Left Portland yesterday and flew into Vancouver but I’ll come back to that later because a fair bit has happened since you last read this (assuming you haven’t given up).
Went to the NBA on Tuesday night to see Portland take on the league leading Golden State Warriors. Before heading to the stadium I decided to grab a quick beer and ran into a family of Warriors fans. Needless to say what was to be a quick drink turned into a four hour long conversation which covered the whole gamut. Everybody wants to know more about Australia. Whilst I act as a good ambassador for our country I probably don’t sell it very well. I tell them how expensive it is and how many animals can kill you. The family’s 21 year old son wanted to talk sports and women. I told him even the women in Australia can kill.
Caught the tram to the game but when I hopped off I realised my week long ticket had expired yesterday and (for once) officers were checking tickets. I started with the excuse that in Australia the date was the 24th (even though it was the other way around). When the words “$270 fine” were mentioned I was about to start blurting out random tax law cases Johnny Cochrane style to bamboozle all involved. Then we came to the mutual agreement that because I was going to the game and I wouldn’t last a night in jail, I just cough up $5 for a new ticket and he would look the other way. Deal!
The game was great and I had seats on the half court line towards the back of the arena. My single seat was sandwiched between a young couple and a couple of old ducks who looked as if they were going to the Golden Girls reunion. Like everybody in Portland they were chatty and interesting. Fortunately at three-quarter time I didn’t get put on the Kiss Cam. If I would have, the camera would not have moved until I locked lips with either some other man’s girl or the octogenarian. For the record Portland were up by 10 at the half but got run down once Steph Curry was hitting baskets at will.
The rain kicked in over the next two days so there was less exploring and more gnawing.
Made my way to PDX airport and ran into troubles with my ticket due to there being no space between my given names. Thankfully I made the ‘plane’ on time. This thing was more like a WW1 fighter. Horizon Airlines haven’t heard about jet engine technology but the main thing is we landed with all limbs intact. The carpet hasn’t got the cult following as PDX but is hypnotic.
Public transportation in Vancouver is very good but is very expensive compared to Portland. In saying that compared to Australia it is a bargain. My hotel is situated in the heart of Downtown and the weather is hovering between 10 to 15C. The Kingsize bed is nice too.
Had dinner with a friend from Toowoomba who has lived over in these parts for a number of years now. Cynthia has met and married a local and together they have opened up a couple of bars in North Vancouver. A great time was had by all and if you are ever in the Northern Hemisphere, find an excuse to visit The District or the sister bar, The Little District. For some reason my picture of the sandwich (a croquet monsieur) isn’t uploading so to take its place here is a Vancouver pasta shot.
As long as I don’t run into Justin Bieber or Bryan Adams it will be a great trip.
