It turns out that Portland, at least the Alberta St NE between about 10th and 30th part of Portland, is really cool and the kind of place I'd like to live: a ton of little shops and restaurants, people wandering around, not too many cars, a couple of parks and grocery stores, etc etc. If only it weren't in a) Portland and b) the States.
Over the course of three days I got sprinkled on, rained on, hailed on (!), and sunshined on, although not all at once.
I stayed at a hotel that used to be (part of?) an elementary school, in the English Wing. This gains points for having each room themed around a particular book (I was in Jennifer Egan's The Keep, next door to The Farthest Shore and across from The Riddle-Master Of Hed), loses them for not having either a hot-water-heater or a bathtub in the rooms, and gains a few back for the lauded Soaking Pool, which used to be an outdoor Olympic-sized swimming pool and is now an outdoor Olympic-sized warm (not very hot) tub.
So, what did I bring out of Rally?
( cut for suspense )
Over the course of three days I got sprinkled on, rained on, hailed on (!), and sunshined on, although not all at once.
I stayed at a hotel that used to be (part of?) an elementary school, in the English Wing. This gains points for having each room themed around a particular book (I was in Jennifer Egan's The Keep, next door to The Farthest Shore and across from The Riddle-Master Of Hed), loses them for not having either a hot-water-heater or a bathtub in the rooms, and gains a few back for the lauded Soaking Pool, which used to be an outdoor Olympic-sized swimming pool and is now an outdoor Olympic-sized warm (not very hot) tub.
So, what did I bring out of Rally?
( cut for suspense )