![]() This reputation for weirdness is what drew Brian Kidd-that unicycling, bagpipeplaying, costume-wearing man known as the “Unipiper”-to Portland. The mixture of historic and new buildings, along with its proximity to Oregon’s natural beauty, make it a hotbed of inspiration. ![]() It’s a town that attracts people of all kinds. “Keep Portland Weird” is the city’s unofficial motto for good reason. Country-and-Western legend Loretta Lynn once sang: “Portland, Oregon, and sloe-gin fizz // if that ain’t love, tell me what is // I lost my heart, didn’t take me no time // But that ain’t all, I lost my mind // in Oregon.A man in a Darth Vader costume riding a unicycle and playing flaming bagpipes can only mean one thing: you’re in Portland. Peter has clearly embraced the weirdness of Portland. For city people, I recommend the hippie cafes, where I love inhaling my herb tea and eating tofu sandwiches with organic bean sprouts until I fart.” Or the strikingly beautiful Colombia Gorge, just 45 minutes away, where you find small waterfalls, hiking trails, and the odd bobcat. “I recommend Washington Park overlooking the city and our two snow-capped volcanoes in the distance. So it’s a bit like Utrecht buying twelve alligators and calling itself The City Of Crocodiles.”īecause I didn’t want Peter leaving town in tar and feathers on his bike, I decided to help him keep Portland weird by asking where he would go to kiss someone for the first time. “The city only has one rose garden, that it’s very proud of. Is that why Portland is called the Rose City? Because the plentiful rain is good for growing things? “It’s actually a ridiculous name,” says Peter. But Seattle is even worse, which makes us all feel a little better.” Lots of rain, except in July, August, and September. “It’s a soft-core version of Denmark and Holland. And best of all, you can take any book and bring it down to the cafe and read it for free, if you’re a cheapskate.”īut surely it’s not all just books and smiles and naked cyclists munching organic fruit? There must be a downside. Powell’s even has a Danish and a Dutch section, where we can buy books in our own ugly languages. “You walk in thinking you’ll buy a Paolo Coelho paperback and you come out with a truckload of books by Dostoevsky. “It’s a fantastic but dangerous place,” says Peter. Peter is lyrical about Powell’s bookstore, which covers an entire city block in downtown Portland. What more can you ask for if you’re into weird and rebellious?” “George Bush the Elder called it ‘Little Beirut’ – you can’t get a much bigger compliment than that. Peter’s favourite part of town: the Belmont district of Portlandīut it’s also a city of rebels, left-wingers and organic farmers, says Peter. Here, people are generous in traffic, they smile at you to the point of insanity, so this is a great place to take advantage of strangers.” PDX is a far cry from New York and Chicago where folks are more than happy to maim you. “It’s the kind of city where people will apologize if you kick them in the groin. The city organizes a naked bike tour every year, but what Peter finds weirdest about Portland is how polite everybody is. Portland even has something as un-American as bike paths.” It’s edgy the same way an age-challenged hippie is edgy. Within a few months, I found out it was true. “On one of my first days in town, I saw a sticker: Keep Portland Weird. Fogtdal, who has lived and worked in the city for several years, and regularly shares his observations on his hilarious blog. ![]() But Portland, Oregon, is weirder still, says Danish novelist Peter H. In short, Denmark can be rather bizarre, even for someone from Amsterdam. I discovered the latter by accident when I tried to scoop one up out of the shallows, thinking it was a plastic bag. It was hot, but no one was swimming and we soon discovered why: the water was freezing and infested with jellyfish. Expecting merry umbrellas flapping in the soft sand, I found instead a rock-hard strip of land occupied by a long row of cars parked side by side, with Danish families sheltering between them on folding chairs, apparently unaware that they looked like extras in some surrealistic outdoor play. ![]() Save Saved Save for later Saved for later ![]()
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