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Portland - Part 2
Written by: Dominick A. Miserandino
Photography by: Margherita Miserandino
A weekend jump to Portland leads them learning that Portland is a city to consider moving to.
Day 2
Today was a day Margherita rejoiced for. We met Bob. Bob of Bob’s Red Mill. No it’s not the traditional tourist destination but Margherita has become addicted to buying grains by Bob’s Red Mill and the main factory is just outside of town in Milwaukee, Oregon. To her, meeting Bob was like meeting a religious leader of sorts. He was her Budha of nutrition, except skinnier and more focused on culinary/spiritual needs.
Bob’s Red Mill seems like a regular factory, but it is a destination for anybody looking for a healthy reasonable breakfast. At only fifteen minutes from downtown Portland, it’s not that far of a ride. If you’re driving into Portland, I recommend stocking up with enough food to last you a year back home. Anyway, Bob is well known for all natural and healthy milled food and he’s a fanatic for the milling process. In fact, he’s one of the top experts in the field of milling.
We were lucky enough to spend some time with Bob who is a youthful seventy-something. Most people think about retiring well before that age but Bob won’t stop. He runs through the factory pointing out his machines and what’s being worked on at that moment. His mind is as crisp as a twenty-year old. He calls every employee by name and recites the history of the company backwards and forwards.
Anyway the story is about Portland so it was time to run downtown for a walking tour.
We met David from Portland Walking Tours in the center of Pioneer Courthouse Square. The walking tour covers only a few blocks downtown which emphasizes how much there is to see in downtown Portland. In fact, the walking tour was one of the best we’ve taken in any city that visited.
Portland is an easy city to walk, but the tour gave an overview on how to write a book on “Why one should move to Portland”. David wasn’t an overzealous cheerleader for the city, but listed facts which made us reconsider checking out housing costs. A good chunk of downtown Portland is “Fareless Square” with free mass transit. There are parks everywhere, it’s eco-friendly, they prefer pedestrians over cars and there’s even free parking for electric cars. Okay, those are the points that hit me, but we recommend one of these tours the second you step off the plane.
The tour ended at Riverside Park which is the old highway. To restate something we learned on the tour, Portland hates cars and loves pedestrians so much they ripped out the highway blocking their view of the river and put in this park. The highway wasn’t half as pretty.
Down from the park is the Harborside Restaurant & Pilsner Room where we had lunch. It overlooks the marina and sure, they can brag about having 30 micro beers on tap, but they have the best damn tuna tartar I’ve ever had. The salmon tasted unlike any salmon I’ve had before. Maybe the mere fact that it was as fresh as can be is what stood out. I suggest going there after a day at the park and ordering appetizers and beer.
From there, we hopped on the famous 63 bus for a half hour ride to the Japanese Gardens and International Rose Test Garden.
The International Rose Test Garden is a name that blends into the subconscious but the meaning is what makes it special -- like how nobody thinks of insects when they think of The Beatles. Anyway, the “test” portion of the name is the key. Rose breeders from around the world send their roses here to be rated. If the rose does well, it’s released by the millions to the public. If it does poorly, the rose is ritually mocked, laughed at and than burned so nobody can ever propagate it. It’s a harsh life.
The result is a garden so filled with flowers the sight would overwhelm Monet. It’s filled with hundreds of roses everywhere you turn. You can see every type and variety to the point they either blend together or you develop favorites. Margherita fell in love with cabbage roses while I was more interested in the fact that last year’s big rose winner was named after the recently deceased, “Julia Child”. When they say, “What do you have to do to get a rose named after you”, the standard seems pretty high.
Up the hill is the Japanese Garden which, especially seeing it right after the Chinese garden demonstrates the difference between the two types. The Japanese gardens are massive but also they carry over elements and ideas from the Chinese. In a way, the Japanese garden is a series of miniature gardens ranging from a small temple to a walking path through the woods. While the Chinese seems to make efficient use of the space, the Japanese garden has more room and comes across as an estate. Then again the Japanese garden is still a bit efficient as the garden is on the grounds of the old zoo. They recycled it from one use to the other.
It was then back to town to change and get ready for dinner.
Portland City Grill. Every city should have a restaurant in a tall building, overlooking the city like the Portland City Grill. Its name focuses on the grill, however to me the biggest two reasons to come here were the sushi and the view. The sushi was top notch and the view, well maybe it was also because we came during the Rose Festival but the view was incredible. So we could see fireworks over the river out our window while we ate.
Portland is one of the most underrated and underexposed cities that we’ve seen. We could have spent a week or two visiting, if not move there. It has natural beauty mixed with a city infrastructure just like any major city. You can go hiking in the park or visit a world class museum. Some people complain that it doesn’t have a singular tourist draw but I wonder if the lack of focus on Portland is what helps keep it the way it is. Does the city need a big and flashy tower of sorts to be special? Portland is what it is and does not care what anybody else thinks. In the process, all of the other cities get jealous.
Part 1
Part 2
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