In anti-starbucks land

We stayed in Portland using Boondockers Welcome, this time however we didn’t get to meet our host, as he was in Florida. But still our spot was almost perfect (almost for lack of host). It had all the hook-ups, it was very close to town and at the same time it was located in green and quiet residential area at dead-end street.

Even though we stayed there three nights we didn’t see much of the city. First day we spent at Mt Hood, so we had just one day for Portland. 

For someone who is just passing by Portland, it may seem extremely unfriendly. From the highway all you can see are bridges and rather industrial views. And even though you keep going on the same highway you can easily get lost. We were warned by our previous hosts to pass it by Interstate 205 and avoid I5. 

But we didn’t have much choice. We got lost twice. Highways are winding, multileveled, they suddenly end or divide. And as it’s all on hills the exits are far one from another and it’s not easy to go back. Plus lots of bridges, overpasses, multi-level highways… That’s what happens when cities are built on rivers’ crossing.

But after closer look we found out that Portland is a friendly, easy-going town, full of hipsters, coffee places and food carts. Food carts are one of Portland’s symbols. Often there are a few of them sharing one lot or yard, so it’s easy to find something for everyone. It’s cheap, good, quick and easy. 

We spent most of the day (after two hours at the playground) walking on one of the most hipster street of Portland - Alberta Street. It looks like any suburban street of any small American town. There are poor parts, some ethnic workshops, contrasting with hipsters drinking local beer or locally brewed kombucha just few steps further. We forgot the camera so you have to use your imagination or google images. 

Remember Sheila and Earl? Their son Ian and his wife Deborah live in Portland - we met them for coffee and we loved them both. He walked through entire South America. When he ran out of money he would go back home, work for a while and go back to pick up where he left off. She is Irish, and she also traveled a lot. They met in Peru, then they walked together through India, Nepal and some more. Now they are thinking of settling down but when travelers meet other travelers they always get new ideas…

To make it more funny, later on when we sent them an invitation on facebook we realized that we have a friend in common! Ian worked in Warsaw for a while and then moved to Switzerland, where we visited him couple of years ago. They met in…Equador! What a small world … 

Another person we met was Chris, the owner of coffee place called Extracto, which is located in a building owned by Sheila and Earl. We talked about coffee (he is roasting it himself in his coffee place and he makes more money on it than on the coffee shop), about differences between drinking coffee in Poland and in States - in Poland most of people go to coffee shops to meet friends, so the coffee itself is not that important, it’s the place that matters, in States most of coffee places seem to be furnished in 5 minutes, like the owner just went to IKEA and bought a few chairs and tables, but the quality is what matters most, especially here in Portland where everything is "eco" and "organic".

Besides coffee here is drank on the way to work, the busiest hours are from 7 to 10 am, most places (also in Seattle) close around 5-6 pm. Chris said he could just as well close at 3 pm, but he’s got a few regulars who sometimes stop by on their way back home. He doesn’t make money on them but he does something for the community. 

Not that we know much about coffee but it was good. Chris said he used to have a play area for kids but at some point there were so many kids it was turning into a small kindergarten and it started bothering him and scaring off other customers. Now in the corner there are just huge sacks of coffee. Every few minutes someone climbs on top of them to take another tens of pounds of green coffee beans to be roasted. 

Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to Rose Garden (even though we lived nearby) and other Portland attractions, but we hope we’ll come back some day. Who’d think at first we planned to skip Portland completely …