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Tuesday, July 10, 2012

First day of Summer in Portland.





We love summers in the Northwest. Every sunny day is a golden day. We love to show off our natural beauty to our visitors whenever possible. This picture is of Multnomah Falls, in the Columbia Gorge, a few miles North of Portland. If you look carefully you can see the lower part of the fall on the left side of the first picture. The upper part is way up, above the bridge where people are standing.

We also love our quirky-creative establishments. Here is the famous Powells Bookstore, a three story wonder with old and new books. Our young guests spent a couple of hours perusing, talking to Portlandians. Both of them were visiting colleges in Portland, and soaking up the atmosphere.


In this scene, the young lady in the pink shirt at the street corner across from Powells is soliciting support for her cause. I stopped and talked to her, amazed at how well she engaged her audience, most of whom were willing to talk at length with her.

This area of Portland, is an urban renewal wonder, having both residential and commercial units, easily walkable, close to public transport, accessible small eateries and coffee shops open at all hours, and green spaces with splashing fountains full of families enjoying a summer play day. Notice how everyone is wearing comfortable walking shoes, and trying to tan their bodies on this first day of summer.

Yes, this was July 5th, the official first day of summer in Portland!


We took our rests where we could, happy to impart wisdom to our captive audience of future scientist, teacher, artist. (Our granddaughter and her friend have many interests at this point.)

While we were in Portland, The Waterfront Blues Festival, a 25th anniversary concert that lasted all week, benefiting the local food banks(  www.waterfrontbluesfest.com/) was going on downtown, and we took our granddaughter and her friend to the event.  The last time we went to a blues concert was in Long Beach in 2000. In twelve years, our bones have so deteriorated that sitting on the grass was not as fun as it used to be.

The music, however, was just as good!

Last year, the concert raised a million dollars and more than 110,000 pounds of food at a time when Oregon's food banks have faced the highest level of demand. Oregon has one of the highest number of people with food scarcity.

A few days in Portland,most enjoyable, and most tiring.





30 comments:

The Broad said...

Thank you for such a lovely tour of a city I am most anxious to visit one day. From your pictures it looks like you had a glorious first day of summer!

Brian Miller said...

smiles...that bookstore sounds like somewhere i could get lost for a while surely....the falls are cool too....we went and slid down some smaller falls up in the mountains last weekend...glad the music was good even if the grass was not comfy

Helen said...

I am head over heels for Portland .. right now my granddaughter (who lives there) and my grandson (who is visiting her) are having a grand old time. Of course this gets grandson close to Mt. Hood where I'm certain he will ski a bit! I will be in Portland August 4 & 5. My sister from Ohio is visiting us for two weeks ~ I am surprising her with tickets to see "Jersey Boys!" Son Carl is coming along too ....

Diane said...

So nice to see the sunshine, we are getting very fed up with cloudy days and it is not as bad as you!! Diane

Unknown said...

What a nice little tour!

potsoc said...

Splendid Rosaria. That Powells book store reminds me of our long gone "Palais du livre", 7 floors of new and used books; we would give 10$ to each kids (3 of them), and let them loose in there for two ours. Meeting at the cash register.
30 years later, they still talk about it. Unfortunately the equivalent is no where to be found in this place nowadays.

Maggie May said...

I'm glad to have shared the view of your city with you and also pleased that you are having a proper summer....... unlike us.
Maggie X

Nuts in May

dianefaith said...

Looks to be a beautiful, friendly place, and I envy you all of the energy you must have had to keep up with your college-age visitors.

Catalina Aldridge said...

I fell in love with Portland thanks to you & Ken when I had a chance to visit way back when. Since then Portland has been a favorite place to vaca... LOVE the art, music, people, the green of it all!

yaya said...

Thanks for the tour of my son's new home to be..in a few weeks! I know they will love it and hopefully the school system is good for the Grandkiddos. They will be out in Portland house hunting very soon. Although I will be sad that they are going to be so far away, I will have the pleasure of someplace new to visit! Enjoy this start of Summer!

Rosaria Williams said...

Yaya, they will love Portland! A lot of stuff to see and do, especially for the outdoorsy types.

Midlife Roadtripper said...

I want to go to that bookstore.

Rob-bear said...

Ah, yes. I remember visiting Portland some years ago. Powell's is one of the wonders of the civilized world. I have since learned a lot more about the redevelopment which you have detailed. It would be nice if we could that here.

Thanks for the rest of the story, too.

RNSANE said...

I remember going to Portland to see a Frank Zappa concert for my 30th birthday...I'm now 67....wow, that was a LONG time ago.

I love Portland...and the roses and the free thinkers.

RNSANE said...

I remember going to Portland to see a Frank Zappa concert for my 30th birthday...I'm now 67....wow, that was a LONG time ago.

I love Portland...and the roses and the free thinkers.

quilterliz said...

G'day Rosaria. Lovely pictures. Portland looks like a lovely place.I wish I could visit. We have a Portland here in the state of Victoria where I live. It too is a great place to visit. Take care. Liz...

Grandmother Mary said...

Portland is a grand city so thanks for the highlights. Good luck to your granddaughter as she makes her choices among her many interests.

Tom said...

You really make me want to go there ... you should work for the Chamber of Commerce! Have a great time!

the walking man said...

I had one image of Oregon from my travels through there 3 decades ago but now the more I hear now the swifter the air leaks out of the idealized memory.

Seriously? One of the highest food poverty rates? That is truly disheartening.

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Evfer since I heard that Frank Sinatra song with the line, "There was a girl in Portland..." I've wanted to go there! Thanks forn the glimpse of a Portland summer. Great to see the bookstore.

Patricia said...

Sounds like a wonderful visit. We love Portland and we REALLY love Powell's books!!

Phoenix said...

Portland is one of the best cities in the world, in my opinion. I love it there when I go visit.

And I could LIVE at Powell's. :)

rjerdee said...

a most pleasant armchair visit...i understand that portland is quite the up-and-coming city...bike lanes and all

Rosaria Williams said...

Portland is considered to be the "greenest" place to work, live and play. Lots of outdoors to recreate in; lots of trendy shopping; and a food mecca! It's small in comparison with other cities, and it has a humane feeling about it.
While we wandered around China Town, in downtown, we passed an encampment of tents and services for homeless. The place was fenced off and protected, and it had a certain dignity about it that was remarkable. I chose not to take pictures, btw.

For those of you interested, check out the show Portlandia on IFC, a comedy capturing the many characters one sees in Portland.

The part about hunger is true for all of Oregon. Few jobs for many people since the fishing and the lumber industries have dwindled.

Patricia said...

I had never watched Portlandia but while googling for some info on Locally grown food, I came across some of their Youtube videos. What a great afternoon of laughter I had!

Linda Myers said...

I lived in Oregon for six years before moving to the Seattle area 25 years ago. Portland is a beautiful, accessible city.

NitWit1 said...

This is a lovely example of urban renewal where commercial and residential are blended with a common area and no or very limited vehicular traffic.

Love it, except I cannot walk without an aide of some kind a very far distance. I suppose medically authorized motorizewd wheelchairs and scooters are permissible, but maybe not.

Unspoken said...

My favorite bookstore, and Multnomah Falls, what's not to love? Is that Papa Hayden's? Yes, this is the time our fair city shows off!

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Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Rosaria .. lovely photos and what fun to be able to share Portland with your granddaughter and her friend .. while they mull about their futures. The fiesta summer atmosphere sounds like fun - but I too am not happy at ground level and the damp of eventide!

Cheers Hilary