Last weekend started with Pi Day.

Sunday Lunch we had a couple of our favorites. We started with tomato toasts. Tomato toasts are ubiquitous on any Spanish tapas menue, we always order them, though mine are better than any we have had anyplace else, here or in Spain. Clyde Drexler – for you non-Portland folks, he was a Portland Trailblazers star, 1983-1985 – he said, “If you can do what you say you can do then you ain’t bragging.” So in regard to my tomato toasts I am just stating facts.

Another favorite is Tramezzino di melanzane. These are crispy, Gruyère filled, eggplant packets. We do a lot of things with eggplant, aubergines for some of you, I think this is Tricia’s favorite way though. Served with a savory blue cheese and nut salad and it is perfect.

Monday’s springtime sun made visiting a garden the perfect thing to do, so we headed south to Elk Rock Gardens of the Bishop’s Close. It is a tranquil place above the Willamette River, just across from Milwaukie, where I grew up. I could even see the corner of my high school in the distance. Be sure to check Tricia’s post today for some of her always beautiful photos, and probably a bit of history about the gardens.

I loved all the ancient trees with Mt. Hood in the distance.

Yesterday we discovered a new favorite hangout – The Old Portland. It is a wine bar on the corner of NW 15th & Quimby, so it is just a short walk away. Eclectic is the best word I can think of to describe it.

The building is owned by the lead singer of the Portland rock band The Dandy Warhols. Here is a link to more info about them. Another connection to Portland’s rock history is this original marquee from Satyricon. It was located in the seedy part of Old Town, and known as the place where Kurt Cobain met Courtney Love.

We will be regulars that is for sure. It reminded us of a place we went a couple of times when we were in Dubrovnik, the place where I played the same guitar that Bono had played when he was there. Good memories and more to come. Tricia wrote about our visit in Dubrovnik here.

Our life is improved and embellished when we discover gems along the way. I hope your week has gone well. Thank you for your comments and for those who are thinking of doing some sketching, remember there is a free book I wrote about travelsketching on this site, download the PDF.