Blogs from Oregon, United States, North America - page 152

...is meeting so many nice people. Everyone I've met here have been so nice and have gone out of their way to make me feel welcome. Today was another very rainy one but still I walked virtually everywhere (except one short ride on the MAX). Among other things, I mailed a box of stuff back home, transferred more of my photos to CD, watched people at Pioneer Place, and had a great lunch at a Greek restaurant. I also explored Chinatown and nearby neighborhoods full of old buildings including several with promising apartments. When the drizzling rain turned into a torrential downpour, I ducked into a Fifth Avenue club to dry out. That was where I met Ali who sings and plays guitar in a local rock band called Destitute. We got into a very deep ... read more

I had the most enjoyable, unplanned, day yesterday spending some twelve hours participating in "Santa Con.". This is an annual gathering of people dressed as Santa Claus held in a number of cities throughout the U.S. I had never heard of it before stumbling across the very start of Portland's event shortly after 11a.m. Saturday. I'd started out from my hotel rather late in the morning, braving the piercing winds and bitter temperatures to walk north to Pioneer Place, a large undeground shopping canter in the heart of downtown. After discovering the location of the movie theater and that I'd missed the beginning of "King Kong" by ten minutes, I decided to eat an early lunch. I had a turkey sandwich at California Crisp, my favorite eatery from my September visit. However, they were out of ... read more

Although the sun was shining this afternoon as I walked from the train station to my downtown hotel, it was still very cold. In fact, according to the local news, Portland is currently in it's 29th straight day of below average temperatures. And worse is on the way - a major snowstorm is predicted to hit Sunday into Monday and beyond which has the potential to "shut the city down". As long as Monday night's U2 concert isn't cancelled because of bad weather (and the trains run), I won't mind some snow and ice knowing that this time next week I'll be trying not to burn too bad while laying on the beach at Kamala. Tonight, I'm just lounging in my hotel room watching some television. I had planned to walk up to Pioneer Square to ... read more

The 109th Civil War meeting of the University of Oregon Ducks versus the Oregon State University Beavers ended in an absolute trouncing of the Beavers, 56 Ducks - 14 Beavers! YAY!!!!!!!! The Civil War chronicles the long-standing rivalry between Oregon's two college football teams. I'm sad that we weren't able to see the game, but we did have access to the live audio commentary. Generally I don't like games where one team completely dominates the game, but the Civil War is an exception. To all the Duck fans, Yay we are going to a bowl game!!!!!!!!!! To all the unfortunate Beaver fans, nya-na nya-na nya nya!!!! Till' next year, Selina (Duck fan) & Phil (Beaver bereaver) ... read more