Portland, Oregon: Waterfalls, Parks, Roses and SUNSHINE

I was able to escape rainy Boston for a few days and visit Sarah T. in Portland, OR. I had never been to the Pacific Northwest before. In fact, I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't know that Portland is in the northwest corner of Oregon, not somewhere in the center of the state. (Mike, that would be a great geography quiz: where is each capital LOCATED in each state?) When Sarah and I drove out of the city on Monday to go hiking, she pointed out Washington State to the north. "What?" I said. "Really? We're that close?"

Oh yes, I am a product of the United States Public Schools.

It's my last day here and I have had a fantastic time. The weather has been stunning -- 80 degrees most days, 90 on Monday, perfectly clear sky -- and I've been relaxing, which is something I haven't had much time to do lately. Sarah works at Peet's Coffee and is also playing an opera run, so I've had time alone to practice and answer emails, in addition to time bopping around the city.

On Monday, Sarah had the day off, so we rented a car and drove to the Oneonta Gorge and Multnomah Falls area, which is along the Columbia River. We hiked a 5.5 mile route through the park and it's safe to say it was the most beautiful hike I've ever taken. In fact, I'm posting these pictures in a larger size just so everyone can take in the beauty:

Waterfalls!















The big one: Multnomah Falls:



Looking up at Multnomah:



Looking down at its base (is that the correct terminology?):



Sarah in front of the falls:



And there's me:



This photo looks photoshopped to me, but it's not! Doesn't the background look unreal?



In a natural cave:



Flowers running through a small waterfall:



TREES. Made me think of the Stampers and their logging business:



Sarah and the trees:



Washing my hands in the river:



Sarah caught me cooling off with a little more water:



After hiking, we returned to Portland, and stopped at a Lebanese restaurant called Nicholas's. I don't know if it was because I was so tired from hiking, but that food was the best Middle Eastern food I have ever had. And prepared the fastest! The waiter rapidly brought out dolmas, babganoush, pitas straight from the over (filled with steam!), spinach pies, hummus, tahini and the best falafel ever. We scarfed ravenously.

Tuesday, I practiced, and (ahem) took care of some business in town. Then Sarah met me for food and drinks at Bartini, a bar with a fondue list and a list of 60 martinis! I had a blackberry lemon drop and a basil berry-tini, while Sarah had a coconut mojitotini. Those were some good drinks. We had some fondue touted as real Swiss, but I couldn't taste the kirsch. It was good anyway! In addition, we stuffed ourselves full of seared tuna, wild mushrooms over polenta, fried manchego, and white bean and tomato dip. All for a ridiculously low price - I fear I have gotten far too used to Boston restaurant prices.

We then walked to the waterfront:







Portland has parks everywhere. The waterfront was lovely, and Sarah told me about the rose festival that's held there every summer. We saw dragon boats warming up for their appearance in June's festival.

Tuesday night, while Sarah played "Magic Flute", I watched "Legend", which I had never seen. It was pretty good - very Dark Crystal/Labyrinth/80s fantasy movie. Tom Cruise didn't look like he had gone crazy yet. And what ever happend to Mia Sara? Legend and Ferris Bueller - two huge 80s cult hits - and then what? I wonder what she's doing now.

On Wednesday, Sarah was able to get the morning off, so we BIKED to the International Rose Garden. This was my first experience biking in a long, long time. I was pretty nervous, but it ended up being a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to borrowing my sister's bike for a while. Washington Park, where the Rose Garden is located, is unbelievably huge. It's an old growth forest in the middle of the city! The rose garden itself hadn't come into full bloom, but I took some nice flower photos. My favorites:









I took about 50 flower shots but I won't assault you with them now. I have a feeling I'm far more into them than anyone else would be!

I had a hotdog at the park but still joined Sarah in some Mexican food at Cha Cha Cha's, which is near Peet's. By the way, this week I've been blessed to receive free iced coffees from Sarah. Mmmmmmm! I biked most of the way home, leaving Sarah to her coffee tasting class, and practiced for a bit. When Sarah returned, we met up with Sandy and had Ethiopian food across the river. Oh, so very very good. This trip has been a culinary delight. We then watched a bit of Sarah's unedited movie and made a bunch of playlists for each other.

