In This Issue
------------------------------

• Art is All Around: New Brochure
• Cool Savings for Your Winter Visit
• Dressed to the Nines: Q Center Winter Gala
• Happy Lunar New Year!
• Flying High: White Bird Dance
• Projecting Greatness: Portland International Film Festival
• Playing the Room: Portland Jazz Festival
• Cool Winter Deals on Mount Hood
• Culinary Bite: Little Bird
• Stick a Fork into Portland With This Culinary Tour

Winter Refreshment on Mount Hood: When you’re driving up to a mountain, seeing its bright peak pop up in the distance is one of the most exhilarating feelings. Anticipating what you’ll find there is part of the fun, because a winter-white landscape can be so refreshing to the body and spirit during the grayest part of the year. Read more >>

What Seattle Really Thinks About Portland: Seattle writer Claire Dederer, guest-blogging this week for Powell’s, expresses her love for our city’s “strange atmosphere of industrious leisure” and casts the Seattle/Portland dynamic in new terms: “Up here in Seattle, we … well, we hate you. We hate you for being cooler than us, and for having better restaurants.” Read more >>

Lodekka Hits a High Note: I am a man of many talents, if only in my own mind, but one talent I’ve never claimed is a penchant for shopping. Unless it’s a grocery store or they sell electronics, my shopping window lasts about 10 minutes. Max. Read more >>

City walk: Reed Canyon: Took our dog and eight-month-old son on a mid-December walk around Reed Canyon, a lovely watershed located in the heart of the beautiful Reed College campus in Southeast Portland, just a short drive from downtown. Read more >>

The Twisitor Center is Here to Help
------------------------------
Planning a trip to Portland or just looking for cool places and happenings around town? Use our Twisitor Center by adding "#inpdx" to the end of your tweet — we’ll answer any questions you may have. New to Twitter? Learn more >>

The mercury may be falling, but Portland is actually heating up. That's because when the days get shorter, locals make the most of the nights by throwing exciting festivals, galas and events. Doubtful? Hit a Portland party and perk up your ears — in no time at all you'll hear, "Is it hot in here, or is it me?" (Truth be told, it's both.)

Portland has a rich collection of public art. The sculptures, murals and installations can turn a pleasant walk through downtown into a treasure hunt. When the Transit Mall was renovated in 2009, I was blown away by the great new pieces (mixed with plenty of classics, like the statue made famous in the “Expose yourself to art” poster).

You can get your own exposure with Travel Portland’s new guide to public art in the central city, produced in partnership with the Regional Arts & Culture Council.

Complimentary copies are available at the Visitor Information Center in Pioneer Courthouse Square, or you can download the PDF. The guide includes a map to more than 100 artworks, including all 36 pieces on the Transit Mall.

Check it out, and take yourself on a treasure hunt through the streets of Portland!

The cooler months are a great time to dig out your ski gear, grab your favorite coffee mug and head to Portland. Now, the adventure is even more affordable with the Expedia Winter Sale, which lets you save up to 30 percent off your Portland hotel stay.

More than two dozen hotels are on sale from now until the end of February, for travel by March 31. There’s also extra incentive to sample what TIME magazine calls “America’s new food Eden,” compliments of $20 dining certificate valid at tasty restaurants RingSide Steakhouse and Portland Prime.

Book now and start planning!

Strike up the band and get ready for a grand night on the town with the Q Center Winter Gala. This all-lifestyle-inclusive, black-tie affair is an evening of dancing, cocktails, food, and frolicking at downtown's the Nines Hotel, all to benefit Portland's Q Center.

A 5,000-square-foot facility on North Mississippi Avenue that features monthly art exhibits, offers free Wi-Fi and has an extensive library, the non-profit Q Center is much more than a physical space. By building public awareness about, providing support for, and increasing the visibility of, the local LBGT community, Q Center is also a force in the community, both queer and straight, and its headquarters is inclusive welcoming space where anyone — not just members of the LGBT community — can spend the afternoon.

Similarly, the Q Center Winter Gala is also open to people of all sexual orientations, with the goal of generating enough support at the event to maintain the building — and make sure the feelings of community and togetherness continue to thrive — for another year. More info >>

The Lunar New Year (called “Tet” in Vietnamese) falls between the end of January and early February; this year it’s on Feb. 3 and marks the beginning of the Year of the Cat (Vietnam) or Year of the Rabbit (China). Tet is like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Fourth of July, Mother’s and Father’s days, and your birthday all rolled into one fabulous holiday. Read more >>

Over the last 13 years, White Bird Dance has thrilled Portland dance enthusiasts by commissioning an array of new work and bringing some of the world's best talents to town. This year, White Bird soars again with some of their most exciting, inspiring choreographic acts yet.

