I heart Pittsburgh

I'm ba-ack! Did you miss me? Of course you didn't, you didn't even know I was away. That's okay. The total truth is that while the captain and I did just get back from a getaway down to Pittsburgh, I've been incredibly busy around here and the blog has suffered. I apologize about that.

But now that I am back and trying to resume normal routines, I must tell you that Pittsburgh rocks! It has very cool old restaurants, including a vintage restored 1949 diner we discovered in the Pittsburgh boro of Tarentum. I found beautiful old buildings to photograph (I took hundreds and hundreds of pictures) and both the captain and I were amazed at the enthusiasm of the Pittsburgh Steelers fans. They love their Steelers in Pittsburgh!

Above are just 4 of the aforementioned jazillion photos I took. Upper left, what I at first thought was a gargoyle but in actuality is a phoenix. If you'll check my Flickr account, you'll see the photos of the old Otto Milk Co. building, upon which the phoenix perches. An amazing find. Upper right, a "welcome sign" painted on the side of a building in the area of Pittsburgh known as "the strip". Very funky neighbourhood, full of restaurants, shops and sidewalk vendors. Bottom left, a sidewalk sandwich board for De Luca's, a very old, very plain, and very good restaurant. I enjoyed a De Luca's specialty, their "funky monkey". Try not to drool: it featured a chocolate-banana waffle, topped with fresh banana slices, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup. Yum, yum, yum. Finally, bottom right, the early morning reflection of a bridge over the Allegheny River. Just lovely.

Yes indeed, Pittsburgh is a wonderful city. I particularly liked the Andy Warhol Museum (but have no pictures as photographs were not permitted while viewing the exhibits and the art). I was particularly moved by the exhibit of photographs that Warhol had taken himself. I have always known that Warhol was a big influence on me but I was amazed when viewing his photographs to see the similarities in subject matter in his work as compared to mine -- especially since I'm positive I have never before viewed any of his photos. I am currently now on the hunt for a book of Warhol photographs (the museum's gift shop did not sell one); if anyone knows of such a book, please let me know!