I miss The Auld Hoose and Rigatoni's and good shit-bread and not being socially expected to talk to strangers.
usa (16 out of 54)
Portland is delicious
Saturday
Arrived in Portland after a 17 hour train journey. Had no data connection and had done no prior planning, including caching a map or getting the address of where I was staying. Pantsed around Union Station looking for wifi for a while, and eventually the restaurant next door (Wilf's) were sympathetic. I made it to my destination, discussed the boundless possibilities of vegan food with my hosts for a few hours, and then we went for dinner at Epif Restaurant & Pisco Lounge; Charciqan. Also headed to a bar where I tried Kombucha. Not sure how I feel about it.
Sunday
Breakfast tacos. Went to Heart coffee to hack for a bit; had a latte with house-made cashew milk that I forgot to take a photo of. Walked to Wolf and Bear's for falafel, and ate it in Townshend's tea shop along with coconut milk mate red bean bubble tea.
Monday
Breakfast tacos. Rain. Lunch at Vtopia, a dedicated vegan cheese shop o.O Salami and cheese toastie, and shared a cheese tasting platter. Also bought an expensive block of 'camembert'.
Ground Kontrol for a vegan corndog, weird Liam Neeson movie and pinball. The nostalgia for Windows pinball I got from playing IRL pinball was incredible. Reverse nostalgia?
Went to White Owl for vegan s'mores, but they don't sell them any more due to complaints from the fire department. Stopped by the entirely vegan mall (!?!), but everything was closed. Finally ended up at Rimsky's for tea, a truly fantastical place that would have been the highlight of the day had the day not been entirely highlights. "Sit at a table which hums."
Tuesday
Breakfast tacos. Torrential rain. The best burrito, empanadas rellenas, I've ever had in my life from Los Gorditos.
I went on a walking tour of 'underground' Portland. I was the only person, and the tour guide wasn't super keen to go out in the downpour, but he humoured me. I learnt lots about racism and crimping and tunnels.
Two big pizza slices from Sizzle Pie.
Discovered Scandal and Please Like Me.
Wednesday
Breakfast tacos. No rain! Fish tacos, gravy mash and sweet potato fries from Veggie Grill. I'm reliably informed that breakfast tacos don't count, so I technically didn't have tacos twice in one day.
Walked to and through Washington Park. Picked up a orange and olive oil donut from Blue Star. Lots of trees and mud and a pretty sunset. Walked about 9 miles in total. Homemade fancy mac'n'cheeze.
Thursday
Leftover fish taco. Stumptown coffee. Vegan biscuits and gravy and other things at Paradox. Train to Seattle!
Plotting vegan food places on a map of Portland. Plots whole of Portland. Going to have to find another way to narrow this down. Haven't even opened Happy Cow yet.
Mini Amtrak Adventure
I just took a 17 hour train (Starlight 14) from San Francisco to Portland, right up the west coast of the USA. At 9 last night, a connecting bus (the Thruway) took me from SF to Emeryville, Oakland, where I boarded the train at 10. I bought my ticket in advance online ($132, which includes the bus and also a Portland to Seattle stretch for later this week) and was assigned a seat upon boarding via the sophisticated system of a lady with a handdrawn grid and a pen.
Totally different from any other train I've been on, which is why I'm writing about it. The train is huge. I didn't manage to count the carriages, but there are many. The cheapest Coach seats are wide - probably the same as the Caledonian Sleeper - but recline further with more legroom, and have an extra leg rest bit that pops out underneath, so it's a totally viable bed. The whole train is two storey, with most seats above, and loads of bathrooms below.
Overnight I pretty much slept through, waking at Sacramento to close the curtain as the station lights were bright. There were many stops, and people came and went from the seat beside me. At one point there was some kerfuffle from someone who thought her phone had been stolen, and also the seat assignment system resulting in people being assigned to the same place, but mostly I wasn't really disturbed. At one point I woke up to nobody, and rotated to lie across the two seats. I woke again at 0730 when the sun was up and we arrived in Klamath Falls. Plenty of empty seats in my carridge.
