Weird and Wonderful Portland

After a busy few days in and around Vancouver, which included being offered a job (which I was particularly chuffed about..),I decided that, in order to celebrate, I would explore further afield. Whilst a lot of people rave about Seattle, I was more interested in going somewhere slightly different than the norm; and given I had met some cool people from Portland whilst staying at the hostel, I thought why not? Visit a cool place, and see some cool people!

So the research began, travel, hostels, AirBnb etc!

My journey started at 6.30am from Vancouver, where I caught the Bolt Bus down, eventually arriving at 1.40pm in Portland. The journey itself was great – all the buses are pretty new, and have leather seats, aircon, free WiFi and power outlets – perfect for helping your journey pass quickly, I simply plugged in my laptop, watched 2 or 3 movies, then before I knew it, I was in Portland! Oh, and for the princely sum of $42, an absolute bargain I think. I’d definitely recommend Bolt Bus over Greyhound; despite being a sister company, the journey was simply a more enjoyable experience, by some way; for pretty much the same price, too!

I had agreed to meet my friend Brigette there; she was kind enough to take me to my AirBnB host, and then show me around for the weekend. Once I had dropped my things at the AirBnb host (which, by the way, was awesome, more on that later), it was off to the centre of Portland to explore. I was introduced to my first taste of Tea – I’ve never been a big fan of tea, I drink it in the UK on occasion, but this was different, this was Chai tea. After around half an hour of trying to get my head around the different types and flavours, including smelling probably most of the menu (which includes around 120 different types..), I settled for the Masala Chai, an Indian spiced tea. It was…different. Nice, but not what I’m used to. I had mine iced; whilst it was nice, I think my eyes were a little bigger than my stomach, I couldn’t drink the whole lot. Definitely need to re-visit and try some different types, though. Once we had successfully lost the car, we returned to the waterfront and had a walk around, and were treated to views such as this:

Powell’s bookstore was of course visited, I didn’t realise how big the place was! There are huge rooms and complete floors full of books, including a “Rare Books” section, with first editions etc. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me, the place was epic.

We also visited a really great pub called The Backstage, a really chilled out place. It’s built in literally the backstage area of an old theatre; the ceilings are stupidly high which made it a really airy and spacious place. It was here that I unleashed my competitive side: I was introduced to Shuffleboard. For anyone wondering what it is, imagine Curling, but without anyone sweeping in front of the stone. You have 4 “pucks” to send down the playing board (a board roughly 18 inches wide, and around 25 feet long..), in order to score points – there are 1 point, 2 point and 3 point zones, each one smaller than the last. The pucks glide on a fine layer of dust, similar to sand. It was really frustrating, yet fun; we finished the scoring at 1 game all before a fight broke out!

Sunday brought the sun, and a chance to walk around the Saturday Market…on a Sunday. Of course. It seems that there’s the market on every weekend, hosting local crafts along with, of course, food carts. You can get everything in Portland, from the usual hotdogs and burgers to Indian and Lebanese. I didn’t get around to it myself, however next time I’m there I’ll definitely indulge.

I like to buy things from every place I visit as a memento, and I found this awesome stall showcasing metalworks made from ordinary items, such as a fruit bowl made from old knives and forks, along with items such as these Robots:

However my budget didn’t quite stretch that far, so I picked up a little spark plug plane:

The markets are also a popular place for street performers; they ranged from living statues to loop-pedalled Cellos:

 

We also discovered that Pioneer Square was celebrating it’s 30th birthday that day, so we went along, to find a massive concert and singalong in full swing – arrived just in time to hear Hey Jude being belted out, a nice reminder of home!

Also a reminder of how far I was from Vancouver:

The one downside of the weekend was getting home. Once I’d arrived at the Greyhound Bus Station, the passengers were informed that, in fact, the bus wasn’t running – the assigned driver had been pulled off that shift to go and collect a broken down bus from elsewhere; the next guaranteed bus was to be over 3 hours later, which would mean that I would miss my connection from Seattle, leaving me with nowhere to stay, as the bus station there is closed overnight. This is where amazing people come in. My friend Brigette drove me from Portland to Seattle, on a moment’s notice, as if it was nothing. So a HUGE thank you to her – I could get used to this part of the world and it’s people!

One stark contrast I’ve found when comparing the US/Canada is the people. In the UK, when you go into a shop, for example – whilst you’re usually greeted, that’s normally about it. Whereas over here, people always ask how you are, how your day is going, and wish you a nice day or weekend. It takes a while to get used to, but it’s certainly a nice change to the sometimes curt British culture. As I’ve said above, people are willing to go out of their way to help you, regardless of what you need.

Also, a quick review of my AirBnb for the time I was in Portland. It was fantastic. I stayed with a man called Jim, he had retired from Alaska, and his home in Sellwood was beautiful. I had a big double bed, bathroom and spare room to myself, and was just left to it. Upon arriving I was given a key for the front door, had a quick chat about the immediate area (he also recommended a few places to eat a couple of blocks away), and was informed that he would be away that night, so I had the entire house to myself! It was a little pricey at $150 for 2 nights, but it felt like a home away from home; I’d definitely stay there again. Find his details here.

Overall, a very enjoyable and relaxing weekend, I’d definitely recommend it for somewhere “different”.

That’s all for now!