Saturday, July 24, 2010

I love my city (a love post for Portland)



I live in Portland, Oregon.

To me, it is an amazing place to live, despite often being called the "most depressing city"--presumably because of the weather. I think a lot of people assume that it is always raining and cold in Portland, which would not be true. Today it was eighty degrees and clear. But, in all honesty, it does rain a lot. Portland has what many of my friends call "bipolar weather" where it is sprinkling at one moment, and sunny the next. I do not see Portland as depressing, but an exciting adventure.

Why do I love this city? Let me count the ways.

+ The most unique shops

One of the biggest tourist attractions in Portland is the hole-in-the-wall shop Voodoo Doughnuts. No, seriously, it is a hole in the wall. The location downtown is no larger than one's kitchen, and usually has a line of 30 people outside the building at any time. But, it's worth it. And there have been two new locations that have opened up that are far less crowded. The main attraction at this delicious store is the Bacon Maple Bar--a raised yeast doughnut with maple frosting and a slice of bacon on top.



Don't judge it before you take a bite. It's delicious.

There is also a sweet place downtown called Sock Dreams. Let me make this clear, it is a store dedicated to SOCKS! What is better than that? Not to mention all the awesome Vintage and Used clothing stores such as Crossroads Trading Company, Avant Garden, Magpie, Little Evie's Five and Dime, and way too many more to list.

+ The scenery



Portland has been referred to as the most environmentally friendly city in the United States and the second most in the world. We measure how nice of a day it is by how well you can see Mt. Hood. The beach and the mountains are both located within hours of the city. Multnomah Falls is breathtaking, and the perfect tourist destination.

+ The Food.

I can't really talk about how amazing some of the restraunts are over here. Even the food at Saturday Market is delicious. By the way, if anyone reading this has never eaten an Elephant Ear (no, not an actual elephant ear), let me know, because that is a tragedy.

My favorite restraunt? Montage. Not even for the food, although there macaroni and cheese is remarkably good, but because they package the leftovers so beautifully.



I try my hardest to not eat my food when I go there. I still remember the adorable duck I got the first time I ate there.

+ Transportation

To go along with being the "greenest city" in America, there are several options on how to get to where you need to go in this city. First off, biking is not only convenient but a beloved hobby by many that live on Portland. I doubt you will see less than 50 different bikers after being downtown for less than an hour.



We even have a naked bike ride, but I'll let you look at those pictures on your own.

Also, I can't forget the MAX (short for Metropolitan Area Express) light rail system, which connects the city and suburbs.



+ The used bookstores

Oh, how lucky I am to be a book lover in one of the bookish cities in America.

Powell's Books is a beloved favorite by many Portlanders and tourists alike. It's the largest independent used bookstore in America, and occupies a full city block. It contains over 68,000 square feet (1.6) acres of retail floor space.

Everytime I go in, I fall back in love. However, there are other places I like to go while shopping for books, especially when I don't want to spend as much as I do at Powell's.




I enjoy Title Wive Used Books, and buy from them often. Basically, Tital Wave is where they sell the books that have been taken out of circulation from the Multnomah County Libraries. Hardbacks are usually two dollars and paperbacks are even less. It's like heaven, if heaven was a bookshop (which it is, in my mind).

Of course this is only scraping the barrel about what is great about Portland. Many would mention the rose gardens, OMSI, the popular brewery's, and the like. But as a 17 year old, none are large interests points. Even though the rose gardens are beautiful.

Thanks for your time. I hope you liked seeing a bit of my city.

3 comments:

  1. Love this post. So cool.

    ...okay, the donut bacon thing kinda freaks me out a little :)

    A a naked bake ride (!) what about the poor guy who stacks it :) hahaha.

    xx

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  2. Funny coincidence. I just saw Voodoo donuts on I think it was Food Network the other night. They mentioned people even get married there.

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  3. Just used your Voodoo bacon maple-bar pic on my blog. Great pic and love your post about Portland (One of my absolute favorite cities.) You can see it here if you'd like: http://robinsonpost.posterous.com/
    It won't post live until 8pm on 1-28 btw.
    Thanks again for the pic :)

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