Portland in words

Over this past weekend I made my first exploration of Portland, travelling with Tamas to visit Andy at his current work location. I went with high expectations to like the city based on rave reviews from friends and what I found out about the city from guides and stories. It did not disappoint - I liked it a lot and look forward to visiting it again very soon.

Where to stay:

Benson Hotel - Beautiful old-world hotel with fantastic memory foam beds. Beautiful lobbies with a jazz band regularly playing in the evenings. Fantastic memory foam beds. I stumbled upon the daily tea & cookies (slightly stale), but did not get to join the daily wine tasting. Did I mention the fantastic memory foam beds?

Where to eat (my standouts):

Saucebox - Funky funky modern stylings, serving up great cocktails and Asian fusion food. Standouts for me were the tapioca dumplings and the hijota (muddled lime with mint, ginger vodka and hibiscus syrup). I liked the cool design, dj playing the house music, and the friendly table service provided by our host, John, and the very pretty servers.

Clyde Common - The very recently (2 1/2 weeks) opened restaurant at the recently (February 2007) opened Ace Hotel. Big soaring ceilings, open kitchen with the staff performing the preparation of your food, communal tables throughout the ground floor. Great mix of lotsa different crowds - all appearing to be having a good time. A menu that appears to be changed on a daily basis. One annoyance was that a few dishes were not available by our late dinner hour, but this may be a new restaurant symptom.

Whole Foods - Didn't really check out the grocery aisles, but their selection of prepared foods is awesome. Vancouver's arrives this year, I think, giving a great alternative to fast food for meals on the run.

Where to shop (my standouts):

Canoe and Relish - There websites tell you the story of these stores: Not a huge selection or range of products, but well-chosen ones for interesting design and original gifts. On Saturday, only two gnome soaps were left at Canoe, so if you want to bathe with a gnome, hurry and try to snag one of the last guys remaining.

Powell's - I thought I would luvluvluv Powell's, but I found it too massive and overwhelming. If Powell's is the City of Books, apparently, I still am just a small-town boy.

What I did:

Festival of Roses parade - Watching from a hotel room equipped with food and drink, and not having to sit out in the cold cold rain is the way to do it. Marching bands are cool - when they do intricate turns, it's very cool to watch from a bird's eye view.

Dragon boat races - Go Pam, go! Row Pam, row!

Drink and dance - Self-explanatory. D&d was followed promptly by sitting on patio railings - they don't like you to do this; and balance-beam walking the edge of concrete planters - you will have to explain yourself to strangers that notice you doing this.

Gotta thank da boys for making the weekend fun. Tamas and Andy, you rock! Let's do more Portland in the very near future. Photos are on their way, including one cute group shoot set where my head dominates the field.