I (Paul) hadn't been to Pittsburgh since I was a teenager, other than a stop at Kennywood in 2014 where I didn't go in to the city. So I planned a view days to visit some of the attractions in the city, and yes, to ride some roller coasters. :)
On my first day, I landed in the afternoon, picked up a rental car, checked into my hotel, and went straight to Kennywood amusement park, arriving by 3pm. The park closed at 8pm, so I had about 5 hours. It wasn't too crowded probably because of the threat of rain, so it was plenty of time to ride everything. Steel Curtain was a new credit for me, and I also made sure to get some rides on some of my faves including Phantoms Revenge, Racer, and the historic Old Mill. I closed out the night getting in line for Steel Curtain a minute before the park closed, so I got an excellent sunset double-ride on the last trains of the day. On the way back to my hotel I decided to stop for ice cream, and saw Page's on google maps, so I headed that direction. There was a huge line - it ended up taking 35 minutes! The ice cream was good, but nothing ground-breaking.
Steel Curtain towering above the park.
In line for the final rides of the night.
Kennywood is a charming park.
The line at Page's - it wrapped around the building.
The next day was my whirlwind super-packed day of "let's try to do everything in Pittsburgh in one day," which was mostly successful. I started early, and drove to a viewpoint on the appropriately named Grandview Ave to see downtown. It was a misty morning, and the views of the city were dramatic. I grabbed a coffee at Big Dog in the Southside neighborhood, then went to the Phipps conservatory and gardens shortly after opening at 9:30am. This was a nice historic botanical garden with some modern additions. I then briefly walked through the Carnegie Melon campus before visiting the Carnegie library and reading some local roller coaster books.
Great views to start the morning.
The main entrance of the conservatory.
Carnegie Melon campus.
Carnegie Library.
Some local coaster history books!
My next stop was the Carnegie museum next door, which had a huge collection of art and natural history exhibits. The building itself was also very impressive, including murals that lined the staircase atriums. There was a Greek festival across the street but the lines were long, so I just took a brief peek at the interior of St Nicholas Greek orthodox church, walked by U.Pitt's Cathedral of Learning, then walked back to my car.
Checking out the art in the museum.
They had modern pieces...
...and ancient pieces.
One of the murals in the main staircase hall.
They had a huge mineral and rock collection.
The dinosaur hall.
An exhibit about Siwa in Egypt, which I visited in 2003.
The murals were impressive.
The architecture hall, which had a temporary exhibit with this big screen.
Inside the orthodox church.
The cathedral of learning.
With a conservatory, campus, library, museum, and church under my belt you might thing I was done for the day. But no, I was just getting started! I drove to Garfield neighborhood, where I picked up some wings to go from Wings over Pittsburgh, and took them to Two Frays brewing. I sat outside to enjoy my lunch. I then stopped at the Center for Postnatural history just down the street, and then briefly drove through part of Allegheny Cemetery.
The Garfield neighborhood is cute.
Homes in Garfield.
Beer tasters for lunch.
Yes, that's an obese mouse.
The cemetary.
My first stop after lunch was the National Aviary, which was absolutely packed with people. I still enjoyed seeing all of the bird exhibits. In many of them, there is no separation between you and the birds, you're basically walking through their habitats. I think walked to the nearby Mattress Factory, a modern art museum split between three building spread across a block. The next stop was Randyland, which was a super random building and yard totally covered with found object art. The neighborhood (Mexican War Streets) was really cool and I walked a round a bit, including a stop at City of Asylum bookstore and some tea at Yinz.
An Andean condor at the aviary.
Hey, what are you looking at?!
Beautiful colors on this bird.
A bike and a statue in the park.
Getting some sun on a nice day.
The "Mexican War Streets" neighborhood had lots of random art.
View toward downtown.
Exhibit in the Mattress Factory.
Another interesting exhibit.
These were rugs showing immigrant experiences.
Such a cute and colorful neighborhood.
Randyland was... quixotic.
The front of Randyland.
I walked by the house where George Ferris (inventor of the ferris wheel) was born.
View toward downtown.
