He left Pittsburgh’s steel shores last Sunday, floating down the Ohio. He was spotted bobbing his way to the Mississippi, floating silently, as he always does, into the Iowa sunset.
But for real, where will he be off to next?
Tag Archives: pittsburgh
Adventures in Pittsburgh: Exploring Oakland
This weekend my mom came to town. Woohoo! It was the first time I got the chance to show someone around my new city. Hard to believe I’ve been in Pittsburgh for three months already…
We started our day with brunch at The Porch, which was lovely. I highly recommend the salted caramel French toast! Back in Madison, weekly brunch was a staple of a Saturday or Sunday morning, so it was good to kickstart my brunch-going in Pittsburgh with my mom.
Afterwards, we explored the Oakland neighborhood a bit, including wandering through Schenley Park and the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon campuses. Coming from the Midwest, it’s refreshing to see beautiful, old academic buildings. Actually, it’s refreshing to see old buildings in general! Thanks to The Fire, Chicago is pretty lacking in old structures. One of my greatest joys in Pittsburgh is admiring the old brick home and Gilded Age architecture.
Some other great sites in Oakland include:
–Carnegie Museum of Art and Natural History
-The trails at Schenley Park
-The Cathedral of Learning at University of Pittsburgh (second-tallest educational building in the world)
Adventures in Pittsburgh: Carnegie Museums
Arabian artifacts, dinosaur fossiles, glittering cases of gem stones, Renaissance paintings, and of course conceptual sculpture. These are just a few things to completely and totally over-stimulate your mind at the Carnegie Museum of Art and Natural History. As if a museum of either natural history or art wouldn’t be enough, the two are connected (under one roof and under one admission fee), so be sure to plan a whole day around this museum.
The Roads of Arabia exhibit was excellent. Beautiful, intriguing artifacts combined with video, tours, and very helpful volunteers, make this exhibit a success in my book. I spent at least a half hour in there, which I think is a pretty good testament on how much the exhibit held my attention (for an art major, I move pretty quickly through museums…)!
The art portion of the museum held an array of everything from Renaissance to Impressionism, to my personal favorite, conceptual sculpture and installation. Sadly, this piece by one of my favorite artists, Rirkrit Tiravanija, was not open. Which means I’ll be back!
Thankfully, a good supply of Alexander Calder works made up for my disappointment over Tiravanija’s closed exhibit.
All this because the Andy Warhol Museum was closed and I was bent on spending my President’s day at a museum. Maybe that’ll be next week’s adventure…
Pgh Gallery Crawl: Like a Pub Crawl, Except You Get Drunk on Strobe Lights
I’ve been to a slew of gallery crawls and gallery nights, mostly in Chicago, but also in Madison and Florence. The Pittsburgh gallery crawl was different simply because it was a new city whose art scene I have’t explored. And also, it was the first gallery night I’ve attended alone. I thought I could picture the night: me, wandering the cultural district trying to deceiver a tiny map from a brochure and barely making it past the parking garage let alone to a host of galleries. Thankfully, the night turned out quite the opposite. Was it the strobe lights? The crazy interactive video collages? The night air? The giant duckie? Who knows! Either way I had a blast, met a load of crazy people, and would do it again (alone) in a heart beat.
Zee
Kurt Hentschlager
I waited in line for this exhibit for an hour. I never actually made it to the room where the piece was taking place. But somehow, I left feeling like I had a good taste of postmodern art. Or maybe I try to find art in places where it’s not (intended to be). I’m known for thinking broken fence posts are part of sculpture gardens and that missing electrical outlets are accidentally unmarked installations. So I didn’t feel too disappointed to have spent an hour, crammed inside a tiny room with forty people, watching the smoke hiss out from under the door of the exhibit, wondering if we’d ever make it inside. I witnessed tension rise between people after a group cut the line. I met a man who, like me, ventured to the exhibit alone, and who took a moment to write down a note in a notepad he kept crumbled in his pocket. “Just for, you know, story ideas.” And finally, I watched a man get carried out of the exhibit room after experiencing a seizure. I was outta there in a second.
Granular Synthesis: Model 5 and Pol
Kurt Hentschlager and Ulf Langheinrich
Ironically (or not), the next exhibit I visited featured a large screen and four images of a women’s face, twisting and convulsing in repeated, robotic movement. At times both terrible and hilarious, needless to the say, the pieces made me very comfortable. Thankfully, I find uncomfortable art often times the most effective. Better to be disgusted by something than to think it beautiful in every way. Why? Because often beauty doesn’t really challenge how we think. Discomfort does.
For instance, getting a bit uncomfortable and exploring the city alone one evening.
