“Keep Portland weird,” is a saying not short of unusual if you have visited the peculiar city. I was lucky enough to plan a last-minute trip with some good friends from high school to explore the strange city for 4 days. Here are some of the awesome places we visited the first day!
- Our first stop was to check out OMSI- the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry. Our Uber driver recommended it and so did TripAdvisor, so we decided to give it a shot. The overall museum itself is mediocre, but our favorite part was the current POMPEII exhibit. I had only heard about the lost Roman city buried underground due to the eruptive Mt. Vesuvius thousands of years ago and seen an imitation of it on Doctor Who, but I knew nothing more. OMSI had tons of preserved artifacts and iron casts of the victims that perished under the ashes of the lava. In fact, the most memorable iron cast I saw was of a woman holding her young son and attempting to protect him from death that was so near. It was a chilling sight!
2. Our next stop after OMSI was at a delicious place called Stacked Sandwiches. The cafe is nicely laid-out with a plethora of interesting sandwich combos and craft beer choices. It was Vegetarian Week in Portland, so I ordered a hefty Veg Gyro (which was half off!) and some wonderfully-seasoned Aleppo fries.
Our Airbnb was another pleasant experience! We had a whole house to ourselves close to downtown Portland, fully equipped with cooking utensils, blankets, and toiletries. The home had a 1960’s type feel with a black and white checkered kitchen and a very, very bright green wall-papered bathroom. One of the bedrooms that my two friends wanted to sleep in gave off creepy vibes, partly due to the large, creepy closet. Other then a few factors, it was definitely a pleasant stay.
3. Our next stop after a quick rest was at the iconic Salt & Straw. Many times, places that are talked about way too much by tourists are not usually my cup of tea. I was wrong about Salt & Straw because the ice-cream is one of a kind! I had a creamy milkshake (a bit pricey at $8), but it was filled with a pint of local ice-cream (caramel ribbons) and coffee. Salt & Straw has really cool flavors like Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette with Black Pepper and Arbequina Olive Oil as well 🙂
We were awed by Portland’s chill vibes on the first day and the food did not disappoint!
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