My Weekend Trip to Portland!
I was both excited and concerned because the Weather app forecasted 80% chance of rain! True enough, when the plane landed at 12:30am Saturday, it was raining non-stop!
Yes, it was my first time to visit this place! Thanks to our Teach-USA pioneer J1 visa teacher in the area, @Jas!
But thank God, He allowed the rain to subside when I woke up Saturday morning at about 8:45am!
Around 10:15am, I met Jas at the Union Station and we roamed around downtown Portland. The weather was a delight. It did rain for a little bit but it was a very light rain!
It was depressing to see a lot of homeless people in tents all over the downtown area and plenty of closed businesses because of the pandemic.
From the Union Station, we went straight to the 5th Avenue Food Cart Pods. Not all carts were open when we passed by the place because it was only 10am.
We continued walking and since it was Saturday, we got to enjoy the Portland's Saturday Market near the Tom McCall Waterfront Park.
We grabbed some lunch and stayed in one of the tents to eat since the rain started to fall for a bit.
After taking some videos and photos, thanks to the Maps app, we continued walking to visit the beautiful Lan Su Chinese Garden. While walking we saw another plaza named Japanese American Historical Plaza.
And the University of Oregon.
The Lan Su Chinese Garden is in the heart of ChinaTown in Portland.
The place is really beautiful and serene. We took a lot of photos before heading to the famed Powell's City of Books. They said your Weekend Trip to Portland won't be the same without dropping by Powell's!
After lunch, we visited the International Rose Test Garden and Hoyt Arboretum both located in Washington Park. The place is amazing! I just wished the roses were blooming already! But, we still took photos.
Then we went to buy the famous Voodoo Doughnuts before parting ways at the Pioneer Courthouse Square. The doughnuts were yummy!
That's me with the Umbrella Man!
It was a lovely and refreshing Weekend Trip to Portland!
God is good!
Next: Part 2: Visit to The Grotto!