Catching Up in Portland

We're in Portland, the second day of a holiday visit.

We left Vancouver early yesterday morning, waking up at 3 am to avoid a long wait at the border crossing. As a result, we had no slowdowns anywhere, breezing over the border, through Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia without any traffic congestion. We arrived at our friends' house mid-morning. Naps were had.

Today we took the girls ice skating at the Lloyd Center mall.





Then I took the MAX to downtown and caught up.

After being away, I mostly notice what's changed when I visit. I've noticed a lot of houses repainted in earth colours - greens and browns and oranges and some purples. I miss seeing so many character homes.

Walking around downtown, I reacquainted myself with things that make Portland Portland - like the bubblers (still running in the December chill) and the so-walkable small blocks - and lots of new things. Like how many of the rubbish bins have been replaced by solar-powered rubbish compactors. Two MAX lines running along the bus mall.

Two more surface parking lots have been repurposed. This former lot is now a new apartment tower with four highly-visible windmills at the top.



And with this former lot, the parking has moved underground, with a new park/square at surface level.



I visited my usual haunts, but splurged a little. The prices are considerably lower than what we pay in BC, and there's no sales tax also. I got a few software books at Powell's Technical bookstore, then a CD at Everyday Music, and the latest Word magazine at Rich's Cigars, a month before I'll see it in Chapters.

I'll probably have another chance to walk through downtown as we're here a few more days. I've also made plans with other mates for some brewpub dinners, and am looking forward to catching up with this year's holiday ales.

Our Christmas Morning

Here are a few photos of our morning ...

Sarah Wears A DRESS

The music school Sarah and Margo attend had a recital this afternoon. Weeks ago Sarah decided she wanted to be in it. (Margo didn't.) So she's been practising Jingle Bells.

And, most interestingly, she decided she wanted to wear a dress to the recital. I helped her find one last weekend, along with white tights and black shoes.

Here are the girls dressed up for a choral concert last night:



At the recital today, Sarah said she was nervous before her turn (which was fortunately quite early in the program) but it didn't seem like it: she strode to the front and played her piece solidly.

Nanaimo, and Vancouver Christmas Lights

We've had a nice break from the rain this week. I took advantage of the sun yesterday to take a day off work and take a day trip to Nanaimo.

I left the house about the same time, taking a bus downtown and then another to West Vancouver and Horseshoe Bay. This is my ferry approaching.



After arriving about two hours later, I had a few hours to wander around, shop, and dine. Here are some of the pictures I took.









I got a midafternoon return ferry, and by the time I arrived back in Vancouver it was dark. I lingered in downtown to get some pictures of the Christmas lights, which I've been meaning to do for a while.

Carols

The girls have been practising Christmas carols on the piano. Not hearing the words lets the mind wander. I'm impressed that so many carols have first lines with the same meter as the phrase "Sarah is a spanking head."

Sarah does not seem to appreciate this correlation.

I am not learning any Christmas songs, though I might be persuaded to lay a wicked guitar solo on top of one. I may spend time re-learning Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, which I learned about fifteen years ago as a Christmastime gift for mates, driving from house to house with my portable keyboard. It was one octave too small so I had to transpose a few notes near the end.

I will definitely continue my tradition of spiking the punch, sonically. At this time of year, I am forced to hear the same old Christmas songs (although we do have some cool versions) randomly cycling from the iPod. So if I have to listen to such sludge, I might as well make it tough on the others as well. Last year I tortured a carol and tagged the MP4 as "Bleu Christmas" by Jacque Froste. This year's will be even worse.

My New Daily Grind

I've been grinding my own coffee beans for my morning cuppa this week. I'd been meaning to try it since I read an article on coffee freshness a while back.

The fresher the coffee, the more flavour it has. Coffee loses freshness in an increasingly steep slope. Apparently it goes like this. Unroasted coffee beans can be kept for a year or two and stay fresh. Once roasted, beans lose most freshness in about two weeks. Once ground, most of the freshness is lost within a few hours. If you can smell the coffee flavour, then it's no longer in the bean.

So I did some online research into coffee grinders. Blade grinders, while less expensive, can have enough friction to give beans a burnt taste. Conical burr grinders grind coffee between two gearlike plates with less friction. By adjusting the spacing between the plates, you can also control the fineness of the grind; with a blade grinder, to get a finer grind, you just grind longer.

I was intruiged by the idea of a hand-powered grinder: it would be quieter and of course eco-friendly. I found that a coffee shop called The Elysian Room appears to the the only Vancouver supplier of Zassenhaus hand grinders. So last week I got one, and it looks like this:



It's a nice piece of kit. It's hand-made in Germany. The conical burr mechanism of hardened steel is warranted for 25 years. It won't need sharpening or servicing until long after I'm dead. There's only one adjustment, for grind coarseness, and it's integrated into the axle instead of sticking out somewhere else. It's a nicely engineered tool, very good at what it does, with no extra bits. Something that's a pleasure to use, like our Dyson vacuum cleaner or Apple iMac and iPod. I could pass it on to Sarah, and she could pass it on.

