Of Bikes, Books and Benson Bubblers

Portland snuck up on me and stole my heart. This city's cycling culture is excellente. I have never seen a city as giving and forgiving to its cyclists. Before coming to Portland, rights of cyclists were something I only thought existed in fairy tales. Harry and I arrived in Portland from Seattle in the nick of time for our scheduled bike city tour. It was three hours of pure bliss.

As soon as we arrived and returned our car rental, we went directly to Pedal Bike Tours. We booked this tour online in advance. When we got there, we found that we were the only ones in the tour. We had two guides to ride with the two of us around Downtown Portland.

At first I was worried about the pace of the tour. But as soon as we rolled off, all those worries slipped away. Portland is a beautiful city evenly spread out on both sides of the Willamette River. They have coined this phrase for newcomers who can't say the name of this river properly. "It's Wil-lamette, damn, it!" There are many bridges in Portland, hence earning its nickname of "Bridgetown." We road along the river and crossed two bridges that afternoon.

 The city also has an efficient transport system, which is the major reason why Portland is considered one of the most eco-friendly cities in the world. A good number of their commuters opt to bike to work. As I saw while cycling around the downtown core, as we pedaled a total of 10 miles (or 16 kilometers), motorists and pedestrians give way to cyclists for as long as they follow road rules themselves. 

Below we are standing in front of an Ecotrust Events Place building. It is one example of an old structure being "recycled" in Portland. Yes, they even recycle entire buildings. What they do is preserve old historical industrial buildings. Instead of tearing down old buildings no longer operational for its original purpose, they preserve the structure and convert the buildings to useful and productive spaces. This particular building, the Jean Vollum NCR Center, was originally built in 1895. They are remodeled  in such a way that they become energy efficient and water efficient.

There are a lot of curious facts about Portland. I think what I love the most about it is quite simple. Drinking water fountains were installed all over downtown. I drank it many times during our stay. They are safe and clean. I imagine that bottled water sales is pretty low over there. There is a particular kind of drinking fountain found in Portland that is called the Benson Bubbler. It is designed with four bowls and constant running water, hence the name.

As part of the tour, we passed by Powell's Books, which is the world's largest independent new and used book store. We were allowed a ten minute stop into the bookstore. Naturally, I didn't even get past 20 meters of the main entrance. I stopped myself when I saw the events display, a gondola display of books by authors who will be visiting the store in the next couple of weeks. I saw right on top of the shelf a hardbound copy of the book Notes From A Blue Bike. I bought this book recently in electronic form. But to see it now right in front of me, with a sign that the author, Tsh Oxenreider, was coming to Powell's just a day after we were leaving Portland, I knew I was coming back later to buy the book. I haven't finished reading the book on my iPad so I cannot really tell you what her message is all about. However, I follow the blog founded by the same author called The Art of Simple. As with the title, she inspires me to live a simple life.

I consider Portland my new mecca. It has only been a few days, four days to be exact, since we left the city to drive to California and I am missing it already. I know we will come back there and stay longer then. It's our new favorite city. Why? Because it is our shared favorite. Other cities we have visited in the past have a part of each us captured by them. New York is his. Toronto is mine. Singapore is his. Montreal is mine. But Portland, you are our happy middle.