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Published: October 29th 2009
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Powells Books
Awesome but would have been better if one was more coherent. Ok it’s been a little while in between takes and Portland is about a month overdue so here is the second part of my most recent West Coast tour. After being dropped at the airport in Seattle by Jojo my next obstacle was checking my bag and getting a ticket to board the plane. Now as we all know the USA is miles ahead of everyone (insert coughing) and therefore airport travel should be no different right? Due to airlines wanting to make more money and save, you don’t actually get served by a person....the US convenient way to air travel is to wait in line and electronically check yourself in. After standing behind poor Ma and Pa who just want to head home to Idaho and them thinking the word touch screen is something naughty banned in the 70’s its really not so quick. Once you have your ticket you get to enter another line to check bags. Not only is the line massive you have to pay per bag. Now with this money making venture in mind ¾ of the plane don’t check a bag.....so guess where all their shit goes.....that right in the overhead locker situated above you
Ist Stop
Checking out the green which may move items during the flight. So on this flight to Portland after being security checked with the ‘not checking luggage grossly oversized’ carry on people I’m finally on my way, frustrated, wanting wine and realising its just gone 0930.
I touch down in Portland sans umbrella re-thinking that decision immediately as its bucketing down and it looks cold. I step outside and I’m right..... It’s cold and wet and I’m getting homesick for Florida. I get to the hotel and I’m pleasantly surprised that public transport in Portland is free. I’m only about 1.5 miles from the city but the rain has me thinking I’ll take the free tram and head in. I jump off in the centre of town and realise I have no idea where I am or what I’m doing, so I head into the Marriott Grand pretend I’m staying there get a full pre’cise of the area, a free beer, local map and a “come back if you need more info”. Portland is a grid city which makes walking around easy although there is not much to see after a few hours of wandering about. What is sensational about Portland is the microbreweries.
Mt Hood
Finally some blue sky So it being a Saturday the rain starting to drip a little harder I headed in for a tasting plate (beer) and some lunch (more beer). I sat with some locals watched some college football and proceeded to get quite tipsy. The beer was fantastic and the locals’ knowledge of what to do and see was the best way of planning a very fast approaching Sunday.
Armed with a beer full of belly....wait a belly full of beer I began my pilgrimage through Portland. I checked out a very famous bookshop where it was absolutely packed and I could have spent all day in at had I been sober and able to read a little more clearly then my beer induced state would let me. For some bright reason I decided it would be a good idea to do some clothes shopping half pissed so off I went and Calvin Klein and his very generous sale benefitted from Deschutes brewery and his all too pleasant tasting beers.
One thing about Portland is that everyone is happy. Even the homeless are happy. Apparently it’s the greenest city in the USA and second greenest in the world and despite having a
Mutnomah Falls
Water falling...not much else to say really large proportion of the green woollies bags there are also plenty of hippies and people telling me how the ozone layer is about to collapse on my head. Now while in a drunken state I could laugh it off , sober, these happy hippies caused some irritation and frustration but noting that no-one wants to see a diplomatic incident my mouth remained shut. By this time I figured it was time to head out and try the famous Pinot Noir from Oregon. This region knocks out some great Pinot and four of them later I concurred that the region has some great wine and figured it was time to call it a night and head home before my Mt St Helens Tour the next day.
The tour had me out by 0900 and into a comfortable 14 seater bus, although I need to re-iterate this. Comfortable if there weren’t 14 of us crunched into the bloody thing. So sitting up the back going from hot to freezing while the hippy driving had sporadic moments of his own climate change saw me finally ask him to leave it cool and not touch it.....making friends...... right. We headed out of Portland
Mt Hood
Quaint touristy town about an hour outside Portand and our first stop was to look at the scenery and admire the mountains....next stop was on top of a mountain but with freezing temps fog and rain and the fact Jack Shit could’ve walked 20feet in front of me and wouldn’t have known. Getting antsy with the tour, the driver and the bus I was pleasantly surprised as we descended the sun came out and provided some spectacular views and scenery.
The rest of the day was spent visiting parks, waterfalls and some amazing scenery. The weather changed continuously and hippy boy couldn’t keep his cotton picking hands of the temperature control but all in all it was well worth the trip. The mountains and waterfalls were very picturesque and a stark contrast to the Florida beach. As my 10 hrs on the bus came to a close I headed back into town and bar hopped meeting a few people telling stories and running through China Town as I realised I was in the middle of the Portland ghetto which had me feeling uneasy. Escaping my time in the ghetto I headed back half bottle of vino in hand and got ready to spend Monday walking around the city. Monday was spent wandering about and before I knew it I was in the eco friendly, Columbia, North Face sponsored airport waiting for my ride home.
Overall Portland is a nice city however it is probably one of the first cities I have visited that I wouldn’t rush back to. Yes its eclectic unique and clean with plenty of pubs but the city hasn’t much appeal and you need to head much further out to enjoy the landscape. I did enjoy my time but doubt I would return unless I was to organise a beer tour and in that case this would be the place.
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