Portland: the city version

We were really lucky to have about a full day in the little-big city of Portland itself! We were both very excited to check it out: T because he loves the Portland Timbers,  and me just because it's the kind of thing I love.

One thing we both really liked about Portland was the cheap and easy public transportation. It was only $2.50 to get to the city center from the airport. It did take about 45 minutes and was slow as molasses, but it was so easy to get passes and to get around.

The easy public transportation made it possible for us to pick and choose places we wanted to check out all around the city. One of these was dinner on our first night: a farm-to-table cafe called Farm Cafe. I'd read about this cute little place, and so we jumped on a bus to find it. It was nice and easy, the only fumble being when the bus driver had to yell at me "Push it!" in order for me to figure out how to leave the bus. Aside from that little episode, we found Farm Cafe and a little brewery across the street from it easily. 

Our dinner was just lovely: T had the herb-crusted tofu with marsala. I had polenta cakes with wild mushrooms, which the menu made clear to state had not been inspected by the FDA. Living on the edge as we do, I decided it was worth it! 

We also had great food during our Saturday rambles. Our breakky was a little find that Toby chose, the Milk Glass Market. We caught the light rail to what turned out to be a quiet neighborhood in the north part of Portland. The little cafe was known for its biscuits, which we did not find disappointing! We shared a cheddar biscuit with fried egg and roasted red peppers and a breakfast focaccia. It was a perfect start to our day!

Our afternoon food find was more a snack than anything.  We shared an ice cream from the Salt & Straw shop in Nob Hill. I'd found this ice cream shop on Pinterest when researching our trip, and apparently everyone else in Portland had too. We waited for about 10 minutes for a scoop of Almond Brittle with Salted Ganache; lucky we arrived when we did, because by the time we left, the line was out the door and down the sidewalk. It was sooo good - and what is better than ice cream in the middle of the afternoon??

Of course, we didn't just eat the entire time in Portland! We also walked around (what one of us would consider an excessive amount). 

First up was visiting the Portland Saturday Markets (even though it was Sunday). The markets were alongside the river walk and up into the central part of the city. I thought the markets were a perfect reflection of Portland: artsy, unique, and a little bit gritty. 

Even in Portland, T's market face made an appearance. 

In the afternoon, we headed out to the neighborhood of Nob Hill. There were lots of shady trees, cute boutique shops, and good-looking restaurants. We meandered down the streets and enjoyed being out in sunny Portland!

Also in our ramblings through Portland, we encountered a few things that really gave us the feel of Portland as a quirky unique place. Like this whisk-shaped bike rack in front of a cupcake shop. Or the aluminum cast pig that apparently hang out in different areas in the Nob Hill neighborhood. 

We also got the picture that Portland is VERY into recycling. Pretty much as soon as we stepped foot into the airport we noticed that practically every trash bin has a companion recycling bin. And this was consistent throughout the city - pretty cool!

The rest of our time spent in Portland was less interesting (at least for one of us). Starting Sunday afternoon, I worked on conference things. But I hear that T had a pretty great time checking out a local soccer bar that served Bosnian food, as well as the Portland Timber stadium. Needless to say, we both liked the city a lot! Hopefully a longer, repeat visit is somewhere in our future!

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