Views of Portland

Back on the road again, here are some pictures from Portland.

This knitted shade pull cord in our window looking out over the city. Such an interesting touch in this unique room in a really fun city.

We stayed at the Ace Hotel, thanks to a great recommendation (thanks Bethany and Jacob!). It was right in the Pearl district, a block away from Powell's Books (which we could see out our window). Such a book lover's mecca, we went several times, ahem. Here is a photo I snapped in the rare book room of an ancient Buddhist poem, translated and newly reprinted on kitikata paper.

It says on the top page:

" Don't deceive another one

nor despise anyone at all,

because of anger or ill-will

don't wish another pain."

and on the second page:

"Just as a mother cares for her child,

her only child, with her very life,

so you should nurture boundless care

for all the living creatures."

I guess we were in the SuperTramp Room, which you can guess from the wall decoration here.

One of the favorite features of the room was the turntable and records. We all had fun spinning some tunes, a pretty good selection. Isn't this a great re-use of an old army trunk? There was another one on casters to use as a coffee table.

I loved the grey color they used on the walls. It wasn't depressing at all, very warm, especially next to the window.

How do you like this embroidery that was in the elevator? And yes it was true, it was definitely faster to take the stairs.


The steam powered paddle boat docked on the river was really cool (and air-conditioned thankfully as it was blazingly hot that day). They still even use it sometimes. I liked the look of this control dial.


The deli next door was excellent, and had interesting brick walls. Real NY style bagels, and the fabulous and famous Stumptown coffee, locals Decemberists on the stereo, heaven!

One of the best pictures I've taken of Zach in a really long time. What do you think? Potential Album cover? That's what I'm always teasing him about since he's recording so much music lately.

We went to the Portland Museum of Contemporary Craft, a beautiful space with a thought-provoking exhibit by a Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei. I took a few pictures, but my favorite is this one of the sunflower seeds. Not actual seeds, they are porcelain, hand-painted, in a big heap on the floor.
And finally the Portland Bug. He was sitting on the top of a fire hydrant in a shady spot. I have no idea what kind of bug he actually is, but I thought he was a good representative of a lot of the Portland residents we saw, cool-looking, laid-back, and good at hanging out.