Day 09 - Plodding Around Portland

I was hoping to call today "Peddling Around Portland" but it turns out that the much hyped cycling tours book out days in advance. But I am getting ahead of myself...

The day started pleasantly enough despite the occasional "snoring duet" from my dorm companions during the night. After breakfast I managed to get locked out of Facebook again when I accidentally turned the Netbook off while I was logged in - it now does not recognise where I am trying to connect from even though it was the same place I had connected from this morning and last night. Go figure! And Facebook's help screens are a sucky collection of circular references if you haven't already had occasion to find out.

The Rose

The day's first outing was to walk up the big hill on the west of the city where I explored first the Rose Garden and then the much acclaimed Japanese Gardens. The Rose Garden was a real photographer's delight as I experimented with wide angle close-ups. The Japanese Gardens - which charge an $2 extra for taking in a tripod by the way - are said to be the best of the genre outside Japan, and I would have to concede that they are better than the only other one I have seen (at Cowra). Having paid extra to take in the tripod I at least made good use if it. At one point one of the volunteer gardeners excitedly showed me a small fungus she had just discovered for the first time, so I dragged out my macro lens and took a few photos of them for her. I agreed to email her the results, but explained that it might be a few weeks.

After trekking back to the Hostel to put my tripod in with my stored luggage, and finding that my plan to test out my still dodgy shoulder on the local bicycles was a non-starter, I walked instead to a nearby gallery that specialises in 3D photography. There was an interesting array of 3D images and a couple of short 3D films. One film included 3D images of rock climbing in the 1920's - when climbing attire included shirt, tie and tie pin and safety equipment consisted of a rope around your waist!

The Dancer

After a late lunch I set off to explore the city on foot. Along the way I encountered what appeared to be an open air lesson in African Dance in one of the city squares, the participants of both genders and a range of age groups. Portland does indeed seem to be a hip city! Not bad for me.

I made the mistake of wandering into the renowned "Powells City of Books" which seems to take up a whole city block, but at least I came out having purchased only one book!

Nothing really to report thereafter, just blogging, eating, getting cleaned up and then heading for the airport to catch my red-eye special to Washington DC, via Chicago. Impressed by the tram to the airport though, that cost all of $2.35 for the 45 minute trip. (Trams and buses within the city centre area are actually free). My flight, scheduled for 11:18pm lifted off almost exactly on time.