Portland, Oregon.  Not a particularly beautiful city, at least the downtown portion thereof.  Caroline and I spent an evening and a full day in Portland.  The first stop, the absolute required first stop, was Powell’s Bookstore, the City of Books.  Probably the best bookstore I have seen, and I have seen a few.  We spent a couple of hours there, then walked around a bit before having dinner at Mother’s Bistro and Bar.  An excellent restaurant.  The weather was standard fare for the Pacific Northwest this time of year, drizzling and chilly.
Portland has a superb mass transit system, trains, streetcars and buses. Â Very easy to get around the city. Â Also, there is an arial tram going from the street level to the OHSU Hospital Complex.
Some random shots from above:
You ca see Mt. Hood just right of center in the picture below.
Some shots from around downtown Portland:
Food Truck row
The best bookstore I’ve seen, at least recently.  Luckily they ship.
We walked a lot in Portland, and also rode the trains and street cars.  Ate some really good meals, and probably didn’t spend $60 total for the full day in the city.  We only had the one full day there, and left the next morning for the Columbia River Gorge, then down the coast.
