Marvellous Saturday

Started out a little later than we anticipated but weather was wonderful, sun shining no rain. Anyhoo off we went to see the Chinese Gardens at the heart of Chinatown, unfortunately the Chinese New Year is today so as we headed to the Gardens the bridge was closed and all sorts of detours were in place but my daughter the intrepid explorer is also a great map reader, she does not get that from me, and after some back tracking we found this exquisite little gem. However, what we did not know was there was going to be an azaela sale so after we got our tickets we pushed out way past the azalea buyers and started to walk around the garden. Our enjoyment was a tad curtailed by the fact it was so crowded that it was hard to enjoy the ambience of the gardens - so I decided that when I come back again I will visit these gardens either first thing in the morning when it opens or about an hour before it closes. The Gardens are beautiful and even though not much was blooming the smells were wonderful, the waterfall and ponds delightful, definitely worth a visit every time I come here.

Took us a little while to get out of the center of downtown circled a couple of the same blocks a few times before a tourist guide set us right and we headed up to theArt Museum. Parked the car and set off to find somewhere to eat. Stopped in at Heathstone (?) Hotel had a delicious crab omlete, Fi had the best French toast and we were fortified for the Egypt tour.

I love Eqyptian history. When I was 16 I was lucky enough to go to Egypt with my school and my claim to fame is that I got to be one of the last people to go actually inside the
Great Pyramid at Cheops. Its a fascinating country and this tour only goes to certain cities in the USA and Portland is one of them. We got their a little early so we took a walk around the buddist exhibit - exquisite decorations and statutes. Anyhoo, off we went into the exhibit..lovely but tell me why parents bring children in strollers to something like this. Ridulous it was already crowded and these idiots used the strollers like weapons. Shesh, I must be getting old and crochety.....The tour was fabulous - took about an hour and half to walk around some of the most amazing statues. It is so amazing to me to see how artisans in the oldest times using only hammers and chisels made the most beautiful works of art. One beautiful piece was off a couple Thuya and Sula (I think those were the names) and the detail in the wigs alone was enough to fill me full of awe. Some of the coffins had the most amazing colors still left on them and a boat to take the pharoah into the afterlife looked like it could have been made yesterday. Great exhibit and what was even better because of my walking I was able to do all of this and not collapse in a heap until later on last night.

Drove out of Portland and came back to house for cup of tea and then we decided to take off to Red Lobster for supper. Delicious.

Came back to apartment set up the futon for me to lie down on, Fi lay down too, it was like the old days before Scot when we all ended up in my bed watching tv together, lovely memories. Of course, I fell asleep before the movie, Dune, ended but all in all a wonderful day.