Starting the morning at the downtown visitors center armed me with many more brochures and a new mission: visit some of Portland’s public fountains. After checking out (and of course photographing) a few nearby, I hopped on MAX back to Skidmore Fountain in Old Town, and walked along the waterfront of the Willamette River towards Chinatown. Many bridges, often gritty, span the river, one even providing shelter for the Saturday Market.
Cooler, overcast skies had rolled in to replace the hot weather overnight, and soon turned to light drizzle through midday. It had a welcome effect on the Chinese Garden, though, creating myriad opportunities for “raindrops on flowers” photos. The garden packs many traditional Chinese garden features into a single city block. Though I preferred the space and aesthetics of the Japanese Garden, it was a still a relaxing respite from the rest of the city.
After lunch in Chinatown, I visited the local retail flagships of Oregon’s own Nike and Columbia before resuming the fountain tour with a ride on Portland’s Czech-made Streetcar. Nestled amongst high-rise riverside apartments I found the remaining fountains, including my favorite. The Keller fountain moves lots of water over a large-scale jumble of geometric shapes.
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