This week was spent touring Portland and Orgeon state.
Some time ago The Guardian made reference to Portland as one of the top five places in the world to live, and having seen the delights on offer we have a good idea why!
Unfortunately our lack of transferable skills and absence of working visa have prohibited us from renting the nearest quirky, brightly coloured, picket fenced house available and setting up a shop selling sustainable, organic, home brewed coffee.
Our First day in Portland was spent drinking coffee and chowing down on Monkey Bread at Powells, the infamous local bookstore, where a kindly group of retired gentleman, Bruce, Joe and Jim, helped us scout out the best things to do whilst in Oregon. We were recommended a scenic road trip East along Highway 84 with a detour on to the old Highway I-30, following the Columbia river.
A chance Google search led us to The Columbia Gorge Riverside Cabins, where we couldn't resist spending a night philosophising in the hot tub on the very edge of the river.
It was awe-inspiringly beautiful.
Amongst the spectacular sights we saw were the Bridge of the Gods, Multnomah falls, a 600ft high waterfall and the Bonneville Dam and fish hatchery.
Special mention to be paid to the fish-counter extraordinaire, who taught us more than we could ever have imagined was possible to know about salmon.
After meeting Maegan and Shaun, a friendly young couple born and raised in Oregan, in a bar on our first night in Portland, they kindly offered us a room to stay in their home located in the trendy Hawthorne district. We gladly accepted their offer and ventured out for a locally brewed beverage at Circa 33 followed by a visit to the Nickel arcade for shoot 'em ups and motorbike racing!
Portland is a city of food, booze and high fructose corn syrup.
The culinary choices are endless, some exciting examples we experienced were the Voodoo doughnuts bacon and maple bar, Slappy Cakes peanut butter, bacon and maple make-it-yourself pancakes, French toast with bacon, cheese and maple syrup... There's a recurring theme here.
The brightly coloured, multiples of food carts are an awesome phenomenon which are a must to eat at when visiting Portland. Our $6 deep fried pork burritos could have fed at least 3 people!
Maegan and Shaun's housemates, Ross and Jenene took us for a whirlwind tour of Portland town centre. They revealed to us that they worked at the Heathman hotel, the famous location for Anna and Christian Gray's first kiss in elevator 3. We had a tour of the penthouse suite in which Lady GaGa, Harrison Ford and Jennifer Anniston had all stayed.
After clearing out the hotel of all available Fifty Shades related memorabilia including Mugs and Do Not Disturb signs we headed over to quirky 23rd street for a stroll around the technicolor boutique shops.
We ended our stay in Portland with a visit to Edgefield, a converted 'poor house'/care home which is now a whimsical Wonderland of murals, a steam pool, spa, bars, bonfires, a distillery and winery where we giddily skipped out way about the grounds.
Once again we find ourselves dumbstruck by the generosity of our four hosts that really have made Portland a once in a lifetime experience.
Thanks guy!
Susie and Jan.
No comments:
Post a Comment