The Last Day.

Nic has gone to work so it just remains for me to eat breakfast, to pack , to grab a last cup of coffee and a macaroon at Ken's, and then to wend my way out to the airport for the trip to San Fransisco and on to Auckland and home. What a great trip it has been. Seeing Sarah and Nic making their way and enjoying it. Seeing all my family, Kathleen, Pat, Ken, Colin, Anne, Doug, Dianne, Glenn, Charlotte, Michael, Stewart. Meeting Marion and Jim, Karen's mum and dad. Meeting Norman and June again and seeing Bob and Agnes and Phil Jackson. The hospitality poured on me by all these people made me feel very welcome wherever I was. All of that would have been enough but as you can tell from this blog I've seen much and done a lot. Now I shall be glad to get home. Let's hope the good weather continues. Back to work on Thursday. Then we'll have to save up for and plan the next trip!!!!!

Day Thirtyseven.

This was my last full day in Portland. Out, with Nic for breakfast, a different diner this time, and even at 10 am we had to queue to get a table. For a change I had breakfast burritos, peppers, eggs, chorizo sausage all wrapped up in tortillas. We then headed into the hills above Portland. The first part of our walk was through Washington Park, a wooded area close to the city. Inside its boundaries are two reservoirs supplying the city with drinking water. There is also a large rose garden which would be a magnificent sight in summer. There were great views of the city from all parts of the park. We then continued up the hill for a bit of urban tramping as Nic calls it. A very posh area with many large houses surrounded by trees. Snow was still hanging around. We'd seen it from the city the day before and commented how elevation made a difference, thick snow on the hill, no snow down in the city.
We went back to the flat until a phone call got us out to a pub for a few games of pool. The superbowl was being shown on TVs in the bar so we had no trouble getting a table. A couple of pints, a couple of Nic's mates and a few games of pool made for a great way to finish off my visit to the USA. And the underdogs won the football.
Dinner was Japanese and very tasty.

Day Thirtysix

Saturday!! No work for Nic and as promised he took me out for breakfast to an American diner. Sausage, fried potatoes, eggs over easy all washed down with a grapefruit juice, a feast fit for a king. We set out then to walk to the Portland historical Museum but the rain forced us back home. We lounged around as it snowed outside, reading, listening to the radio and chatting. In order to get out of the house we decided to go to the movies. In a theatre as comfortable as the Lighthouse back home we saw "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawk and Albert Finney. As bleak and dark a movie as you are ever likely to see.
On the way home we called in at Jake's Bar and had a pint and some fresh oysters. OK they were not as big as bluff oysters but they were very fresh and very tasty. We finished off the day with a Thai meal

Day Thirtyfive.

After my usual breakfast and coffee and a macaroon, a chocolate spiced macaroon no less, a very interesting mixture of chocolate and what was probably paprika, I headed off to Nic's workplace. I caught a train, part of the light rail system, which took me west of the city, about a 30 min journey. From there it was 30 minute walk to the studio. The movie being made is called "Coraline" and is a stop motion movie requiring the use of hundreds and hundreds of models. It was fascinating to see hundreds of different faces that could be placed on a character's model. Nic showed me some of the computer stuff he is involved in and I saw a number of the different sets being used. It is expected that the movie will show in New Zealand so watch out for it.
Back home the way I came. Later that evening we went out for a very nice Italian meal.

Day Thirtyfour.

It was damp and cold again so I headed into town to the Science museum. On the way I went into a very good kitchenware shop which also sold sauces, jams, chutneys and wines. There wasn't a New Zealand wine to be seen so I let them know that their shop was almost perfect and should they get some NZ wine on their shelves perfection would be ensured. I continued on my way and came across a theatre advertising a showing of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. (http://www.pcs.org/blog/critics_heart_b12/#comment-3426) It was clear that a performance was about to start and I was lucky enough to grab a seat. What a joy. From the opening scene as the company formed the bow of a sailing ship right through to the improbable ending when all is resolved I enjoyed a most entertaining….well I can’t remember how long it all took as time disappeared as I was transported to Illyria. There was not a weak part in the whole production. The comedic business, including the most prodigious stage fart I have ever heard……in fact the only stage fart I have ever heard, was brilliantly done. It was the character Sir Toby Belch who farted.....wrong end it seems to me!!! The scene in the garden when Malvolio was gulled was particularly good. I loved the trio singing for the duke. The more serious business of wooing and falling in love was brought off convincingly, especially the Duke’s consternation that he seemed attracted to a boy! What good fortune befell me that I should stumble on this delight. Portland is indeed fortunate to have such a theatre in its midst. My only regret is that I will not be able to see the companion show "The Beard of Avon" to be performed on the same stunning set.
All thoughts of the Science Museum were now abandoned and I went home cooked dinner for Nic.

Day Thirtythree.

Nic went off to work at 7.00am and I made breakfast and pottered about the flat for a while. Outside the weather was cold and damp with intermittent showers. I set out to explore the area around Nic's flat. There some very big houses, often with big verandas, and lots of apartment buildings. It very quickly became apparent that, at least in Portland, the pedestrian is king. Many intersections are controlled of course and pedestrians cross on a signal but at uncontrolled intersections if you step out into the road a car will stop and let you cross. Coming from NZ it was sometimes a little disconcerting and certainly surprising to have cars pull up and invite you to cross the road. I found a coffee bar recommended by Nic which sold the most scrumptious macaroons. Clearly the area round Nic's place was the posh end of town if the shops were any guide.
I walked down into the city and quickly reached the river. Cities with rivers running through them have a great advantage in that the river bank is an obvious place to put a walkway and Portland had certainly done that. Even on a cold winter's day there were walkers, some with dogs, runners and cyclists wandering down the river bank. I came upon a section dedicated to and by way of apology to those of Japanese descent who were interned during the second world war. It was a small garden with large standing rocks on some of which were carved Japanese characters and on others were examples of Haiku.
It was getting colder and was still wet so I headed home calling in on a magnificent bookshop and then an equally good music shop. I called in to the supermarket for dinner stuff. At the checkout they asked what sort of bag I wanted, paper or plastic. Perhaps something we should consider.
Nic arrived home about eight and we spent a pleasant evening over dinner and then simply chatting about this and that.

Day Thirtytwo

June and Norman dropped me off at Heathrow and I fairly quickly got checked in. Once through passport control I was amazed to see Michelle Bradshaw, an ex Hutt Valley High school teacher. She was looking for breakfast and I for a coffee so we passed the next 90 minutes or so in animated conversation which was a great way to pass what would otherwise would have been a tedious wait for our boarding calls. Like me, Michelle had been away for five or six weeks and she was heading off back to NZ.
The flight to Chicago, all in daylight, was uneventful. The views of sea ice and snow covered mountains over Greenland and I think Labrador were spectacular. On arrival in Chicago I found that my flight to Portland was delayed. Departure time was pushed back frequently during the evening and about 30 minutes before our final boarding time it started to snow heavily. We boarded and sat on the plane for over an hour waiting for a pilot. He arrived and told us that the plane had to be de-iced but the guys working the deicer had given up for the moment because of the weather!! Eventually we were de-iced and we took off. Four hours of that dreadful limbo between sleeping and waking and we arrived in Portland at 2.00am. Nic was waiting and had kept a taxi waiting for us. It was good to see him and equally good to collapse into bed at about 3.00am nearly 24 hours after leaving London.