Portland

Ahh Portland...

(You got it)

Fun facts about Portland:

- Portland's soccer team are the 'Portland Timbers'.
- Portland is the largest shipper of Wheat in the USA (because everyone is gluten-free??)
- Portland is the 29th most populous city in the United States.
- Everyone in Portland loves Portland.

- Portland people love their Portland microbrews. Portland.

- Portland Portland roses Portland.

(PORTLAND!)

This fair city is split into 4 quadrants because apparently it lies on a Cartesian graph. Cara's house is in the North East and is a really nice and spacious abode she shares with her boyfriend and some Capoeira do-ers; Because people do that apparently. They're a really cool and fun bunch of people. On the night of leaving in fact they had a grass roots party at their house with a keg. I, meanwhile, was on a plane to New York battling no sleep and time differences. You win this round Portland.

(Me at coordinate (3, 5.5) near the Northwest Coalition of Neighborhoods)

Portland is quite similar to Melbourne in that it has a lot of cool bars, restaurants, cafes etc. but nothing really major to see. As a consequence I just sort of moseyed around the streets during the day. On one of those days I spent a long time in a coffee shop finishing off a book that had been sitting on my list for ages. It was really good (just as well!). Another day I got doughnuts from the famous voodoo doughnuts, I walked around the bridges, got a jacket from an op shop. It's red. So you can kind of guess that I've just been hanging out for the most part. Not that that's a bad thing.

My pal Justin (who lived opposite me when I studied Miami) was in his last two days of living in Portland and still offered up his time to show me some cool places. Justin drinks a lot so I think we shared some similar goals.

(How humiliating)

As far as the comparison of Portland to Portlandia goes I can see where they're coming from with the whole hippy/alternative people but it wasn't really anything out of the ordinary. Which was a little disappointing! I don't know what I was expecting but everyone is really nice and will generally smile at you on the street as they're walking past... So here's another Portlandia sketch instead.

I've started growing a (pretty shaggy) beard which is due, in part, to necessity as my shaver is a bit on the fritz right now.  It's beard central up in hurrr!