pittsburgh

 Wow I can't believe that our trip to Pittsburgh has already been more than two weeks ago. Time just seems to fly by...

We left Thursday after work and drove about four hours and stayed a night in Harrisburg so P didn't have to drive all night and to be closer to our destination the next morning. Unfortunately we closed the black out curtains of our hotel room and didn't wake up as early as we hoped so we skipped breakfast in Harrisburg and started our drive to Pittsburgh. After a quick nap (for me) at the hotel we started exploring the city. Our first stop was the nearby tourist information where we got a map of the city. Our hotel was in Downtown Pittsburgh, also know as the golden triangle, that is formed by the Allegheny River and the Monogahela River joining forces to form the Ohio River. From the tourist information we headed straight over one of the many bridges to the Duquesne Incline. Because it was quite hot and humid that day I needed another nap once we made it back to Downtown as I had not fully recovered from my flu. After resting we walked into the strip district where supposedly a lot of restaurants, bars etc. are. There were some restaurants/bars but not a lot of people on the streets, mostly the businesses seemed to be wholesale markets that had already closed for the day but we found a place to eat and walked back to our hotel.

The next morning we met with friends at the Andy Warhol Museum, who were in  town for a wedding. Unfortunately as it is in all museums no photographs allowed, so I have nothing to show you from that experience. After the museum we ate lunch at a sandwich place that serves all their sandwiches topped with fries, even the salad came with a topping of fries. My turkey breast sandwich was quite good actually, loved the cole slaw. Lunch gave us enough strength to head back to the Strip district, which during the day was bustling with people. For dinner we drove into Lawrenceville to eat at an Italian restaurant called Piccolo Forno that friends recommended. The food there was delicious!

What I really liked about Pittsburgh is the contrast between old and new, just like New York only smaller. There was also a lot of public art displayed around the city. The Magnolia tree you see in one picture is not real but instead a piece of art that is creating a little oasis on an empty lot. Of course I only found out about self guided public art walking tours after researching for my post, if you are ever going to Pittsburgh check out the Pittsburgh Art Council website for the walking tours. That would be something on my list fr the next time as well as the Frick Art & Historical Center.