Sleep came easily.

Today I've been blogging and am meeting Sarah for lunch at a cute little cafe. This afternoon I'm not quite sure what we'll be up to! Portland has been fantastic and Sarah has been a fabulous hostess. I'll miss the weather, for sure. Back to soggy Boston tonight on a Jet Blue red-eye.....

Very Belated Iceland Pics

I can't believe it's been so busy that I haven't been able to post pictures from a trip I took in January! Right now I'm in Portland (pictures of that to be posted soon as well), and I'm relaxing with my friend Sarah (the same Sarah who helped paint my bedroom last year). I've had lots of free time, so I got all of my to-do list done, and now I can do something fun: blog.

I'm using text from my travel journals.

ICELAND: Day 1

Yesterday, I got off the plane and right on the bus, came to my hotel, and decided not to nap. In retrospect, I probably should have, but I thought it would be better if I just went outside and conquered Reykjavik. The sun doesn´t rise until 11 am, so when I left the hotel at 9:45, it was totally dark out, snowing, and the wind was so intense the umbrella was useless! I ended up, bedraggled, at a bar called Privit, which was serving breakfast.



I sat next to some icelandic women and asked them where I should go. They were quite reserved at first, but then they became chatty. "What do you like?" asked the girl sitting next to me. "Food," I replied, and they laughed. They talked amongst themselves in Icelandic for a bit, and then recommended a fish restaurant. They also said to go to the Blue Lagoon, so I was pleased that I had that all organized already. "Why are you in Iceland in winter?" asked one. "It´s so dark!" But by the time I finished my salty omelet, smoked at least six cigarettes via the girls at the bar, and drank some AMAZING coffee (I allowed myself a couple cups of caffeinated coffee since I had only slept an hour on the plane and I had a whole day ahead of me), it was getting light out. I paid my bill and headed out to explore. Before I left, though, one of the girls told me I should without question go to the thermal swimming pools in Reykjavik. "I go every day," she said. These are quite different from the blue lagoon spa, as I discovered.

I finished walking down Laugavedur and Austurstraeti, the two main shopping streets in town, and noticed the town waking up around me. Stores were beginning to open, people were milling about, all bundled up. After my early morning fight with the snow and wind, I realized that I should have brought a hat to Iceland.



I first walked to the Reykjavik Harbor, which was on my list of things to see. It was pretty impressive, though also pretty empty. You could see a mountain range on the other side of the harbor, I believe it´s called Eis, but I´m not sure. I trekked about there for a while, and then headed up to the city again.









I went to Lake Tjorn, which is a lake in the middle of the city, surrounded by the Old Town of Reykjavik. It was FILLED with swans and ducks. It was actually quite an amazing sight -- I think I gasped when I saw the amount of birds on the lake.



After walking around Tjorn, I made my way back to Laugavedur, but then headed up Skolavorðustigur to see the famous church Hallgrimskirkja. This is the tallest point in Reykjavik, and the view was not disappointing, even though it´s only 75 meters high. The bells began to ring as I was serenely looking out of the tower windows, startling me. I think I lost five years of my life.





I went downstairs, looked at the interior of the church (very beautiful) and wondered whether or not I should take a nap. My boots were not, apparently, made for walkin´ the slushy streets of Reykjavik. I was soaked, and a wave of exhaustion hit me. I grasped my soggy map and figured out exactly where I was -- I had become completely turned around, and had to go in the opposite direction to get back to Hotel Bjork (which, as far as I can tell, has nothing to do with Bjork. Perhaps it means something in Icelandic?). The sun came out from behind the clouds for a bit, and I recalled walking down sidestreets in Wales... and then it began to HAIL. Yes, that was awesome. I still didn´t have a hat.

