Pittsburgh

The 1.5 days I got to spend in Pittsburgh were a tad tight. Did not get chance enough to see the city at all. Stayed in the Oakdale area and walked a bit. Did not get to go to any of the rivers or the confluence. The greenness of the city strikes you even before you have landed, and then as you travel from Pittsburgh international. I took the convenient (and cheap) Airport Flyer. It exits several times allowing you to see more of the city and does not take that much longer. Seeing the greenery you again lament how CA lacks it. But then as you walk out of the airconditioned room, the humidity hits you - I was told it is not that typical, but I am sure it does happen every now and then. I would always prefer dry heat (though not too much).

On the first evening as we passed a locality or two to get to the Church Brew Works, we saw how colorful the houses were painted. Mostly slanted roofs and often bearing as many as four colors on the same one. These are clustered on hills as if planted there. A chimney or two in the distance is bellowing white smoke reminding you of the "Iron City" stature.
Colorful houses

Iron City

The Church Brew Works was impressive for its nontraditionality. Built in 1902, it was an honest to God church until 1993 when the parish left it. An enterprising entrepreneur bought it and had it decommissioned as a place of worship. He then set up the brewery on the altar and made a fine dining area out of the rest. Four Iron City Brews are served among other things. Can you imagine such a thing happening in India? Fanatics/devotees will try to raise it in all possible ways. But really, the issue is more fundamental. If you really believe that some place belongs to God, how do you device procedures to be able to decommission it? Is that an indication that The Church believes Man created God? I tried one of the darker brews and finished with brewmise. The place did serve vegetarian dishes. With more and more people turning to diets of all shapes, almost all places have some veggie stuff on offer. While we sat inside, a thunder storm typical for this area raged outside. Lightening was pretty to look at through the windows with painted glass high up in the church walls. By the time we got out, it was all clear except for the aftersigns of the rain.

Like the houses, the busues were colorful too - lots of them and often in their own lanes. It is another strange sight when you hail from SoCal where public transport exists more as a curiosity than as a practicality. Parking is at a premium, often 100 dollars a month, but it comes with the assurance that you have alternatives. Caltech announced recently that they will start charging for parking. But they are not providing any alternate means. Fortunately we stay close by and will not be directly affected, but others will be.

Pitt (U.of Pittsburgh) and CMU (Carnegie Mellon University) are very close to each other. But like most such pairs, there does not seem to be enough of an interaction. I think once humans get to a place, they quickly enter a shell of their own making - either feeling self-sufficient, or believing that they have too little time to do anything besides what they are doing - whatever it is.

Asked at a couple of places what is very Pittsburghy so that I could bring it home as a memento. But I drew a blank. Bought the now almost mandatory magnet. Lack of variety shops in the Pitt area seems to make itself noticeable. But then Pitt is no Berkeley.

What the Pitt area does have is some good architecture and lots of green spaces. (detailed description to come)

Room with a view


Schinley Park

Phipps?

The Cathedral of Learning and Nationality Rooms

Churches

Other arcitecture