Back from vacation – Portland

Had a wonderful 10 day vacation in the Pacific Northwest. So now I really have a lot to share, starting with Portland.Yes, obligatory photo op.  Portland is weird, in a very nice way. We took a tour on this pedicab, our driver (and photographer) was quite the aging hippy. What we experienced that was so unusual was hot sunny days.

The line of people waiting for a donut, I took pictures, do not need the calories or the carbs.I do like the neon sign they have.It was fun to see one of these brewcycles, this was early in the evening, I wonder what they looked like by the end?Saturdays and Sundays in the summer this place is packed.One of the many bridges over the Willamette river. I would love to see the center ‘elevator’ section go up. I can clearly see the counterbalances on both sides.

If you know me by now, I love architecture and Portland has some good examples.Recently refurbished Union Train station. We  didn’t go inside, but the outside is lovely, I’d say late Victorian.

Beaux- Arts are very well represented.As is industrial Art Deco.Wonderful old water tanks on the roofs.A fabulous mosaic owl on the floor of a store. Today they sell wonderful handmade items.  This used to be part of the West Coast chain of Pharmacies – Owl. One can find all kinds of relics of this chain up and down the coast.After the Vanderbilt’s  built the largest private home in America in Ashland NC, the name Biltmore came to mean elegance and wealth. We have a lovely Biltmore Hotel here in downtown LA, this looks like an older, simpler example.This sign is clearly from the days when no one cared about anything PC. We have a Chop Suey sign in little Tokyo, I guess that was a common name for a Chinese restaurant, what isn’t common is “Hung Far Low” that seems to be the punch line to a joke.A few of the 700 food stands. No, we didn’t eat there – there is no where to sit and I do enjoy our food trucks in LA, but lets be honest, I’m sure there is good food to be found here,  but there is only so much one can do with  a tiny little kitchen.This is Portlandia – no one ever sees here cuz she is up on the 5th floor of a rather ugly 1980’s building. No one ever looks up.I preferred these two elephants in one of the many green parks.

It is also very important to look down, this is a common sight that no one really sees.And here is the real thing

To prove that this is indeed the city of Roses, we went to the Rose Test Garden.  We were very lucky that the garden was in full bloom.

We also ate good food, enjoyed good beer and saw other wonderful sights, then it was on to the Columbia River Gorge.