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©
Northwest Portland International Hostel 2006: 425 NW 18th Avenue (& Glisan Street), Portland, OR 97209; Phone: (503) 241-2783 or toll free 1-888-777-0067; email: info@nwportlandhostel.com |
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Known
as Portland's "Living Room", Pioneer Courthouse Square attracts a wide
variety of users: commuters waiting for the light rail train, office workers
on their lunch breaks, tourists, shoppers, and students. Over 2.5 million
people visit this space each year in order to take part in three hundred
special events (check out their website for events!). Downtown, SW Broadway
& Yamhill. 
The world's largest independent
new and used bookstore. Get lost in their vast offering of books, or
stunning selection of out-of-print books. Buy a book or simply hang out
and read in the comfortable ambience of
the in-store coffeehouse. Check out their
Rain or shine, Portland Saturday
Market is open every Saturday and Sunday for arts and crafts shopping and
just plain fun from March until Christmas Eve. Get the special opportunity
of meeting the artisans who have ...'made it, baked it, or grown it'.
Listen to local musicians while finding some good food at the
International Food Court. Located in the heart of Old Town, underneath the
Burnside Bridge. 108 W. Burnside Street, 503-222-6072. 
The city's open-air hub for lovers of
locally-grown and produced foods, flowers and plant stock. See website for
schedule of chef demonstrations and special events. 
The
park named for a former governor of Oregon revered for his statewide
land-use planning initiatives stretches north along the Willamette River
for about a mile to Burnside Street. Broad and grassy, it yields what
may be the finest ground-level view of downtown Portland's bridges and
skyline. The park, on the site of a former expressway, hosts many
events, among them the Rose Festival, classical and blues concerts, and
the Oregon Brewers Festival. The five-day Cinco de Mayo Festival
in early May celebrates Portland's sister-city relationship with
Guadalajara, Mexico. Next to the Rose Festival, this is one of
Portland's biggest get-togethers. Food and arts-and-crafts booths,
stages with mariachi bands, and a carnival complete with a Ferris wheel
line the riverfront for the event. Bikers, joggers, and roller and
in-line skaters enjoy the area year-round. The arching jets of water at
the Salmon Street Fountain change configuration every few hours
and are a favorite cooling-off spot during the dog days of summer.
"In 1948, a hole was cut through the sidewalk at the corner of SW Taylor
St. and SW Naito Pkwy. (Front St.). It was expected to accommodate a
mere lamp post, but greatness was thrust upon it. The streetlamp was
never installed, and the 24-inch circle of earth was left empty until
noticed by Dick Fagan, a columnist for the Oregon Journal. Fagan used
his column, "Mill Ends," to publicize the patch of dirt, pointing out
that it would make and excellent park. After years of such logic-heavy
lobbying, the park was added to the city's roster in 1976. At 452.16
square inches, Mill Ends Park is officially the world's smallest. Locals
have enthusiastically embraced it, planting flowers and hosting a hotly
contested snail race on St. Patrick's day." (Let's Go: Alaska & the
Pacific Northwest, 2002) 
Created
to nurture and inspire all who visit, this Garden is little changed from
what might have greeted you during the Ming dynasty in China. Portland’s
is an authentic Suzhou-style garden. It grew out of a friendship between
Portland and Suzhou, a city renowned for its exquisite gardens. This
walled Garden encloses a full city block. Serpentine walkways, a bridged
lake, and open colonnades set off meticulously arranged landscape of
plants, water, stone, poetry, and buildings. Architects and artisans
from China who designed and constructed the Garden mean for each aspect
of the Garden to convey artistic effect and symbolic importance. The
design embodies the duality of nature, yin and yang. When these are
balanced, harmony results. The delicate balance in the Garden affects
all your senses. It is home to hundreds of rare and unusual plants,
nearly 100 specimen trees, water plants, bamboo and orchids. 
The Pittock
Mansion was home to Portland pioneers Henry and Georgiana Pittock from
1914 to 1919. During the late 1800s and the early 1900s, their lives and
work paralleled the growth of Portland from a small Northwest town site
to a thriving city with a quarter million population. With its eclectic
architectural design and richly decorated interior, including family
artifacts, the Pittock Mansion stands today as a living memorial of this
family's contributions to the blossoming of Portland and its people.
The
Grotto offers a spectacular natural gallery of religious art with more
than a hundred gracefully- sculpted statues and shrines nestled along
its flower-lined pathways. Amid the natural beauty of this outdoor
cathedral, visitors from many lands find inspiration and peace. The
Grotto celebrates special liturgical events throughout the year,
including Christmas & Holy Week liturgies, a special Mass on Mother's
Day, a Freedom Day Mass on the Sunday closest to Independence Day, a St.
Anne's Summer Twilight Retreat, the Blessing of Animals in July, and an
evening mass and sundown candle light rosary procession, on the feast of
The Assumption of Mary on August 15.
Built
without permission, by skateboarders and later sanctioned by the city,
Burnside is the preeminent example of action. Burnside's unique
growth and evolution -through the sweat and blood of a handful of
dedicated individuals- have matured into one of the best skate parks in
the world. Burnside and its creators are true pioneers, setting
the stage for community built skate parks across the country.
Share
in these stories with a visit to the dynamic End of the Oregon
Trail Interpretive Center. Living history presentations, "Bound
for Oregon", an experience in digital cinema, exhibits of
artifacts and heirlooms from the trail and pioneer living activities
provide a unique and one-of-a-kind experience.