I had yet *more* things to do, starting with the bicycle museum. It was absolutely packed with things, really more of a giant hoarder's bike dream rather than a real museum. Really fascinating though. I then drove to the Duquesne Incline for the famous postcard views of the city. I parked at the bottom, rode up, took in the view for a bit, and rode back down. On the way back to my hotel (which was in the suburbs) my final stop of the day was for dinner at Mullets, on a cute street in downtown Mt. Lebanon. That wrapped up an exhausting day of doing a huge number of Pittsburgh's tourist attractions.
The Bicycle Museum.
Peewee's bike, used in the movie.
The Duquesne incline.
View of the mixing waters of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers.
There's that postcard view!
The rest of my trip was in the downtown area, taking in the architecture, exploring the main streets, stopping in two more museums (the Heinz and the Warhol) and going to a baseball game. I'll let the pictures do the talking!
Downtown Sewickley - my last stop with a rental car.
View of the Ohio River.
Racer train in the Heinz museum.
It's an impressive adapted building.
Yes they have ketchup.
And Mr. Rogers!
Exhibit on the ferris wheel.
An old trolley!
Downtown has a ton of historic buildings.
A cool dome.
The Warhol museum.
An interactive room in the Warhol museum.
More cool architecture.
Some eyeball chairs.
Roller skating on Market Square.
Reflection of architecture.
Sunset lighting for the win.
There's a whole street of historic bank buildings.
Sunlight highlighting details.
Pittsburgh has a lot of alleys that are full of character.
Architectural details.
"Space Bar" was a cool cocktail bar.
This was a Korean-inspired cocktail!
I mostly avoided the rain - but this was a downpour while the sun was still out.
Time for some baseball.
Stadium views are unmatched.
Yes, these are pierogies racing.
Pittsburgh is a delightful place to visit. The architecture and neighborhoods are surprising, the hills make for unique views, and there are several world-class museums. Add it to your travel list!
Last month we decided to take a weekend trip up to New York City to visit our friends Alexis and Thomas. Paul had visited a couple of times for random events in the past few years, including a Sufjan Stevens musical and a Notre Dame football game, but David hadn't been since 2023. So we packed our bags and flew up to JFK late on a Thursday afternoon, and took the train into SoHo where we were staying with Alexis. We popped into a nearby Italian bar/restaurant for some late evening snacks and cocktails before calling it a night.
Friday we got up and got some coffee at Asano, met our friend Thomas, then took the subway to the Museum of Natural History. This museum recently expanded with a cavernous new hall and several new exhibits. We spent a few hours exploring this massive museum, which is a must-visit for anyone who likes museums.
NYC here we come!
They changed the metro map and it's terrible now.
The first, but not last of David's matcha experience in NYC.
The Pacific Northwest exhibit hall.
A skyline of crystals.
A great uncle of David's colleague painted this mural!
The Gilder Center addition.
The outside of the Gilder Center.
We then went to lunch at Chama Mama, a Georgian (the country) restaurant, walked around a bit and hung out at Thomas's apartment until dinner. We had reservations at Pranakhon, an over-the-top and delicious Thai restaurant. After dinner we grabbed some wine and chilled at Alexis's apartment that night.
A Georgian dips sampler platter at Chama Mama.
The delightful salad at Pranakhon.
View of Brooklyn from Thomas's apartment
Saturday morning we took the train across the east river for a day in Brooklyn. The weather was great - warm and sunny with a breeze. We got off the train near the Barclay's Center, and walked a couple of blocks to Greenpoint Park where we met Thomas and Petros. It was very lively, and we explored for a bit - walking through the street market adjacent to the park.
After a bit we walked through the adjacent neighborhood admiring the brownstones and went to a bookstore before our brunch reservation at Miss Ada, a Mediterranean restaurant. We had a variety of hummuses, various fresh and pickled items, sandwiches and some non-alcoholic drinks. After, Thomas and Petros headed home for a bit, and Alexis and us caught the train to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. With the beautiful sunny weather and the emergence of cherry blossoms, this place was thronged with visitors. We walked around and enjoyed the Japanese garden
The Barclay's Center.
Downtown Brooklyn behind Greenpoint Park.
Lots of shareables for lunch.
Cherry blossoms floating on the breeze.
David and Alexis in the gardens.
Dramatic blossoms!
The Japanese gate in the pond.
Pretty!
