I first visited Pittsburgh in my "around Lake Erie" trip with Rick in 1996, and I was back again in 1999 with friends after my good friend Nancy moved to the city. Then not again until 2019, when I shot down for a quick and photolicious weekend. Pittsburgh is hilly and presents many beautiful vistas, and though it was a challenge not to get lost on its complicated streets, I took pleasure in my unplanned detours. I also got to visit Nancy again, having a night out with friends at her place, which made this trip more special than most of my US microtrips. It was like coming home after a day of sightseeing.
Photo List (Total 424 Photos)
Click bolded headers below to view, or click "just the best" for quick tour
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Central Pittsburgh (152 photos) - Pittsburgh's downtown is essentially a big triangle, bordered on the north by the Allegheny River, on the south by the Monongehela, and on the east by an expressway. It only makes sense to start this gallery at the fountain at Point State Park, and then gradually jiggle my west eastward from there. There's a lot of highrise shots in this gallery, because I found the city had a rich legacy of skyscrapers. Pittsburgh once had the tallest building in the world outside of New York and Chicago. Also Picklesburgh.
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Inclines (27 photos) - Just across the rivers from downtown there are two historical inclines (funiculars) that take you up to the top of Coal Hill. I took both of them, and they offered some lovely views of the city.
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Northside (82 photos) - This gallery starts just north of the downtown, with some buildings and views on the other side of the Allegheny River. I visited two art museums up here, the Andy Warhol Museum and the very good contemporary gallery the Mattress Factory. Also the outsider art installation/gallery called Randyland and the National Aviary, and general views of the area.
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East Pittsburgh (150 photos) - This huge gallery is everything east of the downtown. My first visit to the east involved the Strip District, Polish Hill and Shadyside. My second mostly focussed around Carnegie Mellon University and the immediate area. Apart from the very strange Cathedral of Learning, there are a few other buildings that are part of the university captured here. There is also a huge complex which includes the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and the Carnegie Library. I went to all of them. I also visited the lovely Phipps Conservatory and Schenley Park, with its Works Progress Administration bridges. The gallery ends with some shots in Wilkinsburg, where I got seriously lost in the morning on my way to the university.
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Miscellaneous Pittsburgh (4 photos) - This includes a few shots of the airport, a murky shot of the city skyline from the plane, and a photo of Nancy and I together at her place.
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Pittsburgh in 1996 with Rick (4 photos) - Four panoramic photos of a visit with Rick to Pittsburgh.
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Pittsburgh in 1999 (5 photos) - Mary, Kate and I went to visit Nancy in Pittsburgh after she moved down there. We visited Carnegie Mellon University and we also went to see Nancy's brother Andrew at the WWF.
