I’m still in a quandary about Portland, it’s nice enough but from what I’ve seen nothing special, so I’m rather at a loss as to why it is in so many must visit lists (apparently even in Fodor’s Top Ten cities to visit, but I can’t find any evidence for that, except what the chap told me). People are very proud of the place and maybe in summer it’s charming, but to me it felt rather desolate. There were a lot of unemployed and homeless people about the town and the social worker I met did say there is a big problem in Portland. The public transport is appalling, buses are late and people spend half their time waiting for them. As I said, it could be that I was there at the wrong time of year and the economy has affected the place, so it’s not at its best and having a car could have made a difference, but it just didn’t seem to have much going for it, except the seafood!
