Pittsburgh

For my 50th birthday, John and Carolyn flew us to Pittsburgh to join them for a visit to Young Graham who's attending Duquesne University. Neither of us had been and we were both amazed by how vibrant and beautiful a city it is.

On approach to Pittsburgh I enjoyed a view of a great river winding through the landscape below. A structure caught my eye - I thought it must be a country club or a hotel but I eventually decided that it was an immense private home. I wondered whether several stretches of development could be part of Pittsburgh but then, as the plane banked, I saw a sight that was unmistakeable: the confluence of two rivers, skyscrapers on the downstream point flanked by huge bluffs.

A bit of confusion about the terminal transit system and a very impressive Calder mobile delayed my arrival at the curb. I encountered Carolyn and Stephanie in the terminal just inside the exit. As always, it's pleasantly discombobulating to see familiar faces in completely unfamiliar surroundings. We piled into John and Carolyn's new Toyota Highlander (och ye!) and departed for Pittsburgh proper.

Growing up, I had no more idea of what Pittsburgh might be like than I did Milwaukee. I suppose I would have imagined a rather grey, post-industrial, struggling Midwestern city. Nothing could have prepared me for the drama of seeing the view of the city unfold upon exiting the tunnel that goes through the bluffs. To describe it, I'll have to resort to that literary practice vilified by Stella Gibbons and compare it to something it doesn't resemble in the slightest: a splendid ship, riding at anchor in a dramatic, narrow valley. It really is an amazing sight - the cliffs, the bridges, the rivers, the tall buildings of the downtown. We descended into the valley along the southern bank and then crossed the Monongahela River into the city.

On parking, we walked through the PPG center (imagine the houses of Parliament redone in mirrors) to a quaint shopping street and a Chipotle where we had lunch. Again, thank you Graham for introducing us to Chipotle. We've never looked back.

After lunch, we walked through a beautiful complex of buildings and an impressive underpass to the point at the downstream end of the downtown. It's a beautiful open area with the outline of the old fort visible in the grass. Centered at the point is a huge, round fountain, which was empty for the season. After taking in the view and, I think, a couple of experimental cartwheels, it was decided that the Marshes would go on some errands which included scoping out Graham's prospective digs for the following academic year and that Our Stephanie and I would go for a lovely walk along the river.

Our first leg took us across the Fort Duquesne Bridge. Looking upstream we could see the three (or four?) identical yellow suspension bridges across the Allegheny. Those bridges are an amazing sight - seen while walking across, the towers and cables superimpose creating changing patterns. On the north bank, we paused to look at a war memorial and then set out along the riverside path. Interesting sights abounded: a lone kayaker, a strange labor monument, the downtown buildings across the river, a curvy ultramodern building. Crossing the Rachel Carson bridge (one of the three yellow suspension jobbies) we reentered the downtown and realised it was time to arrange our rendezvous with the rest of the party. We were collected at the base of the UPMC tower where a work crew was putting the finishing touches on a vast nativity scene. The stable was an immense, solid-looking structure easily as big as our entire house here in Milwaukee. "No room at the inn?" Feh.

We stopped at the hotel proper where Carolyn ran in to get the keys and sort out the doin's. This hotel has a number of "satellite" accommodations in converted houses in the neighborhood. We stayed in a wonderful, mansard-roofed, haunted-looking house in the Shadyside neighborhood. I'm not sure if it really is a mansard roof 'cos it only has the one angle, but I don't know what else to call it. Our flat occupied the entire third floor and had an interesting layout, wacky roof angles and a neat little deck that overlooked the nearby roofs and chimneys. The flat proved a perfect home base for our stay - it was a lovely, 10-minute walk through tree-lined streets with beautiful old houses to a lively row of shops where we enjoyed more than one meal and explored a fantastic book and card shop. Our friends Adam and Diane live nearby - they joined us late the first night for a glass of wine out on the rooftop patio and had us over to their lovely house for dinner later in the weekend. Adam's passion for architecture is evident from the wonderful paper models of buildings that decorate their living room. We benefited from his knowledge the second day of our visit when he took us on an amazing architectural...

...of downtown Pittsburgh. I feel the teensiest bit self-conscious writing this description - never a very good student, my lack of retention plus the fact that I was madly shooting photos during the tour may have interfered with my remembering all that Adam told us about what we saw that day.

It was a rainy day. Supplied with umbrellas, Paul, John, Adam and I walked from where we parked in a narrow street over to the first stop on our tour: Union Station. Adam informed us that Daniel Burnham was the architect and that the immense rotunda at the entrance served as a porte-cochere, sheltering carriage-borne arrivals from the elements. The space is amazing - sweeping arches and a coffered dome frame an ornate, glazed oculus. The structure is surfaced with terracotta tile and there's wonderful detail inside and out - faces, floral motifs and a wonderfully ornamented clock.

