Portland II: Downtown, Japanese Garden and Mt. Hood

The Portland area is packed with choices to fill lots of days, whether your interests lie with out-of-doors activities or in-town museums, shops and galleries.

One of the reasons we decided to extend our time in Portland to a week was to arrange some dental work.  While on the Oregon coast, Gary had a tooth start being a bother.  So, calling from there, we arranged an appointment in Portland.  As it turned out, he saw the first dentist and then had a follow-up with a specialist another day, so we were glad we had the extra time.  And, he says the specialist (in Vancouver, WA) was the best dental pro he has ever seen (and his recovery was rapid)!

Flowers everywhere at Pioneer Square, downtown Portland

Our first priority (after the Columbia River trip) was to see the Portland Japanese Garden.

The Japanese Garden is within Washington Park located on the western side of Portland. This park also has a wonderful rose garden (Portland is known as the rose city), zoo, children’s museum and forestry museum and lots of forested hills with trails.  Obviously, we could have spent the entire week just covering this park! However, since neither of us had ever seen a “real” formal Japanese garden, that’s where we headed.

And we were not disappointed! Their brochure states - “Proclaimed the most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan”.  Since we have no comparison data, we’ll take that as a fact.  The beauty and serenity of the gardens were outstanding.

We missed the docent-led tour, so all we have are our observations. 

These gardens were diverse – sculptures throughout, lots of water features, beautiful use of colors, textures and dimensional design, and also the rather austere Zen gardens (rocks and raked sand). Symbolism was everywhere, much of it beyond my knowledge base, but some interpretive signage helped.

Sculptures

Water Features

Colors,Textures, Design

Another theme throughout the gardens was the use of native materials (bamboo, stones, etc.) inserted into construction and designs.  Bamboo-tools were even used by volunteers working in the gardens, and for newly-planted tree supports .

Sand and Stone Garden – typical in Zen monasteries

Flat Garden – a sea of raked sand with 2 islands of plantings: a sake` cup and gourd-shaped bottle – symbolizing pleasure and a wish for the visitor’s happiness 

 

A view from the Pavilion overlook – Mt Hood 50-some miles east

The view of this mountain peak with Gary’s favorite quote – “out west we have horizons”.  

When we finished our tour of these 5+ acres, we were tempted repeat our steps, and we did go back to absorb some of the garden spots again before leaving.  What a wonderful place.