Portland, Oregon, USA.

Are you bored of these posts yet? Only one more after this so bear with me ;)

Portland was… interesting. We arrived, stepped outside of the train station and were instantly met by people dealing drugs and hassling police at the tram stop. We then were bothered by a ‘missionary’ at a bus stop because we did not give him any money. By the time we arrived in Woodstock we were weary. It was much, much, much further than we anticipated and it all seemed a little bit inconvenient. Our host, her husband and beautiful children lifted our spirits a little. The above-garage apartment we would call home for five days lifted our spirits further. It was gorgeous, complete with a hob, fridge, bathroom and the comfiest bed. We explored Woodstock a little bit (which didn’t take long as it’s basically a single street), used the wifi in Starbucks, got some snacks and had dinner. We finished the day with Breaking Bad in bed, because that’s what holidays are for right?

A poorly positioned fan meant that I woke up the following morning with the worst crick in my neck. I couldn’t move at all and after a minor panic, hot shower, lots of deep heat and painkillers we left to explore the city. Or, well, not explore. We felt lost and like there was nothing to do or nowhere good to go and wandered aimlessly for, what felt like, hours. Thankfully we had arranged to meet David (of the Free Portrait Project) in Alberta that evening…if it wasn’t for this meeting—which happened to coincide with a big street festival call Last Thursday— we would have ended our first day in Portland pretty sad. In fact I may or may not have cried a little bit on our way to meet David, such was the exhaustion, pain and frustration I was feeling.

Last Thursday was basically a huge street party and the further down Alberta we walked the crazier things seemed to get. There were every kind of musician, rappers, dancers, brass bands, string quartets, buskers, artists, tshirt sellers, designers, producers, makers and bakers of all kinds and even a couple of cool kids selling delicious lemonade for a 50¢. I bought some beautiful hand made ceramic cups for drinking wine out of and Richard bought a sticker. There wasn’t much we wanted to purchase but the atmosphere and energy was infectious. We stayed out much later than we expected and quickly our crappy day didn’t feel so crappy anymore. 

We walked back towards our bus stop along a street paralell to Alberta…I find the differences between homes of other countries and homes in Ireland fascinating. It was a nice to stroll along quiet streets after the hustle and bustle of the festival. 

The next day we set off a little bit more prepared, with names and locations of places we wanted to visit. We learned quickly that Portland is a sprawling city and it was a must to get public transport from one place to another, ordinarily this would have been aggravating but an all day pass for the bus and tram is only $5 (which is the same as just two single tickets) and there are no zones or different tariffs. 

When planning our itinerary we made sure to be in Portland for Brewfest, as recommended by our friends in Canada. We were not disappointed and spend a beautiful, hot evening tasting lots of different beers (my personal fave was called Hell or High Watermelon), eating amazing garlic fries and listening to live music. We bussed home in the dark tipsy and happy. In fact I think we went to bed full and happy and a little bit tipsy for the majority of nights this holiday, definite markers of a good time had.

On our second to last day in Portland we spent the day scouring the city for vintage and antiques and…beer. It was a mashup of personal interests maybe? We spent a while in a local vintage shop in Woodstock which surpassed all of our expectations tremendously before heading into the city for beer at a local brewery and plenty more of the right kind of ‘junk’. After a while we took a bus out to the leafy suburb of Sellwood and found plenty of pokey little shops, nice cafes and cool cars. 

We ended the day by splurging on dinner and drinks at the Clyde Common restaurant at the Ace Hotel. I had read so much about the Ace and wanted so badly to try it out that we decided to just go for it, despite our dwindling bank balances. After days of drinking —ie, getting used to the taste of— beer my crisp rosé was exactly what I needed. Dinner was amazing and the company wasn’t half bad either ;)

On our last day we rented a car and drove to Cannon Beach. While our whole time in Portland had been hot when we arrived at the beach it was cold, damp and windy… much to our disappointment. We made the most of it though, walking up and down and around the beach, finding a tree swing, getting stranded beyond a river and having to hike away from the town in order to get back into town and some seriously dodgy pizza slices overall it was a great day. I was most proud that we actually managed to make our way there and back and survive the freeway!

