Leaving the Portland airport, seeing the architecture of the homes and evergreen trees made me feel like I was back in Seattle. But as we drove into downtown Portland, two things stood out, distinguishing Portland from Seattle–namely, the Willamette River and the bridges, one after the other, a few rising high above it. Water features prominently in Seattle, but the water there is like an amoeba surrounding it, whereas in Portland, the Willamette is a strong line, cleaving the city in two, creating western and eastern sections. The Western side is more of the urban core, including the downtown area. The Eastern side is more suburban, with several portions of the longer streets and avenues filled with shops, restaurants and even movie theaters, creating a kind of charming main street vibe. I really like Seattle, but I might like Portland even more. The food scene seems just as good as Seattle, if not better, and they have one probably the best bookstore I’ve been to. I want to talk about that store and also a used vinyl/cd/video store which I really liked as well.

Powell’s City of Books (W. Burnside, Downtown Portland)

The bookstore, which sells new and used books, takes up an entire block, basically on all four sides, with 3 or 4 floors. It’s a beautiful store, and because our hotel was a few blocks away, I went there several times. On the first two visits, I felt overwhelmed, and without my to-buy list, I think it may not have been a fruitfullil experience.

Powell also has two other locations. I also visited the one on Hawthorne, on the east side of Portland. From the outside, the store doesn’t look very big, but I was surprised at the depth of the store. That store was pretty great, too (but I really didn’t get to browse). It’s also next to various shops, restaurants, etc.

Music Millennium

This has to be one of the best new and used vinyl/cd/DVD/BR stored I’ve been to, and I would include the Amoeba in Hollywood. The selection of avant-garde/experimental music wasn’t that great, and I knew they wouldn’t when one of the workers directed me to the electronica section when I asked if they had an experimental section, although they had more Tzadik CDs (some of them new, though) then I’ve seen in other stores.

But the videos, specifically classic movies on DVD or BR, really stood out for me. I don’t see usually the type of titles they had available. They also had quite a bit of used Criterion Collection DVDs and BR.

The store design was also very cool. I believe the store on an incline, so it has four split leveled spaces, creating a very cozy feel. On the back and side of the building are murals, some featuring pop/rock musicians. It was totally worth going to, and I even went there twice.