Love it or Hate it! Portland is one of those types of cities. I will get more into this topic later, but I definitely got some weird looks from people when I told them I went to Portland, OR.

For those of you that love to bike, outdoor life, and dress to your own beat of the drum, or just like to dress however you like, and especially those with a penchant for flannel type of wear, Portland is a city you must visit.

Portland is also a city that’s big on bicycling. They have lots of bike rentals, many bike lanes, and encourages you to bike around. They also have some great art. What cities doesn’t have great art though?!? We saw this cool piece of bicycle art when we were walking around town.

I love how even though I didn’t ask for a model to pose next to the art piece, I got one in this photo. This woman just happened to stand nearby, waiting for someone perhaps? I think she looks amazing with her retro looks and too cool for school attitude.

While in Portland, you have to stop by and visit Powell Books. Whether or not you are a book lover, you will appreciate this awesome place. The place is filled with all types of books and span a whole city block. And it has a few satellite branches. One can spend hours here. They also have a café that serves coffee/tea/snacks. Although smaller than one would expect, I still enjoyed my tea and cookies there. Yes, I have indeed gone to the dark side and they served me cookies.

The main bookstore is now remodeling, but it’s still very much open. While taking a photo across the street from Powell Books, we saw that Portlanders also have a sense of humor. Look around and tell me what you see (besides the bookstore) in this photo and let me know if you also found it funny.

Powell Books (main branch): 1005 W. Burnside Street, Portland, OR

After hiking, biking, and or even reading, one will get a little hungry. Never fear, there’s always something yummy around the corner. We ventured into Sizzle Pie for some pizza snacks. We call snacking…some may call it a meal. We tried the following pizzas with interesting names. A slice of D-Beat (cheese pizza), 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon (Canadian bacon and pineapple), and maybe the Bad Lieutenant (sausage & onion). I say maybe because I didn’t take good notes (my bad) and forgot what we ate, but that sounds about right. They also offer something I have never had before. You can put nutritional yeast on your pizza. That’s right…the word…nutritional…was uttered at a pizza place. What?!? You thought I was going to say yeast, didn’t you? I knew Portland was weird, but this is beyond weird. I love it. Haha.

Sizzle Pie at 926 W. Burnside Street, Portland, OR

Talking about yeast. There you go. I am talking about it now.

And it’s all about beer!!!

So this is now one of my favorite beer. It’s Mirror Pond Pale Ale by Deschutes Brewery. Oh so yummy. Light, fruity, smooth, and just delicious.

You can enjoy this all over town, but they also have a restaurant in town located at 210 NW 11th Avenue, Portland, OR

And talking about delicious, I can’t help but think about this restaurant we tried in Portland, OR. So I had a really good lunch today (more on this topic in future posts) and it got me thinking about food again as I haven’t been blogging much about that (or anything) for a while. What gets me excited each day are great people, yummy food, travel, and everyday happenstance that transform your ordinary day into an interesting and amazing day. I like my days simple and most days are pretty simple. Not much have to happen to really get me to enjoy my day. So when something incredible does happen, it really does MAKE my day.

So there were a few restaurants that made my (our) day(s) in Portland, OR. One of them is Silk Vietnamese Restaurant and Bar in the Pearl District.

Silk Vietnamese 1012 NW Glisan Street, Portland, OR

What made it so special? For one, this place is gorgeous. It’s very simple elegant and makes you feel great to eat here. The food is really good and rather than saying it’s Vietnamese food, I will say it’s more like Asian tapas. We enjoyed a variety of dishes here. We had the chicken wings sautéed in a caramelized garlic pepper marinade. A little sticky, but oh so good. We tried their beef, egg, and spicy kim chi fried rice. This dish really hit the spot for me for some reason. I really enjoyed this dish even though I think it’s more of a Korean dish than a Vietnamese dish. And we tried their lemongrass beef noodles. Also very delish.

Sorry to leave you all salivating, but I have to run now. I will check back this weekend and check in with some of you then.

Good night and have a great Friday! xx