So how much better is my morning cup? Not a night-and-day difference, but much tastier. I did take a few days to make adjustments: at first I was grinding too finely, which means the grounds are not trapped by the plunger's screen of our French press. I'm also learning not to let it steep too long to avoid bitterness.

I'm also ashamed to realise that I've spent most of my adult life in the Pacific Northwest, where coffee is worshipped, and have only just now begun handling beans. To see how beans shatter, see what they look like inside, and to chew one.

I'm looking forward to trying coffees I'm familiar with, like the local Caffè Artigiano, and Portland's Stumptown, and tasting them all over again.

And I could of course spend tons more money further improving the taste: an espresso maker, a reverse osmosis water filter. But I won't be. I figure I'm at the 80/20 point, that the biggest possible difference has been made. I'm sure I've got further tuning to do, and lots of coffee to enjoy.

Here are a few photos from the Halloween party:

Haunted House Cake: Chocolate ginger cake topped with a gingerbread haunted house.



Ghost Stories



Sarah in her mummy costume

Be Afraid

It's that time of the year again, I'm afraid. Halloween. Me, I could take it or leave it, but for the girls, it's a Big Thing. So this year we are hosting our first Canadian party. Sarah's invited a bunch of her school chums (we don't even know exactly how many - another reason to be afraid). I shouldn't be completely miserable either as I get a chance to make drinks, including Margo's famous Harvest Martinis, and spin some excellent tunes.

Sarah was nice enough to allow herself to be decapitated for our invitation.

Croatia (4)

The final evening of the conference there was a dinner and I attended with my traveling companion, friend and fellow student, Neringa, who is originally from Lithuania. Here is a photo of the two of us at the dinner:


The next morning, was my final day in Croatia, and I took an early morning bus to Mostar, in Bosnia Herzegovina. It was about a 3 1/2 hour drive with a couple of border crossings, as the route took us through a small area of Bosnia, back into Croatia, and then back to Bosnia.

Cavtat Harbor, 6:30 am

During the drive, I was able to take some decent shots of the views:

Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik Harbour

Suspension Bridge North of Dubrovnik

This enormous valley was once a swamp - it has now been drained and irrigated and is sometimes called the "California of Croatia". The area is famous for its tangerines and also grows lemons, grapes, tomatoes and other crops.

On the way to Mostar we stopped at an old village that was occupied by the Turks and was an example of the mixture of medieval and Turkish architecture.

Mostar is a very old city that was situated on a trade crossroads, and between the western and eastern worlds. It was occupied by the Ottoman empire for about 400 years, from the mid 1400's until the mid 1800's and there is a strong Turkish influence on the architecture and the culture of Mostar's citizens, many of whom are Muslim, the rest being mostly Catholic Croats and Orthodox Serbs. Although many of the Mosques did not survive the war, there are about 17 remaining and the call to prayer echoes throughout the city throughout the day.



The city is still recovering from the war that lasted until the mid 1990's and there are many buildings that are not yet repaired.



After the war, pieces of the iconic bridge were fished out of the river and the bridge was repaired, (pictures below). The name of the city is derived from the word "Mostari" which means bridgekeepers.


I did a lot of shopping in Mostar, purchasing some wine, 2 pashmina shawls, a watercolor and ink drawing of the bridge and some small purses and other items for Sarah and for friends.


And finally, one of the last views on my way to the bus stop...

Croatia (3)

On Monday afternoon, I took a boat to Dubrovnik, about an hour by water away. It was a gorgeous, warm day; here are some photos taken on and from the boat:

Cavtat from the water


On the boat


Dubrovnik Harbor

The old town of Dubrovnik is small and is surrounded by a high city wall, about 2 kilometers total circumference, and I bought a ticket and took a walk around the top. Other than the initial climb up the steps it isn't too taxing, but I felt slightly queasy the whole time due to the height. Still the views were outstanding and I can enjoy them now that I am not actually on top of the wall!

Rooftops of the old town


View from the wall of the Fortress Lovrijenac


Another view from higher up the wall


The wall and the deep blue sea

After descending from the walk around the town, I took some photos of the narrow streets and some of the more interesting buildings.

There is still a lot of damage from the war - much of it being repaired currently, some still pretty much rubble. In the foreground is one of the many semi-feral cats that I saw in Dubrovnik - lots of them in Cavtat also. They look pretty healthy and well-fed, although the adults are much smaller than North American felines.

Big Onofrio's Fountain: built in 1448. This is what survives the 1667 earthquake that destroyed most of the city.

Detail of fountain

Church of St Blasius, built in 1715 to replace previous church, destroyed in earthquake.

One of the many narrow streets in the town.

Rector's Palace - this structure has been repaired many times following fires, earthquakes, wars, etc. and is considered to be one of the finest secular structures in the Adriatic region.

View of the city wall from the water as I left Dubrovnik.


One of the small islands where the boat stopped to collect passengers on the way back to Cavtat.


The gate leading to our apartment terrace as I arrived home at the end of the day.