I got back to the hotel, and figured I should check out the thermal swimming pools at Laugardalur. They were in the opposite direction from the shopping streets. I changed into sneakers, different jeans, and a sweatshirt and set out again. It was quite a walk, but I made it, and spent probably twice as long trying to figure out the lockers at the bathhouse. Luckily, there was a very kind Icelandic woman working there who spoke perfect English and was willing to give me token after token for my locker. I didn´t spend too long in the outdoor baths themselves -- it was snowing, I was exhausted, and it wasn´t that exciting. So I went back inside, showered, kicked myself for not having a hairdryer, and got dressed. And then I walked home. It was the longest, most uncomfortable walk of my life. It was cold, wet, snowy and slushy, my hair was wet, my scarf kept falling off (as did my hood), my map was soggy, my shoes were soaked, I was functioning on no sleep and a lot of caffeine (which I shouldn´t have had) and a salty omelet -- when I got back to my hotel room, I CRASHED. Hard. I slept a couple hours, got up, realized I was hungry, and decided to go to the hotel restaurant since there was a little snowstorm going on outside. I had salmon and read the local English newspaper (Grapevine -- very Weekly Dig) and the introduction to Mrs. Dalloway. I also enjoyed a drink which I think I should import to the US and make millions: The Viking Malt. Oh yes. It was de-lish-ous. It´s like the very best root beer you´ve ever had, but a million times better and malty. It made my stomach really happy. I then paid, I´m sure, FAR too much for the salmon and headed to bed. I watched a little TV and slept for eleven hours.

Day 2

The next morning I awoke at 9:30 AM Reykjavik time. Reykjavik, by the way, means "smoky harbor". Vik means harbor. You see Vik a lot in town names here; it´s also the root of Viking. I had breakfast in the hotel (free!) -- toast, fruit and yogurt. I´m guessing the fruit is imported -- there´s no way that watermelons could be grown here. I then took my trip to the Blue Lagoon. I'm posting pretty much all my Blue Lagoon photos here, because words can't describe it as well as pictures. Imagine being in a heated, oddly opaque light blue pool, outside, surrounded by snow covered lava rocks, and you can see snowcapped mountains all around you. And the moon. And sometimes it snows and hails yet you are outside in this amazing, salty body of water. I stayed in that pool for FIVE HOURS. I am so relaxed. Plus, I got an UNDERWATER MASSAGE which was unreal.

Smokestacks from the geothermal plant. Viewed from the minibus on the way to the Blue Lagoon.



Pathway to the entrance:



The entrance:



Looking to the left:



My Riven-like Blue Lagoon experience:

























And... i had icelandic lamb for dinner, which was quite tasty. I still don´t think my brain has digested the weirdness and coolness of the blue lagoon. When I got back, I emailed a bit, watched TV, and slept. I slept another 11 hours.

The view from my window at Hotel Bjork:



Day 3

I just got back from a day of walking around Reykjavik with certain goals in mind.
1. Liquor store (check -- bringing back some Viking beer!)
2. Grocery store (check - bringing back some of that de-lish-ous Malt soda stuff -- if I don´t finish it first)
3. Eat a hot dog (Icelandic hot dogs are famous and cheap. Check. They reminded me a lot of... HOT DOGS. Surprise surprise. Actually, the toppings were yummy -- all sorts of sauces and fried onions.)
4. Go to the national museum (Not done! I tried to find it but got lost)
This park was on the way there:



5. Go to the famous flea market (check! it was great! I saw all sorts of interesting characters and saw Harðfiske and Hakarl, two fishy icelandic dishes which I would NEVER try, close up)
6. Try skyr again. (check. I had some at Blue Lagoon -- the guide book said this icelandic yogurt was not to be missed. I didn´t particularly like it, so I thought I´d give another brand a try, but found it to be the same -- chalky. Ick)
7. Go to the glasses store. (check. On the plane, the stewardesses had AWESOME glasses. I looked for similar ones here in town, found them, and discovered I looked stupid in them)
8. Go to Svart Kaffi for soup (check! recommended by the tour book. It was great -- yummy soup served in bread bowls, dim cafe lit only by candles -- neat place!)

I also got some ice cream today which was quite tasty. The chalky quality which I don´t like in the yogurt works really well in the ice cream.

----

And that was it: the trip to Iceland. Looking back at the photos four months later, I was flooded with memories and the particular feeling one gets when one is in a different country. I'm so glad I went, though I expect that going there in the summer would be much nicer. When I get the opportunity to go there again, I don't want to miss the nightlife and trekking out to the wilderness to see the original geyser. And, I want to ride Icelandic horses!!!