Project 365: Day 285

During the introduction, the Mayor was answering some commonly asked questions as a part of her speech. One of them was "do you ever get tired of the scenery?" and her answer was "not a chance, it's so beautiful out here, that I just look up and sigh every day." I have to say, it's so lovely and changes every day. This particular morning, the morning sun was just catching the mountains just so, and it was just beautiful.

Project 365: Day 283

Beautiful and eerie fog upon waking in Banff. Having not seen the mountains on our way in at night, it was certainly a delight to see them upon waking. Even though this isn't a perfectly executed photo, I just love the feel of it too much.

Colourful Piano Stairs

Fun colours in Beirut, inspired by music. Never a bad idea to add some colour and life to the general everyday parts of the city.

via Street Art Utopia

Work and Life in the Cities

Interesting article by a fellow planner on how your work impacts the city. 

"The more our being is aligned with what we do, our work, the more our cities meet our needs." 

If we are happy in what we do, it really does impact our everyday lives, the environment that we live in and especially, who we surround ourselves with. Some food for thought anyways, especially for cities as transient as Fort McMurray. If we invest in our friends, cities and life, we see the benefits through our social networks. If you are disconnected, then all you feel and see are the problems of the city and none of the benefits and the people around you will likely echo the same.

via Populus

Winter Lights in Paris

Winter is coming, but can be tempered so nicely with some bright winter lights. One of the ways to liven up and attract people in the winter cities.

via pinterest

London

Beautiful and grey London. Speaking of the travel bug, one day I would like to go and experience you as an adult.

via jasminere

Project 365: Day 188

Colourful Carry-on Luggage

Maple Bacon Doughnut, Voodoo Doughnuts

Aboriginal Art, Vancouver International Airport

Always sad to go home after a fun trip, but excited to sleep in our own bed! Fortunately we travelled light, so all we had were carry-ons for the whole trip (to avoid luggage fees!). Stopped by Voodoo for one more sinful doughnut and we were on our way! We went homeward bound from Portland via the Vancouver Airport.

I hope you have enjoyed reading and looking at my pictures of our travels in Portland!

Still catching up on the Project 365 posts as these pictures took a bit of time to edit and upload, but I think I will be back to a normal posting schedule in a few days time.

Project 365: Day 187

Portland Theatre Sign

Liege Waffle, The Gaufre Gourmet

Macchiato, Courier Coffee

Vera Katz Park, Portland

BLT, Brunch Box

Warning - delicious food pictures in my Flickr account may make you hungry!

We did the Epicurean Food Tour first thing in the morning and it just set us up for eating our way through Portland. Lots of interesting stories about food and the philosophy around it in Portland. They look primarily at being fresh, local, organic, sustainable and seasonal. All of the places that we visited really talked to that and demonstrated that in their practices.

After the Epicurean tour, we went wandering the streets in search of delicious food carts! It was a great way to end our last day in Portland before we headed back to Alberta.

Project 365: Day 186

Cappuccino and Cheddar Bacon Scone, Stumptown Coffee

Chinese Gardens, Chinatown Portland

Laurelhurst Park, Portland

Advance Bike Box, Portland

Bicycle Public Art, Burnside

Our 3rd day in Portland started off with a small breakfast at Stumptown Coffee on the recommendation of a friend, followed by a bicycle tour with Pedal Bike Tours. It was a great way to see the downtown, as well as see some other things that we wouldn't have known about. I would recommend doing it, and we had a local Portland man leading us that grew up in the area. Portland is a very bicycle friendly city with many dedicated routes with even the bridges well marked and easy to cross! 

After that, on our tour guide's recommendation, we headed over the bridge and explored Hawthorne and Burnside. It was an interesting walking experience as we went from the more industrialized area near the Willamette River to a more down to earth interesting nook of the city. Reminded me a lot of Kitsilano in Vancouver with a mix of Granville Island.

One more day of Portland photos to come! If you're interested, there are more pictures to see on my Flickr account. Enjoy! 

Project 365: Day 185

Biscuits and Sausage Gravy, Mother's Bistro

Path Details, Portland Japanese Rose Garden

Waterfall, Portland Japanese Garden

Ephemeral Beauty, downtown Portland

Garlic Knots, Old Town Pizza

Our 2nd full day in Portland started off with a rich and tasty breakfast as Mother's Bistro. After that we just walked all day! We went up to the International Rose Test Garden and Portland Japanese Garden, and then eventually made our way back into the downtown and Chinatown for dinner. Needless to say, we were quite tired by the time we finished walking that day, probably close to 12km covered on foot!

More pictures for this day can be found on my Flickr. Enjoy!

Project 365: Day 184

Breakfast at Morningstar Cafe.

Signs to Everywhere, Pioneer Courthouse Square

North Park Blocks, Pearl District

Stacked Elephants, North Park Blocks

MAX Train, Downtown Portland

The next few posts for Project 365 will be a bit image heavy as I go through all my pictures and start to upload them. I will post a few here, but please go on to my Flickr page to browse through the rest. 

We spent the first day roaming through Portland, all on foot. With its small blocks and easy to navigate sidewalks, it was quite easy to explore most of the areas west of the Willamette River. Our explorations consisted mostly of the Historic Waterfront District, Downtown Portland, PSU and the Pearl District. Even if we didn't want to walk, there are 4 MAX Train lines and a streetcar line that are free within the downtown, so there is really no excuse not to explore!

Really, we mostly ate and walked and my pictures and experience reflect that. I hope you enjoy the beginnings of my journey through Portland through exploring the city by foot and my experience of Portland through food! 

Creative Crosswalks

Crosswalks are seen all over the world, so why not jazz them up a little bit! Here's an example in Warsaw, where they painted piano keys for Chopin's 200th anniversary of his birth. There are some other fun ones that follow the link as well including a zebra zebra crossing!

via Web Urbanist

New Orleans Mist

Beautiful, serene and quiet image captured here. I think that one day I would like to visit here as well, as I think it would be an interesting city to see.

via pinterest

Urban Vespa Travels

I kind of wish that I could do this. Just stop for a coffee with a friend in a local window. Vespa just parked out there for me to just continue on for my next adventure.

via pinterest

Piano Stairs

So whimsical and fun, especially with all the colourful accents that surround it!

via madame_propenko

City Anonymity

I even love feeling anonymous in a city I have been in before. It's all about the magic of exploration and finding new things =)

via pinterest

Pink Blossom Canopy

Absolutely beautiful, so inspiring that I want to go and see it for myself! Anyone know where this is?

via Viva la Vida

Back to our regular programming...

Back from the honeymoon now, and still recollecting myself and hoping to get back to regular posting again soon. I'll be having a few posts about the wedding and pictures from the honeymoon interspersed part of my normal design/art/fashion related posts. Took over 2500 pictures on my travels as we got to 11 cities in 19 days! Lots and lots of fun, so I'll post some recaps as I post pictures for each of the cities.

Speaking of back, this photo is of my hair on my wedding day. Nice, simple set that worked well with my red dress as well as my strapless sweetheart white dress. Great photo taken by my cousin with my camera!

Hair by Be.You.Tiful Brides

William Tell's Chapel

What a gorgeous view! I am making a note of visiting here next month!

via Cestovani

Funnel Wall

This is a wall that plays music when it rains, how neat is that? I would love little melodies to float around me while the rain is falling. However, at night... maybe not so much? Located at the Kunsthofpassage in Neustadt

via Happiness is...