After breakfast, I took a walk around the hotel and then caught a local bus to the waterfront. Unfortunately, I got off at the wrong stop and my gps didn’t seem to be working properly. This made my decision for the rest of the day — leave the touring to the experts!
Ed and I decided to take the “Hop-On, Hop-Off” Portland Pink Trolley Tour. I had visited the city 11 years ago and had explored many of the sights on my own, but with just a day, this seemed like the perfect way to pack a lot in.
The tour started at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park, which is a long stretch of green space along the Willamette River. Today through the weekend the city was having a beer fest and the crowds were already assembled at 1 pm on a Thursday. Our tour took us several miles to the south end of town. This was a very different environment than the one around our hotel. Our hotel is in an older section, near Chinatown and host to a number of homeless encampments. This part of town had expensive high rise condominiums anchored by the expansive Oregon Health and Human Science University campus. Nearby was Riverplace, a riverfront village with shops, restaurants, and a marina.
We got off and ate lunch outdoors at the Little River Cafe. Then back on the bus and stayed for the complete tour, including a drive through the famous Rose and Japanese Gardens, which I had visited before, and around the business district.
On our way back to the hotel from the tour, we noticed that a number of paved parking lots have been turned into “eateries.” It seems that food truck-looking vehicles are parked side by side, offering a wide variety of food. Although we like food trucks, these “facilities?” didn’t look appetizing. Glad we didn’t take a food tour here.
Tonight we had dinner at Andina’s, a Peruvian restaurant that had been recommended to us by several natives. The food was awesome. I had Causa Morada - Peruvian purple potato layers with shredded chicken salad, stacked neatly in a circle. It reminded me of a dish I had in Peru prepared the same way.
Ed had Arroz con Mariscos, a Peruvian style paella with seafood. We topped it off with flan for dessert for a perfect meal. Afterwards, we walked around the Pearl District, which is an assortment of old warehouses and manufacturing facilities turned into trendy restaurants, shops and housing. We have been blessed with lovely weather, day and night.
No comments:
Post a Comment