Ciao,
Sarah
Adventures in Pittsburgh: The Cafe at the Frick
When I learned that The Cafe at the Frick, which is situated on the beautiful Frick Park grounds, served proper afternoon tea, I couldn’t wait for a free Sunday afternoon to give it a try.
My high expectations were not let down! For $18, I enjoyed four different types of salads (crab, beet, tuna, and egg), two scones (orange and lavender) complete with English sweet cream and strawberry preserves, a variety of four cookies made perfect with chocolate sauce, and of course hot tea (I chose the Frick’s specialty blend).
I also enjoyed the perfect autumn weather and a gorgeous view of the gardens surrounding the Clayton mansion. Not to mention, I was reading Jane Austen’s Emma the whole time, which let me tell you, when coupled with tea, is probably the most sublime experience you’ll have in a long time. Reading about Emma discovering her love for Mr. Knightley while eating a lavender scone, is a Jane Austen lovers dream, I would think!
To top it off, the service was excellent. Before they closed at 5pm, I even had time to take a look at the art galleries, which hold a great experience of their own.
For more information about the cafe, the museum, and the park, be sure to visit the Frick website.
Related Posts:
Adventures in Pittsburgh: Schenley Park
Decorating My New Pittsburgh Home
When you move in to a new space, especially one so drastically different from your old, it’s pretty overwhelming to begin the decorating process. To start decorating my new 70-year-old Tudor-style duplex in Pittsburgh (I moved from a clean-cut suburban apartment in Madison, WI), I began with images. Pinterest, of course, is probably the best place to collect visual inspiration. After spending some time browsing, I decided to narrow down my decorating plans into 4 sections:
1. My bedroom, bathroom, and closets- with a focus on organization
2. My living room- with a focus on comfort, displaying eclectic pieces of art and memorabilia, and entertainment (a bar cart included in my plans!)
3. My dinning room and kitchen- with a focus on my favorite moments, brunch and coffee, by creating a coffee bar and a bright and open eating area
4. My sewing room- with, well, a focus on sewing!
Not a bad start for a pretty overwhelming ordeal! My goal this week is to get up most of my wall art and begin to rearrange. Stay tuned as I start to put together my two favorite ideas, the bar cart and the coffee bar!
Ciao!
Sarah
Adventures in Pittsburgh: Schenley Park
For my run this weekend I traded the the concrete trails of the Southside for the dirt trails at Schenley Park. The view was amazing (I’m still amazed that a city can be this green!), and for someone from the Midwest, the hills were challenging. I manage to get a bit lost, so my run was about a mile longer than I anticipated. Still, it gave me more opportunity to snap some great photos.
Adventures in Pittsburgh: South Side Flats
Last week, I decided to explore the South Side Flats of Pittsburgh. Before I move into my new apartment, I’m in temporary housing here, and find myself really enjoying the riverfront trail, called the Three Rivers Heritage Trial, and charming businesses (not to mention the Hot Metal Bridge, which is my favorite bridge, by far). The South Side was one of the first neighborhoods in the city to gentrify and features the South Side Works, an outdoor mall. There is also the Bavarian Hoffbrauhaus (lots of well priced beer and dancing) and, my favorite thing, the riverfront trail. The trail is a bit strange, since it starts and stops at points, and at times one needs to go off the path to get around construction or broken path, but all in all, the trail is generally well kept, well traversed, and boasts a charming view.
Ciao!
Sarah
p.s. Have a suggestion for what I should do next in Pittsburgh? Post it below!
Morning Run
What a beautiful view!
Adventures in Pittsburgh: 61C Cafe
Since I’m new to Pittsburgh (8 days to be exact), I’m taking the opportunity to get to know the city one adventure at a time. In other words, every week, I’ll try something new in the city and highlight it for you all here.
I believe that generally I can fall in love with any city…as long as it has a good selection of great local coffee shops! So to start my adventures, I chose the 61C Cafe of Squirrel Hill located at 1839 Murray Ave.
Honestly, I didn’t even get a coffee from the cafe because I was so intrigued by their selection of fresh juices. And the juice really is fresh! I saw them make my pear juice right then and there, and the bagel I got with it was equally delicious. 61C Cafe is a great deal as you might expect by the name (I didn’t pay less than a dollar for my meal, but I’d say $5 is still a pretty good price!). My only caveat is that the cafe only takes cash. Thankfully, a local helped me out on that issue: just walk down a block, buy a banana from Giant Eagle, and get cash back. So a banana, pear juice, and bagel it was for me!
Check them out online here and be sure to stop by when you’re in Pittsburgh!
Ciao!
Sarah
p.s. Have a suggestion for what I should do next in Pittsburgh? Post it below!
gibbsongirl.com 