(Portland, you were nice…just not as nice as Beautiful British Columbia!)

Photos of my Really Hot Friends in Lisbon / 2

College is kicking my ass. I feel totally and utterly overwhelmed with a big project to do, tasks to complete AND two essays still to do. Christmas and my sisters homecoming are on the horizon and my excitement is beginning to bubble to the surface.

Can someone please just beam me back on holidays with these folks until it’s all over and I can relax? Cheers. Thanks.

PS Photo number two and three are my faves.  

On differences

  I like bikes. I do. They’re cool. But, I kind of find cycling pretty scary. All those cars whizzing past and me on my two little white wheels? I need to man up.
I like cars too. I mean they get you from A to B. They’re comfortable. They smell nice usually. They carry all your stuff. I don’t quite like doing the actual driving just yet. Learning takes away the enjoyment. But I like being driven around. I like Valerie, she’s a nice car. Messed up enough to be relatable but reliable enough to be loved. I like being the car’s resident DJ and looking at the dogs and people as we fly by. What I really don’t like is when she breaks down. I have no patience. I like when the car goes and Richard drives and we all get where we wanted to be. I don’t like sitting, waiting and pretending to be patient while things go awry. But Richard? He loves that shit. For the most part anyway. He loves spending time fixing and cleaning and working it all out. I just think it’s boring. But I listen and watch and try to be patient, ’cause that’s what good girlfriends do right?

PS That’s us, in traffic, reflected in a window…world’s tallest bike on top of world’s smalled car. 

Rewind II

The second of my forgotten rolls of film was taken way back in June. R & I tried to convince our friends to come and hang out on the beach but they were being lazy so we went on our own and met up with them after. The day had been really hot and despite the cool evening, the water was really warm. It felt weird and kind of wrong but we waded out pretty far anyway enjoying the strange sensation. We watched another couple of people run out deep enough to swim in the water—they were more prepared, or eh braver, than us. 

Turning 21

 On the day of my 21st birthday the sun shone like it hasn’t done for weeks. Eoin and Monica clambered for the shade at breakfast while I was left with the sunny seat. It didn’t bother me however as it felt nice to feel warmth on my skin, warmth that we have not really had much of this summer. As I type this the rain is falling down hard but I don’t mind. I feel like the sun on Saturday was the last hurrah, a final goodbye before we settle into the comfort of cool autumn and even cooler winter. We went for a rather late breakfast at Bibi’s where I got an unexpected phonecall from my lovely sister. The line was terrible and the delay annoying but it was so nice to hear her voice! How strange it is to turn 21 without her by my side. I remember when she turned 21, and my brother 3 years after…it does not feel like that long ago which is a scary thought.

After breakfast we brought Eoin to Dun Laoghaire to sail and we meandered around down the pier (as much as you can anyway with a dog that pulls on the lead!) and along by the water enjoying the sunshine and scenery.

That night myself and Richard had probably the best meal of our lives at Chez Max. We left feeling high after the most delicious moules frites and creme brûlée I have ever tasted. We will definitely be returning. I fell into bed exhausted after a beautiful day. I could not have asked for anymore.
But more is what I got the following day when 30 of my family and friends and friends-that-feel-like-family came to celebrate over brunch. More on that to come though ;) 

EP

We spent the weekend ‘working’ at this stand at this festival. And it was the bessssst.

We took tons of photos. I bought two rolls of Portra 400 before we left, it was the first time either Richard or I had used it but it comes out lovely. Dontcha think?

We saw The Maccabees, Heathers (amazing), Villagers (double, triple amazing), The XX (wow), Glenn Hansard, Caribou VS Fourtet, Sigor Ros (so, so), Mick Flannery, Ben Howard (incredible), David O’Doherty (made me hurt I laughed so much), Elbow and The Killers to name a few. 

There were so many cute babies and hot parents and funny kids with their parents’ number scrawled on their forearms meandering around the arena, as well as the to-be-expected drunk and disorderly folk. The people watching was so cool for a nerd like me.

Too many photos? Ok just three more.

Ilovethisfacesomuch.

I already can’t wait to go again!


PS Photos mainly by me, but some of these are R’s too :)