City of Pitts

Pittsburgh -- don't go unless you have to (I was there for my bro-out-law's graduation). No offense to Pittsburgh readers, but it's called Pittsburgh for a reason -- it's the pits, an entire burgh of pits. I think it may very well be the worst city I've ever visited, probably on par with Staten Island (another wannabe city). I know I am very NYC-centric, but Pittsburgh is really terrible. We were bored with it after a day, everything was closed by 9pm, and it was desolate even when light out. There was plenty of traffic though to slow us down and to remind us that this is a terrible place to live/visit. One thing I will give it is the nice old buildings (the new ones are nothing much). My bro-out-law's 2 bedroom pre-war apartment, with tall ceilings, three fireplaces, and great moulding, takes up half the floor and would probably be beyond the millions if found in Manhattan (or it would be subdivided into at least 2 separate apartments and still be pretty expensive). It, however, like most everything else in Pittsburgh, is in sad shape and in dire need of some fixing up (the bathroom and kitchen were grimy and would do well with some new cabinets and new flooring).

Since we were in the city for the graduation, I thought we could make it into a nice little trip. But every guide that I consulted didn't offer anything truly interesting: zoo (not a fan of animals locked up in cages for my entertainment), conservatory (seen one plant, seen them all), Andy Warhol Museum (closed on Monday, the day we had free, not that I particularly enjoy his work and can you really beat the MOMA's modern art collection?), the Duquesne Incline (huge disappointment -- see below). So surely I thought there would be some good food to redeem this sorry town.

It's a sign when what you're known for is a sandwich (basically bar food) whose signature is a pile of fries (albeit hand-cut) and vinegar coleslaw thrown on top of the meat of your choice. Granted, the sandwich was not bad (but it's very hard to not have me smile after eating BACON!), I just really didn't need to travel so far for a sandwich that I can make myself (plain white bread!).

Bacon sandwich with Pittsburgh Steelers' stadium in background.

As for the incline, it seemed pretty interesting when I read about it, but when we got there, it was basically just an old outdoor elevator. On our way up, I was so scared because it felt like we were floating in mid-space -- only one end of the car is attached to the wire and with your back to it, you don't see anything but the buildings below. It didn't help that I really needed to use the bathroom (we were trying to get rid of our beverages before we boarded the plane, lest it cause trouble on the airport security line) and the cranky man who sold us the tickets said there'd be bathrooms at the top so I was anticipating quick relief. However, he lied! There was not much at the top besides a few display cases of old paraphernalia, a souvenir shop and a viewing platform. We walked around a bit but it was mostly just residential, with a few bars. The place was vastly empty so there was no way to sneak into the bathroom. In the end, I kept my urges at bay and twenty minutes later, we were back at the bottom of the hill. *yawn* I imagine it would be a more interesting ride at night, with all the city lights, but nothing really spectacular during the day.
Pretty nice-looking structure from the outside (note the old, wooden tracks of the incline, much like the Cyclone in Brooklyn, but far less exciting).

View from the (bathroom-less top) -- click to enlarge.

But the entire weekend was not a waste. I finished reading The Kite Runner (mostly while in the airport), I got to sleep for many hours, and the highlight of it all: Fallingwater. That little sidetrip was so wondrous and awe-inspiring that it deserves a post of its own.