The following day I was hoping to see some sunshine but when I opened the curtains reality hit me, it was a grey day. We checked out that morning but left our suitcases at the front desk, we wanted to have a bite before meeting the couple we were house sitting for. The hotel is by the university so it was easy to find a coffee shop were we had a hot meal while seeing all the students walking around, some of them dressing like if it was summer; JJ and I were looking at each other with open mouths... it was like 35°F!
We went back to the hotel to pick up our bags but only JJ's was at the front desk, the clerk had to go find mine somewhere else; I thought that was strange. It was taking to long, the Uber guy was already waiting for us. I started getting concerned but the clerk came back with my suitcase before my patience ran out so we left without wasting anymore time.
The Uber driver started our little journey making his way out of the city, we crossed one of the many bridges over the river; we were going away from downtown so we realized the house was far away from the area we wanted to be. It was a twenty minute ride by the time we arrived to Woodland Park neighborhood which is located in the north east of Portland.
A friendly and excited dog, Tika, came out of the house to welcome us; she was jumping all over and let us know that she would keep us busy all the time. Then we met Ayla, a sweet kitty that all she wanted was to be by the window observing the world pass by; perhaps, she was hoping for some sunshine.
After playing with Tika and Ayla, I went to the bedroom to unpack my suitcase. I noticed my clothes were all messed up, it seemed like someone took the time and tried them on. They stole my best shirts, jeans and some other things. They left a little plastic bag of weed, I guess they thought it was a fair exchange ha ha!
Our time in Portland was very mellow due to the weather, it rained every single day and it was super cold. We hardly saw the sun in the two weeks we spent there and weren't able to visit places we had wanted but, were able to go out for some long walks around the neighborhood. Most of the time we stayed in the house having hot soups, I felt like a bear in hibernation ha ha!
The last day, after finishing house sitting, we stayed in a downtown hotel. Fortunately it turned out to be a nice day so we were able to enjoy the outdoors and visit the cool neighborhood of Hawthorne. This area is full of vintage stores, outdoor cafes and it has a very eclectic lifestyle. I love this type of neighborhoods because they're colorful, artsy, laid back and very multicultural.
Walking by the river was a very joyful moment, it felt good breathing the fresh air while enjoying the beautiful surroundings. The trees, the architecture of the bridges and the calm water of the river make this area the perfect spot to relax.
We enjoy having long walks, it's the best way to discover a city so we kept our little adventure exploring downtown. Portland has a nice mix of old and modern architecture, the light rail running throughout the city and the international population give this place a very European lifestyle.
Unfortunately the weather in Portland is not ideal for us, we enjoyed it for a few days but after a week of not seeing the sunshine we knew it wasn't going to workout for us. We heard summers can be wonderful but, we know there's a place somewhere we can see the sun shine all year around so our travel adventure continues.
The following morning we took the train to Oakland, CA for our next adventure... To be continued!
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