Hey everyone. I'm back from my trip to Portland and I want to share some of the photos.
I had high expectations of Portland, and the city met and exceeded just about every one of them.
The most impressive aspects of Portland were the friendliness and politeness of the people, the natural beauty, and the food (every meal I had in Portland was noticeably better than all but a few choice meals I've had here in Miami. I guess it stems from the freshness of the ingredients).
After a few days in the city, it became quite obvious to me that Portland is the product of years of meticulous urban planning combined with the spontaneity of the city's artistry and creativity.
There were really no downsides to the entire trip that I can really speak of. It was one of those trips where everything really fell into place perfectly, even if it did rain most of the time. I guess if I did have one complaint about Portland it is that it loses much of its clean, friendly image when the sun goes down. There were quite a few people downtown after dark who were noticeably stoned out of their minds. I saw one guy ripping plants out of a flower bed and throwing them all over the sidewalk. I saw another guy engaging in a fist fight with a MAX ticket machine. And I saw a white lady screaming her head off about how she can't get a job because she's black. Obviously, this is common in just about every American city, but it sort of surprised me in Portland because I only saw it at night, and the culprits were not older, homeless people (as they typically are in Miami and Baltimore), but rather teens and young people who seemingly otherwise had their act together. Anyhow, it's not important.
Portland was awesome and I can't wait to go back. Here are my photos. My girlfriend had control of the camera most of the trip, so these are mostly her photos. We also took photos of the countryside out in Hillsboro when we went wine tasting. I'll add those photos to these later on.
Anyway, enjoy.
Some shots of the Chinese Garden
Energy-efficient light bulbs in an ancient Chinese lantern? How very Portland of you...
A few of Chinatown and what I think was Old Town
Waterfront Park and one of the bridges
Washington Park
I question the accuracy of the timelines in Portland.
Portland on St. Patrick's Day - Kells Bar in Skidmore(?)
A bunch of Portlanders having a good time...
and two Baltimoreans having a GREAT time!
Multnomah Falls
More Chinatown and the Pearl
Did an overpass used to run through here?
Northwest Portland - We sort of stumbled upon this neighborhood by chance, and it turned out to be the most surprising part of the trip. Are most of these homes broken up into apartments? I thought the streets were much too vibrant for a neighborhood of single-family homes.
A few downtown photos
I thought this one turned out pretty cool...
This building had leasing signs all over it. Why is such a beautiful building mostly empty? Did it just get renovated?
It's hard to tell from this picture, but the brickwork on this building is fantastic.
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