more train... to san francisco!

LOVED the 18 hour train journey from portland to san francisco!!!



cosy/tiny 'roomette'



some very nice views of the lakes and forests of oregon...





...enjoyed from the viewing car...



...with a cinema on the lower deck!



electrical storm going through the mountains in the middle of the night

portland 'hoods

we spent lots and lots of time walking around portland neighbourhoods and eavesdropping on all kinds of people on the bus, my favourite way of exploring!



food carty type place in mississippi st



more mississippi st



alberta st



clinton st, neighbourhood cinemas...



... and indie shops (LOTS of good vintage, and this *awesome* hardware store!)...



...stickers everywhere...



...co-ops and overgrown porches...



...random sights... all very much the portland vibe!

food & drink

we had some pretty amazing food in portland, including this massive BLT... accompanied by crunchy fries and bottomless fresh lemonade. you would only really need to eat once a day!



looks a bit gross, but this was another culinary highlight of our trip... from the tastebud stall at the farmers' market: oven roasted mushrooms, chickpeas, tahini, leaves and chilli sauce.



food carts serving more yummy stuff!



we went to the tastebud restaurant too... oven roasted clams, followed by grilled asparagus and a pretty amazing pizza!



portland is also the home of what seems like an infinite number of microbreweries, we had quite a few of these sampler trays...



rogue was one of the favourites

to portland

ah, amtrak. can't recommend it enough! sloooow trains, great views, interesting people... more details in a later post.



view from the train, that mountain again



enjoying the road



the pearl district in portland

seattle no. 4

lenin statue in fremont (long story)



breakfast at hattie's hat in ballard. one of the best meals of the whole trip, hotcakes and bloody mary!



ballard is supposedly where scandinavian immigrants settled at the beginning of the 20th century and it's twinned with bergen (in norway). fun neighbourhood, with posters saying 'end the seattle occupation'!



mobile wood fired oven at the ballard farmers' market. check out HUGE pizzas behind the grungy girl on the right



view of the centre of seattle from the northern shore of lake union. the city is just about the right size!

bainbridge island

we also went to bainbridge island for a walk & very greasy picnic.



again, you can kind of make out mt rainier in the distance...

seattle no. 3

food market



ramps, eller ramslök



good looking lobsters



and the best burritos & margaritas ever at mama's in belltown!

more seattle

a lovely city, with a much fresher feel than london.
you can just about make out mount rainier to the right behind the sky scrapers...



the food market, with a view of puget sound & islands



interestingly built car park near pioneer square, the 'old' part of the city



america, the land of multi-storey freeways!

seattle

after a loooong flight out west, through minneapolis, i joined john in seattle for the beginning of the most amazing journey south, through washington & oregon to california...



beautiful summer days in seattle, great signs, great burgers...



sickly sweet things



and beer and balloons!!!
not sure the holiday could have started on a better note!