Heavenly Creatures wine bar in Northeast Portland A patron squeezes lemon on the young yellowtail toast at Heavenly Creatures, a new Northeast Broadway wine bar and restaurant. (Beth Nakamura/Beth Nakamura )
No need to travel to Europe this summer, and good thing too, if the jet fuel future is as bleak as it sounds.
But, according to our most prolific ranking rental car/car subscription company, Sixt+, Portland is basically the Amsterdam of the United States.
And no, they are not basing this conclusion on the prevalence of weed and protected bike lanes.
According to a press release from the company, they instead “analyzed climate similarity, search demand, and social media popularity to identify the U.S. destinations that offer the closest match to Europe’s most iconic summer getaways.”
Portland, they said, ranks No. 5 most like a European getaway, behind No. 1 London/Chicago, No. 2 Athens/Washington, No. 3 Tuscany/Napa Valley and No. 4 Biarritz/Montauk.
Now, it would almost not be worth mentioning this little rental car study, but recently I came across a TikTok from a creator who says she and her friends “microdose Euro summer” in Portland.
To microdose Euro summer, she says, one might do something like smoke cigarettes on a patio, order steak frites “when the sun is still out,” or drink wine with charcuterie outside.
And it’s true. These opportunities are all available to you here in Portland in the summer. Drink a bubbly wine on a patio! Indulge in a meat and cheese plate in the park! Ride your bike alongside a body of water!
Maybe those car sharers are right: Portland is basically Europe with much, much newer buildings.