them beat on the public transportation front.
Restaurant #2: Isabel. Maybe it's actually Isabel Pearl as in Pearl District, Portland. Breakfast awaits within.
Coconut French Toast (or should I say Freedom Toast - no, we're in Portland) at Isabel. That side of eggs and bacon is mine too. Hey, I supposedly burned about 14,000 calories yesterday on the STP ride. Yes, the toast was as good as it looks. I might have to check out the Isabel cookbook sometime.
Fueled by Isabel breakfast, the shoe-shoppers among us were fired up to get down to business. Ahhh, shite... shoe shop closed:(. I wonder if Imelda is a reference to a certain wife of a former Philippine president.
A lonely looking Land Rover, or is it Range Rover near Powell's Books.
Didn't see any snakes in the Snake Grass.
One of the entrances to the rather large Powell's Bookstore. Michelle and I did a whirlwind tour. It seemed like it might be a good place to spend part of a rainy day... will keep in mind for a future visit.
Apocalypto the bookcart at Powell's Books in Portland.
Blue sky and what looks to be a bit of middle eastern architectural influence. Of course I know next to nothing about architecture, so feel free to correct me.
Older and newer in the Pearl District in Portland.
Some of the Portland skyline viewed from the bank of the Willamette River.
The greenway along the west side of the Willamette River in Portland is pretty nice by my reckoning. Lots of bridges, some nicer than others.
Michelle is obsessed with telling me to parkour various things in the urban landscape. Nice to see her trying it herself, not that you could really call this parkour.
Bridges on the Willamette River in Portland. I told you there were a few.
A paddlewheeler/museum at the Portland waterfront (Willamette River waterfront).
Sunday and seemingly several other days of the week are market days in the Pearl District of Portland. Silver dudes are so awesome.
'The white lightning of catnip'. I guess there's nothing wrong with feeding your cat narcotics... fanny packs, however, are wrong.
Lots to see at the Portland market vendors, some cool, some not cool. My non-scientific observations lead me to the conclusion that I should not pursue a career in caricature drawing.
There seems to be quite a bit of brick on the roads and in the buildings in Portland, which I find agreeable for no particular reason.
Not too shabby looking archways in Ankeny Square in Portland.
I showed you some ground brick, and here is some building brick near Ankeny Square.
Tram-a-licious. Ok, that makes pretty much no sense at all, I'm sorry.
I suppose if we were more committed tourists we would have waited in line for a legendary Voodoo donut, but we didn't.
Stumptown coffee joint bears a striking resemblance to Habit in Victoria, or is it the other way around? Either way, the coffee was good.
There seem to be lots of dead and living neon signs in Portland. This dead or living retail establishment claimed to be either, the largest boot maker in the world, or the maker of the largest boot in the world, I can't remember which.
Older and newer, part 2, in the Pearl District of Portland.
Some how this tree reminds me of bondage... naked and chained. For the record, I know not of such things, other than some pop-culture imagery that has lodged itself in my memory banks.
Nearly empty department stores are a bit creepy to be in. The closing/moving deals were surprisingly bad.
Lots of reflection photography possibilities in Portland. This is one of my attempts.
Michelle’s photo is totally parkour and a very nice one at that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour
Thanks Bruce! I knew the Boss would have my back on this one