I'M LEAVING BEHIND many must-do items in Portland, including unfulfilled hours seated in the reading chair (at left) of the Ace Hotel. I really like that place because it has a vibe that we tried to inculcate into Arthouse 15 years ago. The crowd gives the place its Ace attitude. Most days, I'd pass four open Mac laptops before I got to my stairwell. On the busiest day, I counted 22 people seated or standing, two dogs sleeping, three bikes parked in the lobby, four Macbooks, two PC laptops, one iPad and two Kindles. That's about the kind of creative expression that we should have in Tipperary Institute, where I teach creative multimedia. Outside the hotel is a bike lane painted to take up nearly an entire car lane. A combination of very efficient buses, inexpensive train service and respect for cylists means people don't have to own cars. That's a worthwhile goal for Dublin, a city where it rains nearly as much as Portland. We're coming back for another visit, this time in a sunnier month.
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