"Pittsburgh entered the core of my heart...and cannot be torn out." -Andrew Carnegie
The Steel City, The City of Bridges, The 'Burgh. Known for its Steel Industry, love of sports teams, and food, Pittsburgh is a modern city in the midst of what is considered a technical and arts renaissance. My mom and I took a weekend trip to visit Pittsburgh in early February. During our trip, we toured the University of Pittsburgh, including a student performance of Pippin, toured the
Carnegie Mellon Museum of Art and History,
and ate amazing meals all around.
While we were there, someone recommended that we check out the Mount Washington neighborhood. We took a Lyft from where we were staying in the college part of town into downtown and up to Mount Washington. Pittsburgh is known for its hills and hiking. In the Mount Washington area, there is a viewpoint of the city and small shops run by the people who live up there. You can tell that this is a popular spot when the weather is warmer. It is considered one of the best viewpoints of the city, and you can see why.
From the neighborhood, you can see the entire Pittsburgh skyline as well as the 3 converging rivers- the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers. In the distance, you can see the neighborhood we are staying in, with the Cathedral of Learning towering in the sky (read about the Cathedral here). One of our favorite buildings was the One PPG Place. Designed by Phillip Johnson for Pittsburgh Plate Glass industries, the buildings is reminiscent of the Cathedral of Learning as a Gothic style skyscraper made of glass. You can also see the multiple bridges that Pitt is known for. Pittsburgh has 446 bridges in total, a greater number than Venice, Italy. The Smithfield Street Bridge is one of the oldest steel bridges in the United States and is a National Historic Landmark. Heinz Field, with its bright orange seats is the Pittsburgh Steelers and University of Pittsburgh Panthers play football.
Even the drive up or down the hill, filled me with that feeling of being happy to be alive in a moment. I was amazed by the houses that looked like they were sticking off of the hills, especially as we got closer to the top and you could see secluded houses that were a part of the hill in a way. I love architecture and Pittsburgh does not disappoint as a city; Gothic influence, bridges, the quaint buildings of the Firstside Historic District, and modern skyscrapers
combine into a mosaic. If you make it out to Pittsburgh, I highly recommending finding a viewpoint like Mount Washington to take in the views of this sweeping, dynamic, and redeveloping city.
