Dear Reader,
On Wednesday we (Jen, Merab, Kwesi, Francis and me) departed from Eugene in the early morning and arrived at 9am in Portland. The Pioneer Court Building, where the Ninth Circuit usually holds its hearings, is very fancy. We were waiting in a neighborly room in that we could follow the previous hearings on a plasma screen.
The first case was about a crime which happened in the Indian reservation (criminal intent, influence of being drunk on intent, who remembers and what they remember). The hearing we were interested in, was the fourth issue on the agenda. The case was about forestry (prevention of fire in the Deschutes National Forest by thinning the forest) vs. protection of the northern spotted owl’s habitats.
One of the hearings was a little bit exhausting; the concept of bankruptcy in English caused a strong headache for me that is why we hurried to the hotel and said good-bye to Merab (and again: have a nice trip, Merab :)!) and Jen who drove back to Eugene.
After the little, painful intermezzo we (Francis, Kwesi and me) started to explore Portland. The directions were perfect; we found the Powell’s Bookstore in 18 minutes as it was written on our paper prepared by Maggie and Cassie. Before entering the City of Books, we had lunch in a restaurant nearby.
Although I love books, I left the guys in the store continuing my walk towards the Chinese Garden. We were agreed on meeting at 5 pm, even if we never knew what time it exactly was. Kwesi was the one who had a watch (which showed the time in Ghana… so we should always deduce the Oregonian time…).
The weather was pretty good; the sky was cloudy but it didn’t rain. First I wanted to visit the Chinese Garden in Chinatown but everything was so grey in there… and I had only 73 minutes until our meeting in the bookstore… thus, I wandered in Chinatown, in the Old Town and in the Pearl District.
I popped in a hippie-boutique :) for ten minutes. I bought two little patches there (“Peace” and “The Hempire Strikes Back”). After giving the local hippie community that little financial support, I looked around in another store (Avalon Antiques) which was full of beautiful old-fashioned and antique accessories, hats, jewels, boots, and evening-dresses from the thirties. I didn’t buy anything; however, I regretted not doing that. I always wanted a belt with an eagle-buckle and I found a buckle but it was without belt… later I had a new belt made in Seattle in the Public Market.
Kwesi, Francis and I were walking later in the cultural district which was much nicer in the evening lights (the Center for the Performing Arts, the Oregon History Museum, the Portland Art Museum…)
I couldn’t sleep very well in Portland. I woke up before 6am and started to gain more experiences about the city. I met an old lady who wanted to help me, regarding that I was looking at my map with a puzzled expression on my face. She was a volunteer in the Oregon Historical Society and guided me around the cultural district. The dawn was gone already when I bought my coffee (in the Starbucks, of course) which I drunk in a park… sitting on a bank, eating a cinnamon roll and looking at the people, the park, the buildings.
Later I walked to the Old Saturday Market (yes, on Thursday) and went back and forth the other side of the city across a bridge (which was full of weird, homeless persons who were treading bananas onto the pavement - dear Reader, if you want, once I can explain why they did that!).
I discovered a tiny part of the other side of the city. I found a great bookstore with old magazines published from the ‘50-ties until nowadays (about Marilyn Monroe, Shirley McLain, Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn…). I spent half an hour there and rushed back to the hotel.
Rita arrived at 11:09am. We checked out and departed to Seattle. The way to Washington State also was beautiful. We stopped to visit the Multnomah Waterfall and later the Vista House. (Actually, I am not able to describe the landscape from there, please, see the photos which illustrate my notes.)
To be continued with Seattle
Agnes