Among the companies gracing the stage at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall this year will be Grupo Corpo (Feb. 9), with its exhilarating fusion of Afro-Brazilian moves and classical ballet steps. Making a return to Portland after a five year absence, the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater will excite with their fleet-footed, thrilling mixed repertory program, March 15-16.

The following month, Israeli choreographers Yossi Berg and Oded Graf put an all-male company through its paces at the Alberta Rose Theater with "4 Men, Alice, Bach and the Deer" — a performance that moves beyond dance to encompass music, masks and text to illustrate a search for the ultimate man (April 13-16). And on May 17, Barak Marshall's "Monger" uses movement — set to music as diverse as Verdi and Balkan Beat Box — to explore hierarchies of power in a mysterious, yet all-too-familiar world.

The numbers don't lie — drawing more than 35,000 moviegoers with more than 100 short and feature films, last year's Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) was a blockbuster event. This February, the annual affair returns for a 34th time, bringing surefire Oscar contenders and thought-provoking fare from around the world.

Seeking to unearth universal truths by examining the diverse languages, cultures and landscapes showcased in its films, the festival runs at several cinemas across Portland. This year’s lineup includes international award-winners Honey, which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival; Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes; and Son of Babylon, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.

But this event is not all about the awards. As the opening night soiree and swinging closing party attest, PIFF is also a seriously fun celebration of film. More info >>

Any jazzman worth his trumpet will attest that when it comes to live concerts, the venue is as important as the music. And when it comes to hitting the more than 100 events at this year's eighth annual Portland Jazz Festival — from gospel brunches to midnight jam sessions and full concert performances in between — a good home base is just as vital.

This year, Travel Portland has teamed up with the festival to offer a special Portland Perks Hotel Package that pairs discounted rooms with half-price tickets for some of the event's hottest acts, including the SFJAZZ Collective and Regina Carter. At least 14 downtown hotels — like the stately Benson Hotel and the stylish Hotel Fifty — are taking part in the special offer, which also includes complimentary parking, a continental breakfast for two, and coupons for dining, shopping, and museums around town. But with limited discount tickets and acts as hot as Maceo Parker and Esperanza Spalding, be sure to book your Portland Perks hotel package soon — because these rooms, just like the clubs, are going to be jumpin'.

It’s not every major city where you can spend one night downtown and the next playing in mountain snow. Portland’s proximity to Mount Hood (just more than an hour’s drive away) makes just such a winter getaway possible.

Ample snowfall has Mount Hood’s main ski/snowboard resorts — Timberline, Mt. Hood Meadows and Mt. Hood Skibowl (the largest night skiing area in America) — ready with terrain for all skill levels. Non-downhill adventurers can enjoy miles of peaceful, groomed trails leading to frozen lakes and mountain views via rented snowshoes or cross-country skis.

Those tired from a day in the snow can rest comfortably at Collins Lake Resort in Government Camp, where mid-week reservations through March include all-day Skibowl lift tickets, and every reservation features recreation discounts. Just below the snowline, The Resort at the Mountain’s All-Inclusive Ski Package comes with a night in a cozy resort room complete with breakfast, dinner entrées, 50-minute spa treatments, lift tickets and transportation to Skibowl.
More info >>

With the opening of Little Bird, larger offshoot of the notable Le Pigeon, Chef Gabriel Rucker introduces a Portland take on the Parisian bistro. Classic rémoulade comprised of celery root and carrot is richened by succulent crab meat and spiced with piment d’espelette grown by Oregon’s own Viridian Farms. A varied and affordable (mostly) French wine list complements bistro standards such as coq au vin and frisée salad. And, as this is Portland, that salad comes topped not with flecks of bacon, but instead with a succulent piece of pork belly. A fine meal comes to a sweet end with one of pastry chef Lauren Fortgang’s satisfying desserts, which are both sophisticated and playful (the sorbet and ice cream sampler is served in a ceramic egg carton).

Little Bird is located off West Burnside Street at 219 S.W. Sixth Ave. in downtown Portland.

Jessica Kleiderman was so inspired by the wealth of good food in Portland’s neighborhoods that she started a tour company to share that wealth, and called it Forktown.

Any foodie who’s been here knows that the abundance of craft artisans (chocolatiers, bakers, cheesemakers, distillers, brewers …) in Portland is unparalleled. And some of the most interesting ones seem to be hidden within neighborhoods, these locals’ favorites. Read More >>

You received this message because you signed up to receive monthly e-mail updates from Travel Portland. You may update your profile or unsubscribe from this service at any time. Unless noted otherwise, all content is ©2011 Travel Portland. All Rights Reserved.
Travel Portland, 1000 S.W. Broadway, Suite 2300 Portland, OR 97205