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Published: November 19th 2005
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Greyhound terminal
Trees with yellow leaves outside Portland's Greyhound bus terminal After visiting Everett on the first day of my trip, and visiting Tacoma and Olympia on the second day (refer to my previous 2 posts), I went to visit Portland, Oregon on the third day. Portland is a really beautiful city with a lot of greenery and interesting attractions.
To reach Portland, I took a Greyhound bus from Seattle, and the trip took 4 and a half hours! The bus departed Seattle at about 6:45am and reached Portland at about 11:15am. Once I reached Portland, I immediately went to explore the city. I saw the majestic Union Station, the beautiful Classical Chinese Garden (I only took photos at the entrance and didn't enter, because I was too stingy to pay the admission fee), the beautiful Waterfront Park, and the historic Ankeny Square. At noon, I took the MAX light rail to the other side of the Williamette River to the Rose Quarter. The Rose Quarter is a region in Northeast Portland and it is the home to the Oregon Convention Center, Memorial Coliseum and Rose Garden Arena. After exploring the Rose Quarter, I went to the nearby Lloyd Center Mall, a very huge shopping mall with hundreds of stores, a
Union Station
Me and Union Station, Portland's main Amtrak station. cineplex and an ice-skating rink. After doing some window-shopping, I took the MAX light rail back to Downtown Portland.
In Downtown Portland, I visited the Pioneer Courthouse Square, a brick-paved open space in the middle of the city. The square was surrounded by skyscrapers and it's a popular gathering place for office workers, tourists and performing artists during daytime. The square is also the home to the Portland Oregon Information Center, where I collected many maps and brochures of Portland's various attractions. In the afternoon, it started to rain, so I decided to take shelter in Powell's City of Books. The bookstore houses a massive collection of new and used books, and the store is so large that visitors need to get a map from the front counter in order to navigate through the store! (This store is the largest bookstore in North America. Some people claim that the bookstore is the largest in the world.) The collection of books is indeed impressive. I was impressed with the collection of foreign language books, esp French, German, Spanish and Chinese books. The collection of travel guides and maps is also amazing.
When the rain stopped, I decided to go
Steel Bridge
Me and the impressive Steel Bridge. (Yes, "Steel Bridge" is the name of this steel bridge. Haha.) By the way, Steel Bridge is one of the 7 bridges that crosses the Willamette River in Portland. to Washington Park, located east of Downtown Portland. The park occupies 322 acres of land and it houses several gardens and attractions, including the Oregon Zoo, World Forestry Center, Japanese Garden and International Rose Test Garden. I took the MAX light rail from the city centre to Washington Park station, the deepest underground station in North America. I took the elevator to the top level and once I walked out from the station, fresh air and lush greenery greeted me. I spent some time taking photos of the entrance of the Oregon Zoo, World Forestry Center and Portland Children Museum. (I didn't enter any of the attractions, because I had limited time and money.) After that, I took a long walk to the other end of Washington Park, where the Japanese Garden and International Rose Test Garden are located. The walk from one end to the other end of the park was indeed very long, but at the end of the walk, I was rewarded with a nice view of Downtown Portland from the International Rose Test Garden. The rose garden itself was also impressive, with thousands of roses blooming despite the cold November weather. Most importantly, the rose garden
Chinatown
Street signs in Portland's Chinatown is FREE! Unlike the Classical Chinese Garden in Chinatown or the Japanese Garden in Washington Park, the International Rose Test Garden has no admission fee!
After exploring Washington Park, I walked to PGE Park (a very large sport complex) and took the MAX light rail back to Downtown. Back in downtown, I took a walk through the Cultural District. I started with the impressive Multnomah County Public Library, which is beautifully furbished with paintings, chandeliers, plaster carvings and tiles with flower and animal patterns. Next, I went to the Portland Art Museum, viewed some of its outdoor exhibits and visited its well-stocked gift shop. (I didn't enter the museum once again because I had limited time and money.) It was raining in the late afternoon and the sky was getting dark, so I decided to go to the Portland State University campus at the southern side of Downtown Portland to find a place to sit down and rest. On the way there, I walked past the Portland Center for the Performing Arts, the Oregon Historical Society, and several churches. At the Portland State University, I took a rest in the student union building and I started to plan where
Classical Chinese Garden
A chinese building at the side of Portland Classical Chinese Garden to go next. Since it was raining and the sky was dark, I decided not to explore the downtown area anymore. In the end I decided to go to the Portland International Airport for a look. I took the MAX light rail to the airport and I started to explore the place. Portland International Airport (airport code: PDX) is relatively small, compared to the airports in Singapore, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, or London (place I have visited). But nevertheless PDX is a nice and well-equipped airport, with airy corridors, a good collection of paintings and sculptures, a wide selection of shops and eateries, and an interesting architecture.
After exploring the airport, I went to the food court to buy a burger, and then I made my way back to the Greyhound bus terminal to catch my bus back to Seattle. I took the MAX light rail from the airport to Chinatown, from where I took a short walk to the Greyhound terminal. While waiting for the bus to Seattle, I sat down and had my dinner (the burger I bought in PDX). Halfway through my dinner, a drunken guy puked onto the floor in front of me. As he walked
Classical Chinese Garden 2
The gift shop and ticketing booth of Portland Classical Chinese Garden (For your information, this garden is constructed by craftsmen from Suzhou, Portland's sister city.) towards the washroom, he puked another two times onto the floor. (Thanks to him, there were 3 pools of vomit on the floor... Disgusting...)
The Greyhound bus I was taking was late for half an hour. Nevertheless, the ride was an entertaining one, because the driver was so funny. He talked as if he was a talk-show host and his safety announcement was so humorous and amusing. On my way back to Seattle, I also chatted with the fellow passenger beside me. He was a very friendly guy. He told me that he grew up in a farm and he told me stories about his life in the farm. In return, I told him about Singapore - the lifestyle, the people, the laws... (The ban of chewing gum sales in Singapore is always an amusing topic to talk about, whenever I talk with a foreigner.)
The bus finally reached Seattle at 12:30am and I quickly made my way back to the hostel. On the next day (the 4th day of my trip) I explored Seattle. I will talk about Seattle on my next post. Stay tuned!
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Nice entries
Hey there! Thanks for this wonderful blog, I totally enjoyed reading it. I will be going Portland, Oregon to visit a friend and will be looking forward to seeing all the sights you mentioned! Take care of yourself out there and keep those entries coming! :D - ays