Portland Countdown T – 1

In less than five hours, the taxi comes to take us to the airport. I should be asleep . . .

No chance.

I keep asking myself what I’m expecting from my break in Portland. As a relaxing few days to forget about work and all the frustrations wrapped up in that; but also in the possible-location-for-a-new-life. That’s a lot pressure for one town to take . . .

But, OK, let me ask the question. So I can come back a week or so from now and see how wide of the mark I actually was.

I expect Portland to be . . .

• Liberal, relaxed – the kind of place you can wear jeans for a night out at a a concert.
• I expect it to rain. But maybe we’ll get lucky. Outside my window now it’s snowing – it’s got to be better weather than that!
• I expect a place that takes its art and its artists seriously. Especially, hopefully, film-makers.
• I expect good food, and good service. Partly because there’s a lot of writing about that on the Net, but also that’s how I’ve found everywhere I’ve been in the US. Good food served by friendly people. I could never take that for granted.

We’ll do the galleries, the parks, the zoo; we’ll definitely do a bunch of eateries; we’ll shop; and we’ll travel everywhere on trains and buses. But, if we’re really going to get a sense of what Portland is like, I’d really like to get to the suburbs. See how people who commute into the city live – and maybe form some proper opinions of what it’s like to live there.

In nine days, I’ll have some answers, I’ll know what I don’t know now – the unknown unknowns. I’m really – surprisingly – looking forward to the experience.