This week, the world's leading experts on literature and culture in the era of the Olde English writer Geoffrey Chaucer are in Portland, furthering the world's understanding of the originators of what became our present-day lingua franca. The conference, which runs thru Friday, July 27, takes place at the Marriott Waterfront and University Place hotels.

Meanwhile they are also exploring Portland and surrounds, with voyages into the Columbia Gorge, the Oregon Coast, and of course, the City of Portland's culture and beer scenes.

Welcome, Chaucerians, and "mennie happie retourns."