My "STREETCAR JOURNEY" began in 2007 on my first trip to London. Landing at Heathrow Airport on that Saturday morning I began looking for the rental car agency so we could get our car. My companion said "Oh no, no car here in London." So I said "OK, where do we get the Taxi?" "No" he said again, "we'll get the Tube."
"Tube? What's a Tube?” was my question. He said, "follow me."
That day I began to learn a new freedom - travel without a car. In London I fell in love with public transit and all of it's configurations; red 2-story buses and trains, high-speed rail, romantic train stations, streetcars and the diversity of people I met on each trip. Living part-time in London for several years I traveled mostly by rail throughout all of Europe. Every town and city had it's own form of public transportation. On one trip to Prague and Vienna I stopped along the Danube in the City of Bratislava, Slovakia.
In Bratislava I was completely charmed by the local streetcar system. What I liked the most was the fact that everyone used the streetcar - old people and young people and children, for work and pleasure, to the job and to the market, to school and to play.
When I decided to relocate my home to a city in the US that offered public transportation, Portland, Oregon immediately came to mind. I had visited Portland and I rode the MAX, Streetcar and Bus everywhere.
My search for a new home in Portland required a close connection to the streetcar and I coincidentally selected a building in North West Portland called the Franklin Ide right on the streetcar line.
So who is Franklin Ide (Fuller)? Coincidentally he is the man responsible for the original Portland Streetcar dating back to the 1890s. His design and vision put in place the gorgeous walkable city we live in.
After moving into the Franklin Ide in 2015, I learned that coincidentally the first "modern day" Portland streetcars were manufactured in Bratislava and I saw my journey from London to Bratislava to Portland as a Divine Destiny. And so it is.
Enjoy Portland Streetcar paintings. You can buy one or collect them all.......
"Tube? What's a Tube?” was my question. He said, "follow me."
That day I began to learn a new freedom - travel without a car. In London I fell in love with public transit and all of it's configurations; red 2-story buses and trains, high-speed rail, romantic train stations, streetcars and the diversity of people I met on each trip. Living part-time in London for several years I traveled mostly by rail throughout all of Europe. Every town and city had it's own form of public transportation. On one trip to Prague and Vienna I stopped along the Danube in the City of Bratislava, Slovakia.
In Bratislava I was completely charmed by the local streetcar system. What I liked the most was the fact that everyone used the streetcar - old people and young people and children, for work and pleasure, to the job and to the market, to school and to play.
When I decided to relocate my home to a city in the US that offered public transportation, Portland, Oregon immediately came to mind. I had visited Portland and I rode the MAX, Streetcar and Bus everywhere.
My search for a new home in Portland required a close connection to the streetcar and I coincidentally selected a building in North West Portland called the Franklin Ide right on the streetcar line.
So who is Franklin Ide (Fuller)? Coincidentally he is the man responsible for the original Portland Streetcar dating back to the 1890s. His design and vision put in place the gorgeous walkable city we live in.
After moving into the Franklin Ide in 2015, I learned that coincidentally the first "modern day" Portland streetcars were manufactured in Bratislava and I saw my journey from London to Bratislava to Portland as a Divine Destiny. And so it is.
Enjoy Portland Streetcar paintings. You can buy one or collect them all.......