Inside the desert dome. It was a million degrees in the greenhouses.
After finishing up at the garden, we took the train back to Manhattan, where we met up again with Thomas and Petros, and the five of us spent some time hanging out in the Lower East Side bar hopping. First, we stopped for a cocktail at Reception Bar, which does mostly Korean-inspired drinks with soju. We then tried to go to Attaboy, a highly rated cocktail bar, but were refused because one person in our party didn't have their physical ID on them. We're all in our 40s, so that was a little unexpected. We pivoted and walked toward the nearby "Double Chicken Please" but it had a line down the block. Finally, we found "StEight behind Kuniya Hair," a tiny little cocktail bar hidden behind an equally small beauty salon. It was atmospheric and the cocktails were Japanese-inspired. We accidentally went to two Asian cocktail bars!
After our bar excursions, we hopped the train back to SoHo and had pizza and wine at Alexis's apartment.
First cocktail - with soju.
Delightful drinks and company.
These two, not so much! ;)
Second cocktail, behind the hair salon.
David's strawberry matcha cocktail.
David got a calzone...thingy.
Sunday morning we started again at a coffee shop, this time at the Bedford Studio. We strolled around SoHo and then waited for Thomas and Petros to join us at Abingdon Square. From there we walked along the Hudson River Park. There were tons of people out and about because the weather was so great! After a while of strolling we popped by a small place for a quick lunch before heading back to Alexis's place, packing up and heading home!
Friday began much like the other days this week - matcha run and wrapping up homework before class at 10am...with the added anxiety of deciding to buy my instructor a card and give him a cash tip to thank him for his help. Where do you even buy cards in Greece? It was not obvious to me. After some googling I landed on a bookstore about 15 mins away - which was not open when I arrived. A woman was waiting to enter and she informed me they did sell cards and her colleague would be arriving soon so we chatted for a few minutes. Like a handful of conversations it quickly landed on - you look Greek, but you don't speak much of it, also who did you vote for, Mr. American. That aside, and card in hand, I dashed back to my AirBnB, wrote something in Greek as heartfelt as a 7 year old could probably muster, deposited the cash and then headed off to school - card and a little peach-shaped refrigerator magnet with Atlanta scribbled along the side as farewell gifts - something to remember a half Greek Georgia boy had been there.
Class wrapped up pleasantly - no need for goodbyes because the school had booked us all tickets for a Greek Beer Festival on Saturday - more to come on that later. I skipped off from class, backpack and books in tow back to my AirBnB, reflecting on my newfound ability to conjugate verbs in simple past and simple future - which I considered worth the week in and of itself, and officially brings my grammar skills in Greek to a similar level of my Spanish skills.
After dropping off my bags, I took a stroll through the Pangrati neighborhood, east of the school and my AirBnB in Fix. This leads us to the song of the blog - Παγκράτι (Pangrati) by Marina Spanou. This neighborhood makes me think of early 20s adventures - and pops up in music about the local nightlife. This was not my experience strolling around in the rain showers on a random Friday afternoon - but the neighborhood was leafy, lively and delightful with a large forest park in the middle, the Pangrati Grove.
The First Cemetery of Athens - on the edge of Pangrati.
So many delightful places in Athens.
The Pangrati Grove was really beautiful with a dense canopy of trees.
A typical street scene in Pangrati.
When the rain got a little heavier I ducked into a taverna for lunch. I got some pastitsio and xorta. Pastitsio is the most Greek meal in my mind. I like to ask people about their pastitsio to see how it's different. Everyone has an opinion on the spices or the texture of the bechamel. Mary once asked which spices my family uses for our meat and was happy when I told her because we were on the same side of the pastitsio spice schism. I showed a picture of a recent pastitsio to Spiros on my last day of class and he looked it over and asked to see one of the inside. When I showed him he shook his head and said the bechamel was too thin.
Despite varying preferences, one general truth I experienced is that most people wouldn't tell me where to get it at a restaurant - it's one of those dishes that live in your memory and really the only acceptable version is the one made by your yiayia or mother. But I digress, so when I tell you that this particular pastitsio was not "good" you'll understand that I'm culturally required to think that way. My mom and sister make it better.
An "ok" pastistio.
