Portland, OR

One of the best times to visit the downtown of a city is the holidays.  People are up and about, decorations and Christmas lights fill every street and in every shopping center.  Portland has always been one of the prettier cities.  It has the feel of the Northwest.  To me Portland seems younger and more hip than Seattle.  It's a pleasant place to be.

The Willamette River splits the city of Portland, requiring many bridges to connect the two halves.  The bridges make a beautiful sight, particularly when the sun is setting and the colors appear in the sky reflecting across the surface of the river.

Many parks reside along the river sides.  It's a wonderful place to enjoy the view.  It's a great combination of nature and city.  All one has to do is turn around and they are already downtown. 

When driving on I5 through Portland, its difficult to miss the two glass towers of the Oregon Convention Center.

The Christmas tree was tall and lit brightly.  It was in a courtyard suitable for performances throughout the holiday season.

The Portland transit system seems to work well.  It's something that I wish Seattle had.  It's miraculous that cars don't bump into these streetcars very often.

The different buildings of Pioneer Place are connected by underground, street and sky walks. 

Pioneer Place was a high class shopping center, filled with stores like Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co. and many others.  The shopping center had 5 levels and many of the stores were located on 2 or 3 of those levels.

Of course Santa was there for the holidays.  The top level is a movie theater and the view from there was astounding.