geminica

In true Portland style, this place is unique, creative, cozy, and fun. Whenever I have a visitor from out of town, we go to Rimsky’s, and the visitor always wants to come back the next night as well.

I found it hard to believe my own eyes.

Don’t stick to the trails; there are lots of informal paths that wind among the rocks and you can just wander out there for hours, lay back and sun yourself on some rocks… wonderful.

I’ve been to Scotland several times, and I tell you, it’s just never enough. I’ll keep going as often as I can, which seems to be about every third year. The landscape is incredible, the people are even better, the nightlife of Glasgow and the cityscape of Edinburgh – the hiking trails on Arran and through Scotland, oh God, this place is so wonderful. To my eye, late September is the best time to visit because the tourists are starting to thin out, the Festival is over, and the hills are covered in dry bracken that turns the slopes rusty orange – beautiful!

I traveled through a lot of Western Europe and Crete was one of the places that seemed most beautiful, relaxing, homey, and magical. I was there for a couple of days in 2001 and it’s been on my mind the 5 years since.

Southeast Portland is fantastic to live in. People are friendly and creative, and it’s possible to find an affordable apartment within easy walking distance to all your regular destinations – no need to drive to a cafe, bar, or grocery store, because there’s one just down the street. This just increases quality of life in SO MANY WAYS.

There are many second run theatres, of which quite a few are theatre pubs, charging roughly $3 for a movie and reasonable prices for good local microbrews and pizza. The parks are filled with friendly people and their dogs… and there are lots of parks. The area is generally vegan friendly and pretty much everyone is an artist or a craftsperson.