Chapter 3: Portland's Public Transportation, Voodoo Donuts, Saturday Market, Powell's
Saturday morning started with us prying ourselves out of the most comfortable bed ever. I kind of feel like I cheated on my own bed back home, that I was some how unfaithful to it by having such lurid thoughts about the one we were sleeping on. IT'S NOT MY FAULT THOUGH! The feather pillow top and the sheets and blankets just made for a sleeping experience that was heavenly. We also had the space heater on in our room, a luxury for us seeing how back at home we normally just pile on the blankets (however, thanks to the below freezing temps we've been getting this week, we have turned the heat on). As I said in my previous post, the Lion and The Rose is only a few blocks away from Portland's Light Rail, which is called MAX.
I feel bad about saying this, BUT IT WAS JUST SO CUTE AND QUAINT! That's a horribly disrespectful thing to say to a city's light rail but dude - it was so clean and there were this cute little signs about how to ride the train and how to be polite to each other and everything was just so nice. It wasn't like MUNI or BART in which you're kind of afraid to sit down on the benches with the mysterious stains. It was welcoming and almost respectful in a way. Kind of nice. Also - it was free!! There's a section of the track that is a no-fare zone. Luckily, we were in that zone so woo! Go team us (and go team MAX!)
We started our morning with a trip to VooDoo donuts. I had seen this place on the food network and our roommates Tara and Kevin stopped there last time they drove through. In retrospect, I kind of wish I had eaten one of their "cooler" donuts, like the ones covered with breakfast cereal, but it's hard for me to resist a raspberry jelly filled donut. Jonathan's donut was bigger than a salad plate. I was disappointed he didn't try the maple glazed bacon donuts. Sad panda :(
The Saturday market is just plain awesome. It's held down by the river walk and is filled with local artists who come to sell their wares. I got some christmas presents there last year and managed to find some more this year too. We also found a piece of art for our apartment. I should take a picture of it because it's so hard to describe. However, I did remember to get his business card because he has a website! His name is Matt Hellner and I would suggest you check out his Static Artwork. The Starry Night piece is simply amazing in person.
After that we went to Powells. Do I need to tell you more about Powells? I don't think so. It's a city block worth of books. I was in book geek heaven. You can read my post from last year. What was important is that we went, I bought books, we got lost, we found ourselves, we bought a book about canning so perhaps this year we'll really hit up the organic markets and local farms. It's pretty exciting.
OH! I need to tell you about THE MOST DETERMINED DOG EVER.
On our walk back to the B&B, we went through a small park. As we were nearing the edge, in front of us was a guy about our age walking what looked like a type of sheep herding dog - you know the kind I mean: medium build, floppy ears, streamlined silhouette. But it was the look in the dog's face that really got to me. This was a dog that KNEW they were going to the park, KNEW that the leash was about to come off, and KNEW that today - yes today - was going to be THE DAY. I commented to the owner and he said it's all she dreams about, all the thinks about, is squirrels. I bet that on Saturday mornings this dog wakes up and preps herself, psychs herself up.
What really struck me was that this wasn't the ecstatic, bouncy, floppy body langugage dogs get when they are at the park. This was a streamlined dog who was going to GET. A. SQUIRREL.
Tomorrow: THE PROPOSAL
I feel bad about saying this, BUT IT WAS JUST SO CUTE AND QUAINT! That's a horribly disrespectful thing to say to a city's light rail but dude - it was so clean and there were this cute little signs about how to ride the train and how to be polite to each other and everything was just so nice. It wasn't like MUNI or BART in which you're kind of afraid to sit down on the benches with the mysterious stains. It was welcoming and almost respectful in a way. Kind of nice. Also - it was free!! There's a section of the track that is a no-fare zone. Luckily, we were in that zone so woo! Go team us (and go team MAX!)
We started our morning with a trip to VooDoo donuts. I had seen this place on the food network and our roommates Tara and Kevin stopped there last time they drove through. In retrospect, I kind of wish I had eaten one of their "cooler" donuts, like the ones covered with breakfast cereal, but it's hard for me to resist a raspberry jelly filled donut. Jonathan's donut was bigger than a salad plate. I was disappointed he didn't try the maple glazed bacon donuts. Sad panda :(
The Saturday market is just plain awesome. It's held down by the river walk and is filled with local artists who come to sell their wares. I got some christmas presents there last year and managed to find some more this year too. We also found a piece of art for our apartment. I should take a picture of it because it's so hard to describe. However, I did remember to get his business card because he has a website! His name is Matt Hellner and I would suggest you check out his Static Artwork. The Starry Night piece is simply amazing in person.
After that we went to Powells. Do I need to tell you more about Powells? I don't think so. It's a city block worth of books. I was in book geek heaven. You can read my post from last year. What was important is that we went, I bought books, we got lost, we found ourselves, we bought a book about canning so perhaps this year we'll really hit up the organic markets and local farms. It's pretty exciting.
OH! I need to tell you about THE MOST DETERMINED DOG EVER.
On our walk back to the B&B, we went through a small park. As we were nearing the edge, in front of us was a guy about our age walking what looked like a type of sheep herding dog - you know the kind I mean: medium build, floppy ears, streamlined silhouette. But it was the look in the dog's face that really got to me. This was a dog that KNEW they were going to the park, KNEW that the leash was about to come off, and KNEW that today - yes today - was going to be THE DAY. I commented to the owner and he said it's all she dreams about, all the thinks about, is squirrels. I bet that on Saturday mornings this dog wakes up and preps herself, psychs herself up.
What really struck me was that this wasn't the ecstatic, bouncy, floppy body langugage dogs get when they are at the park. This was a streamlined dog who was going to GET. A. SQUIRREL.
Tomorrow: THE PROPOSAL