From my vantage point it was largely dilapidated sheds situated amongst unkempt scrubland. Some tourist-looking people disembarked here, so there must be something to do. There are both a restaurant and a cafe car, the latter of which serves decent coffee with a smile for $2, and there is at least one vegan option on the menu (a burger, unsampled). The restaurant took reservations for breakfast and lunch, with a member of staff passing through the train to offer this. Above the cafe is an 'observation lounge', with seats clustered around tables, and reclining armchair-types, all with power outlets, but the special feature is double-sized windows. So really light, great vantage. I considered relocating, but wasn't sure about the etiquette of permanently occupying space here, and couldn't be bothered dragging my stuff back and forth.
We proceeded and the scenery picked up with lakes and mountains, gradually becoming more epic, peaking at alpine-esque snow-covered pine forests. Scenery became less interesting after Eugene. Flat, industrial-farmland-y. Some stops are long enough for 'smoke breaks', with passengers allowed to disembark to stretch their legs for around half an hour.
Way more interaction with fellow passengers than I'm used to in the UK. Always takes me by surprise. A bunch of friendly (I think?) comments on my hair, plus a few people who wander through the train rambling good wishes at everyone. Someone giving out homebaked cookies. An old couple dressed as Santa Claus. Most people - in great variety - seem consistently intimdating when silent, and friendly when they open their mouths. Maybe I just don't know how to read Americans yet. The expectation/demand of interaction with strangers here is something I'm still figuring out, and I think I unintentionally offend people when I'm not very good at making conversation.
At 1430 there was a wine tasting. Who boards a train and goes to a wine tasting?
Arrived in Portland over 30 minutes early. No data connection here. Not even 2G. Wilf's Wine Bar just beside Union Station let me use their wifi.
Travel plan 🚅
Leaving Portland, Oregon, USA at 8:00pm (+00:00) on Thursday the 10th of December 2015 and arriving in Seattle, USA at 11:50pm (+00:00) on Thursday the 10th of December 2015
Travel plan 🚅
Leaving San Francisco, USA at 6:04am (+00:00) on Saturday the 5th of December 2015 and arriving in Portland, Oregon, USA at 11:32pm (+00:00) on Saturday the 5th of December 2015
Travel plan 🚌
Leaving San Francisco, USA at 5:10am (+00:00) on Saturday the 5th of December 2015 and arriving in San Francisco, USA at 5:45am (+00:00) on Saturday the 5th of December 2015
Travel plan ✈
Leaving Seattle, USA at 5:30am (+00:00) on Monday the 14th of December 2015 and arriving in Boston, MA, USA at 10:45am (+00:00) on Monday the 14th of December 2015
at a cost of 128 USD
Travel plan ✈
Leaving Boston, MA, USA at 10:43pm (+00:00) on Monday the 30th of November 2015 and arriving in San Francisco, USA at 5:22am (+00:00) on Tuesday the 1st of December 2015
at a cost of $518
YOU KNOW WHAT US GOVERNMENT I WOULD LIKE MORE COMPLICATED FORMS TO FILL IN PLEASE DO SEND ME MORE
In the past week I've naturally said sidewalk, stoplight, elevator, and misprounounced tomato. It's happened. I speak American now.
PSA for the USA: Milk and sugar are not normal ingredients in bread. Stop. Please.
On a related note, can anyone recommend an actual bakery in Boston/Cambridge? I'm giving up on supermarkets. Even Wholefoods doesn't have sensible bread.
In reply to: https://rhiaro.co.uk/2015/10/sos-urgent-send
Googling this is difficult, as Boston has its own prominent version of baked beans that is different from UK baked beans.
SOS. Urgent, send help quick. Where can I get baked beans in the USA? Not full of sugar?
Also vegemite.
Travel plan ✈
Leaving Toronto, Canada at 10:45pm (+00:00) on Thursday the 5th of November 2015 and arriving in Boston, MA, USA at 12:15am (+00:00) on Friday the 6th of November 2015
I have a US bank account with $4 in! Surprisingly painless.