With rain continuing in the near future, after lunch I decided to dip into the National Gallery, which Mary had mentioned as a nice museum that had recently underwent a renovation. The museum hosted paintings and art from 18th and 19th century Greek artists. There is a wing for 20th century art but it was under renovation when I arrived. It was a nice way to spend around 90 minutes and worth the stop if you're a bit east of the tourist drag.
Art!
Another great pedestrian street in Kolonaki.
After the Gallery, the rain started to let up so I decided to stroll back to Kolonaki to look for some more food souvenirs. While looking around I made the decision to check a bag on the airplane home - something I almost never do - which instantaneously opened up the world of olive oil, wine and honey as gifts and personal souvenirs. I ended up buying a couple bottles of wine and Peloponnesian olive oil as well as some variety boxes of honey. Worth it.
Heading back to the AirBnB I popped in a corner cafe that was closing up for the day to grab a Coke Zero run by an older man and woman. This was probably my best interaction with locals in mostly Greek. I gave a Greek hello (γεία σας) then stumbled asking for what I wanted, so they assumed I spoke no Greek and asked if I wanted a bottle or can, I replied "bottle" in Greek and that drew them in - then came the questions slow pitched to me in simple understandable Greek, my brain lit up with excitement at people making the extra effort and asking the easiest questions. Where are you from? Why are you in Greece? Are you part Greek? Why are you learning Greek? Are you in school? What do you do for work? How are you enjoying your time here? All with huge smiles and helping direct my Greek back at them if I was unsure. BAM. Check mark. A+. Worth the entire trip to just talk for 10 minutes with those kind, friendly people. Maybe I felt like I was a kid speaking to my grandparents again - chasing nostalgia has become a pastime of mine? Maybe I am just a dumb geriatric millennial that seeks a trophy at the end of a task. Whatever the reason it made my week and will likely be something I remember forever.
After hanging out at the AirBnB for a while in the afterglow of my simple conversation I decided tonight was the night to hit the town - as much as a 44 year old guy alone with limited communication skills could do so anyway. I looked up a couple bars in the Gazi neighborhood and headed out with the goal of having a few beers, maybe listening to some music and potentially chatting with some new people. This effort was met with mixed success. It was early for bars so they weren't very crowded. I plopped down and ended up chatting with an older guy from Thessaloniki. He mostly wanted to tell me about his troubles - in love and finance - and wasn't too keen on soft pitching Greek at me. After a while, I decided to make an excuse and head out to another bar - which was even more empty. As I was leaving they were opening up the dance floor across the alley so I feel like I would have had more fun if I had just gone out closer to midnight than 9pm. Notes for next time. I made the 45 minute walk back through the city center enjoying the weather and people watching and turned in for the evening.
A cute side street in Gazi full of bars and restaurants.
One of the bars I visited. There were people behind me (maybe a dozen or so). They were playing great music!
Little Kook is a holiday institution. They take over the block around them and deck it out in over-the-top decorations depending on the season. I'm not sure why it was Alice in Wonderland themed, but it was neat.
Saturday was my last full day in Athens. I started it with a stroll up the Filopappou Hill for views and exercise. I hadn't walked around this hill (just southwest of the Acropolis) in previous visits - which was a mistake because it's very lush and verdant and there are great view towards the Acropolis, the city all around and out to the sea. From the top of that hill I could clearly see everywhere I had visited that week - from the port of Piraeus to the beach at Flisvos, up to the top of the Lycabettus hill and towards the Pangrati Grove. All 4.5 million Athenians (nearly half the population of Greece) within a single 360 degree spin on a hill south of the Acropolis.
Cute cafe on the way towards the Filopappou Hill.
There were tons of trails like this criss-crossing the hill.
Looking back to the Acropolis - my family actually has a painting given to my mother from my grandfather from a similar vantage. It hung on my wall a while, then my middle sister and now my younger sister. I think none of us know exactly what to think of it.
Looking out towards the sea from Fillopapou.
I made my way down the hill on the opposite side and headed towards the Benaki Museum - Pireaus. This museum is broken into several galleries hosting exhibitions. I didn't realize you had to select an exhibit at the counter and just asked to go to the most popular one. The attendant recommended the exhibition hosting works from Alexis Akrithakis - a prominent Greek artist from the 1960s that explored psychedelic images. It was really great and worth a visit if you're in town.
