Day 3 - It rains in Oregon

Today we planned to go on a bike ride around the city. It was called Roses and Poetry and had been advertised on the AirBnB website. Our other destination was the local Farmers Market.

We set out with umbrella in hand and rain jackets on. To get to the Farmers Market we had planned to take a train and then a bus. However it was just as easy to catch a bus all the way so that is what we did. Even on a Sunday the frequency of service was good and went about every 15 minutes.

The market was small but it had some nice vegetables and fruit for sale. Some supplies were purchased and then we set out to find a coffee shop. Bev is a whizz on an app which locates cafés that sell coffee and happily there was one nearby. It was time for a bite to eat so that is exactly what we did.

The rain had become quite steady by this time and I thought we could get quite drenched, however, Bev was determined to go to the bike depot where we were to depart for our tour. There was a bus that was very direct to our destination, but I put in the wrong address and we got off about two kilometres short of it. With phone in hand we managed to navigate our way there, once Bev had corrected my mistake.

We were fifteen minutes late but amazingly the tour had not departed. Madi, our tour guide gave us a warm welcome and assured us that despite the rain, the tour would proceed. There was just one other person on the party, John, an attorney visiting from Dallas for a few days. We were given the option of a refund but Bev decided to go and I remained undecided. Then, on a whim, I said “ok - I’ll go too and get drenched”.

Our guide Madi was lovely. She was passionate about cycling and Portland. A native of Seattle she did not find that city as progressive and bike friendly as Portland. She had only been in Portland for two years but really did know the history of the place. John was an interesting man in his fiftties who was an attorney and in Portland for a conference with the CEO of a company he acted for. During the ride I tried to find out a bit about Dallas where he comes from, it is boiling in the summer and can be freezing in the winter. It did not seem like an agreeable place in which to live. I was interested in his views on guns and he said he did not own one and while there were lots in Texas most of them were owned by hunters and gangs. I think he is probably quite conservative about social issues as he commented that millennials were trying to change everything. Nonetheless, it was fascinating hearing about life in a place that was so different to Portland and NZ.

Locals chain toys to the kerb. Apparently it was for real horses a century ago

The bikes had an 8 speed internal hub changing system but they were comfortable to ride and a nice commuter bike as long as there were no steep hills.

The tour was excellent and we went to places we would not have thought of going or known about. We saw a well -established rose garden which included one rose that was nearly a century old as I recall. This was all in a lovely enclave of turn of the 20^th century residences. It looked very pretty and liveable.

Work of an artists collective

We then followed a series of off road cycle trails that the city has built. Even on a wet day there were people using them. A lot of money and effort has gone into making the city very cycle friendly. Not only that, public art is a big feature. There are murals on buildings was everywhere, as well as

standalone works of art.

Portland is a city of bridges and we managed to go over two of twelve apparently, just in the vicinity of the downtown area. The very new public transport and cycling/pedestrian bridge was spectacular. It is quite high to accommodate ships sailing underneath it and it had a design that made it so pretty. It was quite a contrast to a couple of bridges that were over

hundred years old and looked very functional.

The green hair is living.

Parks have been created along the waterfront in recent times, essentially reclaiming it from industry. It has been at some cost due to the ground being polluted, but the open green areas are a delight.

Of course we had an obligatory stop to sample one of the doughnuts (competitors of the renowned Voodoo doughnuts which everyone joins long queues to purchase). I enjoyed a crème brulée one and Bev sampled a chocolate almond one. It was all was downed with a cup of filter coffee. Then we were on our way again.

An artists collective studio - knives for security

One of the cute things we saw was what we learned to be the smallest park in the world (see picture). It came about when a landscape designer was doodling in his office and saw a hole in the road below him. He organised to put a plant in the hole and called it a “park”. The public rather liked the idea and the next thing it became a fully-fledged park, winning a place in the Guinness book of Records.

By this time the rain has stopped and it was almost pleasant to be riding. We returned to the bike shop via the Helium theatre where our Uber drive does his stand- up comedy performances. We said our goodbyes and parted company, then went on to have an enjoyable and tasty drink of beer at one of the breweries before heading back to our accommodation.