Random (Portland)
Nov. 28th, 2006 09:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidI didn't know that Portland's the city of roses. There are roses everywhere, even at this tail end of their growing season: on all the metal municipal water plates in the sidewalks (and other municipal metal plates), in official descriptions of the city, in its rose garden, and in a lovely mural featuring roses and elephants.
Interesting art: the side of a parking garage features many fish, their insides showing skeletons or their fishly history, all aiming for the one hook coming out of the wall. A small elephant atop a huge elephant, both happily trumpeting, in the green space outside Powell's Technical. A series of boulders along the waterfront on the west side inscribed with lines of poetry and two columns with sculpted images commemorating the internment of Japanese Americans in WWII (I recognized the names of some of the camps only due to some kid books). Native American paintings at the Native American Student and Community Center at Portland State University. A beautiful fountain with bubblers not just for people but also for dogs (bubblers constantly running, which is strange to me).
I got to use one of those old-fashioned mail boxes that used to be common in commercial buildings; I wish I'd realized I could've used a chute to send them down from the fifth floor.
So many bridges, too little time. I did cross a couple of them, Steel and Blackburn, and walked along the longest floating walkway (which is pretty much all I've seen of the east side).
The grid system is extremely helpful, except that there are clusters of streets that use the same name all together, St., Ave., Dr., etc. That plus the interesting topological challenges in the hills make it interesting to navigate.
Still, I managed to navigate from downtown back to the southwest area beyond Council Crest (making the purchase of a Portland street map worthwhile already). Terwilliger has lovely views of the city, and I found another bit of one of the walking routes we'd used over Shabbat.
Portland: bike stores > donut shops.
Boston: donut shops > bike stores.
Not only is it hard to find hechshered yogurt, but canned beans seem to be certification-free, too. On the other hand, Tillamook is nearby.
Yesterday's weather: started with snow, then sun, then rain, then hail, then sun, then snow, then sun, then hail, plus an overnight dusting of more snow. Boston isn't as variable as this.
Interesting art: the side of a parking garage features many fish, their insides showing skeletons or their fishly history, all aiming for the one hook coming out of the wall. A small elephant atop a huge elephant, both happily trumpeting, in the green space outside Powell's Technical. A series of boulders along the waterfront on the west side inscribed with lines of poetry and two columns with sculpted images commemorating the internment of Japanese Americans in WWII (I recognized the names of some of the camps only due to some kid books). Native American paintings at the Native American Student and Community Center at Portland State University. A beautiful fountain with bubblers not just for people but also for dogs (bubblers constantly running, which is strange to me).
I got to use one of those old-fashioned mail boxes that used to be common in commercial buildings; I wish I'd realized I could've used a chute to send them down from the fifth floor.
So many bridges, too little time. I did cross a couple of them, Steel and Blackburn, and walked along the longest floating walkway (which is pretty much all I've seen of the east side).
The grid system is extremely helpful, except that there are clusters of streets that use the same name all together, St., Ave., Dr., etc. That plus the interesting topological challenges in the hills make it interesting to navigate.
Still, I managed to navigate from downtown back to the southwest area beyond Council Crest (making the purchase of a Portland street map worthwhile already). Terwilliger has lovely views of the city, and I found another bit of one of the walking routes we'd used over Shabbat.
Portland: bike stores > donut shops.
Boston: donut shops > bike stores.
Not only is it hard to find hechshered yogurt, but canned beans seem to be certification-free, too. On the other hand, Tillamook is nearby.
Yesterday's weather: started with snow, then sun, then rain, then hail, then sun, then snow, then sun, then hail, plus an overnight dusting of more snow. Boston isn't as variable as this.
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no subject
Date: 2006-11-28 06:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-29 12:20 am (UTC)(I had an excellent lunch: slices of roasted bison, baked potato, curried black beans (with bits of ground bison), green salad, and brownies.)