On the road again: Portland, day 3

The day and the late night belonged to work, as usual.

The evening, though, was fun.

Dinner was at one of my all-time favorite restaurants, Le Pigeon. Two of the guys working were relatively new to me, but the food displayed the characteristic Rucker inventiveness and great taste. My starter was a beef carpaccio but with a quail egg and caviar on it; wow, was it good. My main course, venison with foie and various herbs, was downright amazing, possibly the best venison I've ever had. I cannot recommend this small restaurant too highly.

The day we arrived in town, we noticed just up the road from the hotel a billboard for a Cirque du Soleil show, Ovo, that had started in town in early April. On the small chance that it was still here we called--and discovered to our joy that it was. A little keyboard time later, and we had front-row seats to this traveling show under the yellow-and-blue Cirque big top. Ovo focuses on insects, a theme that struck me as perfectly suited to Cirque's costumes and athletics.

It absolutely was. Ovo was a joy to watch from start to finish, with no dull moments and quite a few amazing segments. The finale, which involved trampolines and a climbing wall, was pure joy. If you get a chance to see this show, take it.