Downtown, Portland

The best way to discover Portland without actually moving there is probably to go on the "Best of Portland" walking tour. In about 2 1/2 hours, this tour takes you all over the downtown area and gives you the inside scoop on Portland, highlighting the city's uniqueness and quirkiness. There's a bit of history, but what I thought was especially interesting and different from other walking tours I've been on is that it mostly focuses on modern day Portland. This has a lot to do with the fact that downtown Portland has changed a lot over the past few decades - the creation of Pioneer Courthouse Square in particular has transformed downtown from a dull and slightly decaying area to a lively, happening place full of restaurants, shops and bars. Our tour guide Jared was amazing - he's obviously passionate about Portland, and he had a wicked sense of humour! Going on this tour was a great way to kick off our trip to Portland, and several of the following tips actually include stuff we saw during the tour.

The "Best of Portland" tour runs daily, rain or shine (well, that goes without saying!), and starts at 10:00 am. Tickets cost $19, and it was definitely worth the price.

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Here's another attraction that makes Portland so delightfully weird! Covering a total surface area of a little less than 300 square centimeters, Mill Ends Park is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's smallest park. It was created back in 1948 by local journalist Dick Fagan whose office overlooked a street in which a hole had been dug out to install a lamp post. When the lamp post failed to appear and weeds took over, Fagan got tired of staring at the unsightly hole day after day and decided to add some flowers. He wrote funny stories about the park in his newspaper column, claiming that Mill Ends Park was home to the only Leprechaun colony west of Ireland! The tiny park became more and more popular, to the point where after Fagan passed away, the city decided to turn his park into an official city park. Today, Mill Ends Park is part of Portland Parks & Recreation just like all the other parks in the city, and it remains a favourite with locals and visitors alike.

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That's an awfully long name for a park, but since Oregon's Governor Tom McCall did much to spur the wave of environmentalism that surged over Portland in the 1970s and is still going strong to this day, it made sense that the city would name its waterfront park after him. Actually, Governor McCall was instrumental in creating the park since he's the one who commissioned a study to see whether the road that ran along the river could possibly be removed to make way for an urban park, something people felt the downtown area was lacking at the time. The park stretches over about 2.5 km on the west bank of the Willamette River. Several of the city's festivals take place in this waterfront park, but even when there isn't anything special going on, I thought it was a nice place to go for a pleasant walk or bike ride close to the downtown area. On clear days, you can get a pretty good view of Mount Hood, and it's also a good spot to visit if you want to see some of the city's numerous bridges.

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Completed in 1883, Portland's Old Church is not the oldest church in the city, but it's one of the most interesting as far as architecture goes. The church was designed at no cost by architect Warren H. Williams, who had previously designed several of the cast-iron buildings that can still be found today in the downtown area. Williams was mostly famous for introducing Victorian-style architecture to the Pacific Northwest, and the Old Church is one of at least 50 buildings he designed in this particular style. While its original name was the Calvary Presbyterian Church, different congregations used it as a place of worship throughout the years, until it was eventually left empty in 1967. To save it from demolition, a group of citizens created the Old Church Society, and the church can now be leased for weddings, christenings, concerts and other ceremonies.

One of the church's most interesting features is its tracker-action organ that was purchased from Hook & Hastings (Boston, MA) and installed in 1883. The organ has been perfectly restored over the years, but what makes it so special is that it's never been converted to electricity and therefore still retains its original mechanical system. Every Wednesday at noon, the public is invited to bring their lunch at the church and enjoy a free organ concert. Visitors are also free to tour around the church on weekdays from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm.

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When the layout of the city was designed in 1845, plans were made to create a narrower strip of blocks between what is now Park St. and 9th Ave. (these blocks measure 100 x 200 ft instead of the usual 200 x 200 ft blocks found elsewhere in the city) on what was then the outskirts of the city. The goal was to build an urban park, and in 1852, South Park Blocks became the city's first official public green space. Over 100 trees were planted in the 1870s and, over the years, more trees (mainly elm, oak and maple trees), roses and works of art were included in the blocks' landscape design. South Park Blocks currently cover 12 consecutive city blocks, and two more blocks down the street (O'Bryant Square and Director Park) have recently been converted into parks. While the area was unfortunately plagued by drug-related activities during the 1980s and 1990s, the blocks are now mostly free of these problems (at least, I didn't see anything shady going on while I was there) and it's definitely a good place to go on one of Portland's elusive sunny days.

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If you're looking for something to do while in Portland, you might want to take a look at the PCPA's website - with its four concert halls, the PCPA puts on performances ranging from Broadway theatre to rock shows, operas and lectures on an almost daily basis. The most famous of the PCPA's theaters is the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, or "The Schnitz" as locals usually call it. This theatre was originally built as the Portland Public Theater in 1928, and it became the Paramount Theater in 1930. A huge "Paramount" sign was then installed in front of the luxurious movie theater, which could sit about 3000 people. In 1972, as movies became somewhat less popular, plans were made to convert the decaying movie theater into a concert hall. In 1984, after a period of extensive restoration that included replacing the Paramount sign with one that reads "Portland", the Schnitz finally opened. A few years later, in 1987, a new theater (now called the Antoinette Hatfield Hall) opened right next to it. It features an Elizabethan-style concert hall and an Edwardian-style theater, and it's truly worth taking a quick look inside - the lobby was designed to make visitors feel like they're standing on a Shakespearian stage as they walk through the main doors! For those interested in finding out more about the PCPA, volunteers run free guided tours on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 11:00 am.

The Keller Auditorium, the fourth concert hall making up the PCPA complex, is located on SW Clay St.

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Dating back to 1869, Chapman and Lownsdale Squares are two of Portland's earliest public parks. The first was designed to be used exclusively by women and their children in an effort to attract more female citizens to Portland, which then had a reputation for being a rather rowdy town. Female Ginko trees were even planted all around Chapman Square to symbolize the fact that the park was off limits to male residents and that women would therefore be free to enjoy a stroll without being hassled by drunken sailors and lumberjacks. Instead, men were invited to gather around Lownsdale Square, the two identical squares being separated by Main Street (of course, the two squares are now open to both men and women). Between the two parks, it's also possible to see the infamous Thompson Elk fountain, a gift donated to the city of Portland in 1900 by David P. Thompson. The fountain features drinking troughs for horses and dogs, as well as a bronze statue of an elk designed by Roland Hinton Perry. Perry was a successful artist at the time, but unfortunately he had never seen an elk and had to rely on a painting to create his sculpture. As a result, the statue looks fine from the side, but if you see it from the front it's completely out of proportions! No wonder the Order of Elks flatly refused to participate in the dedication ceremony :o)

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Another thing several visitors might miss in Portland is a chance to take a look at the city from the 9th floor rooftop terrace of the Mark O. Hatfield US Courthouse. This building was completed in 1997 in a contemporary style that I thought went really well with the downtown area - it's not too over-the-top, but it's not boring either. In fact, the building's elegant lines and mixture of glass, aluminum and limestone make it look more like a modern hotel than a federal building! The courthouse is open on weekdays from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm and after a brief security screening, it's possible to go up to the 9th floor and out on the rooftop terrace where you can enjoy nice views of the downtown area. The terrace is also home to a sculpture garden featuring the works of American artist Tom Otterness, who is known for depicting serious topics through cartoon-like characters - I especially liked the group of sculptures featuring a cat on trial for having killed a bird, with a feather still sticking out of his mouth! And another thing I enjoyed about this rooftop terrace was the almost surreal atmosphere of calm and quiet right at the heart of the city. Definitely an enjoyable free attraction that's worth visiting in Portland!