I pull up this picture whenever I need to remember Greek alphabetical order.
Psychedelic.
After the museum, I wandered back towards the city center looking for lunch. I ended up at wholly forgettable little cafe with a sandwich and some fries. I looped back around the tourist shops towards my AirBnB looking for more liquid souvenirs since I broke the seal and decided to check a bag. I found a cute little shop run by a woman whose daughter went to art school in NYC. I bought some quirky items and tucked them away into my bag for gifts or souvenirs.
Ok lunch sandwich and a Coke Zero.
Back at the AirBnB I started the arduous process of packing everything before heading to the Greek Beer Festival - assuming I would be too tired (or too drunk) to want to do that after the festival. Packing was a challenge with all the items I bought!
The Beer festival was great fun. Many of the people I met at the school were there, along with several others and their friends or significant others. We met around 6pm and I stayed until maybe 9:30. My flight the next day was early and I didn't want to risk being a total zombie while having to make decisions navigating an airport and immigration. The festival featured local Greek beers from across the country along with food vendors and live music. I spent time chatting with Dimitra and Spiros as well as the Australian-Greek guy and a few Greek and English folks - including a woman that worked at a bakery. I asked her about koulourakia (Greek cookies) and why I could never find any in Athens with anise (which is how my mother makes them). Apparently, this isn't common and is a regional specialty from the Peloponnesus - we did find some last fall while visiting.
Another interesting man I spoke to - though I'm not sure how he was affiliated with the school - was from Corfu. You may recall from the previous blog that I was told that the worst olive oil in Greece was from Corfu. Well, two beers in, sitting close enough to this man to feel his breath on my neck when he spoke I decided to ask him if this was true. He looked me square in the eyes and his face went blank - at this point I was fully expecting him to punch me - but he just put an arm around my shoulder and said "you are absolutely...correct! It's terrible on Corfu!" He then gave me the same story about the British (what don't they ruin honestly) and their need for fuel oil to light lamps. He went on to explain that he makes his own olive oil and that it is better than the oil in the Peloponnesus. So 2 out of 2 Greek people agree when asked about olive oil - it sucks in Corfu!
The school-associated group started to thin out so I decided to say my goodbyes and make my way back to the AirBnB. It was another long stroll but it's always nice walking through the city center. I stopped for a late night gyro and some fries on the way back - much needed - and crashed. Lucky for me, my flight was delayed by 90 minutes - which meant more sleep - but unlucky for me Sunday was the beginning of European Daylight Savings Time...so hour lost.
Woo, beer!
The place got packed, especially after dark and when the bigger acts took the stage.
Late evening gyro and fries.
To make things easier on myself with the extra baggage in souvenirs, I opted to arrange a car to the airport. The driver arrived right on time and was super friendly - in fact he was Greek-Canadian. He grew up in Ontario and moved to Greece as an adult. His parents were both from Greece and he was fluent in both English and Greek as a result. We chatted about his experience living in Greece for the past 25 years. He had a lot to say about economic conditions and how families are scrapping by since the Financial Crisis. Hearing this soured my last few hours in Greece - but I was thankful that I was able to chat with so many Greek people this trip and to learn so much more about what life is like for people living here (both good and bad).
Overall, this trip was a great experience. I almost never travel alone (except for work). It was fun to set the pace each day, decide what to do and for how long to do it and when and what to eat. I also really enjoyed the language classes and the opportunities they presented to speak with more people than I typically would as a tourist alone.
Another observation, which I'm sure I've pointed out in past blogs to Greece is that I can tell I confuse people in Greece. Again this trip, the most frequent thing I was told by people just meeting me is "you look Greek" or "sorry, I thought you were Greek" when I would start to speak in English or broken Greek to people. This is wholly attributable to my other half (father's family) being Italian. I like feeling like I fit into more than one space, and as a Mediterranean dude living in the Southern half of American I often didn't feel like I fit in growing up. I hope some day I get good enough at speaking Greek and can wholly occupy two worlds at the same time (to some degree). Maybe I should pick up Italian too and go for the trifecta? Una faccia, una razza!