Passing the post office and courts building (where I snapped a photo of a beautiful metalwork eagle) we made our way along Grant Street to where two immense art deco buildings face each other across 7th Avenue: The Koppers Building and the Gulf Tower. I believe (sorry, Adam!) that it was the Gulf Tower we entered first. Always nervous about potentially trespassing, I was made all the more so when I unwittingly violated the "allow outer door to close before opening inner door" rule. The person at the imposing security desk was very friendly and invited us to explore the lobby which is a beautiful, marble-clad, multi-level space with gorgeous brass doors, grilles and tapered hanging lamps. Crossing the street, we passed under a huge, art deco hanging lantern, and through the four-story entrance alcove into the lobby of the Koppers Building. More of an atrium than a lobby, the space is very tall and (I found) intimidating. Dark, too. A security guard paced the hallway running perpendicularly at the back of the space. Adam drew our attention to the art deco elements of the interior.

Back out into the rain, which was never heavy enough to be a nuisance, we walked through narrow alleys which afforded glimpses of various architectural styles (aluminum-clad 20th Century juxtaposed with neoclassical red-brick) we entered the tiny courtyard of the Harvard/Yale/Princeton Club. A charming little glass lantern crowns the gate with "HYP" superimposed over the glass. A (to me) very unusual church steeple done in open, iron grillwork loomed over the little courtyard.

On to a wonderful intersection where we saw a magnificent line of buildings which Adam told were the single, best-preserved set of old buildings in the downtown. I love seeing old advertising slogans and business names painted directly on brick of which there were several examples in that row.

Through the downtown, down 9th Street and out onto the Rachel Carson Bridge, the upstream-most of the three yellow suspension bridges over the Allegheny. The main cables of the bridge aren't cables at all, as we saw, but intricate structures containing layered metal plates, hinged together rather like a bicycle chain. From the bridge we had a fantastic view up and down river and back at the downtown where we could see some of the buildings we'd already visited.

Back into the downtown, past a tiny park with two artificial tulip magnolia trees (what was the story again, Adam?), an impressive theatre to a pair of churches (First Presbyterian and Trinity Cathedral) with a lovely little churchyard nestled between them. We lingered in the churchyard for a little while, reading inscriptions and listening to the rain drip from the nearly bare trees. Adam suggested we finish our tour at the William Penn Hotel in whose lobby, he said, he often gets a cup of coffee before work. We followed his example and enjoyed cups of coffee (much appreciated after our walk in the rain) sitting on comfy chairs on the dais at one end of the impressive lobby.

Hats off to Adam for a enjoyable and edifying architectural tour!

The Carnegie Museum is on or adjacent to Carnegie-Mellon University and it can't be far from the University of Pittsburgh 'cos I could see the Cathedral of Learning from the main entrance. The auditorium where Graham's concert was to take place is in the same complex so we got a sneak preview of the truly amazing lobby as we entered the museum.

First up was the Hall of Architecture, a space devoted to the museum's collection of plaster casts of architectural elements from the ancient world and medieval Europe. Included are bits of the Parthenon, the Lion Gate of Mycenae, a sphinx from... somewhere and a couple of cathedral facades. Apparently this sort of thing was all the rage during the Victorian Era. The Carnegie is one of only a few museums still preserving architectural casts. For me it was a natural for 3D photographs - it's all things in front of other things.

Then, the dinosaurs! Many impressive complete skeletons posed in front of beautiful murals depicting their ancient habitats. A magnificent specimen of Hatrackus Hibernicus, the Irish elk (I made up that scientific name), and a number of beautiful dioramas of modern animals in natural setting were highights of the rest of our spin through the natural history part of the complex. Oh, and we took a fun "ride" into the bowels of the earth - there's an exhibit which consists of a simulated elevator ride down through the layers of the earth's crust under the museum. Lots of fun.

On into the adjacent art museum. There's a lovely courtyard between the two museums - a bright display of illuminated Chinese characters on the wall of the lobby is reflected in the windows looking onto the courtyard and, from a certain angle, appeared suspended in midair among the trees - a pleasing illusion. Standouts in the collection for me were a Calder mobile, one of Monet's waterlily paintings, and some decorative elements from the ocean liner Normandie.

We left the museum during "magic hour" - lights from the buildings were beautifully balanced by the deep blue of the evening sky. The Cathedral of Learning could be seen looming above the trees in the forecourt of the museum, a few lights glowing warmly in the facade.

We dined at "The Porch" a restaurant at the edge of the park and so close to the museum/auditorium that we were able to walk there and back for the concert. Adam, Diane, Roy and Lynne met us there and we were a jolly party. The restaurant's decor had a fun, industrial feel to it - exposed doin's in the ceiling and old-style lightbulbs with lots of crazy filaments. It reminded me a little of the way my office is being redone. The food was great and it was a wonderful "intermission" between all the art-absorption and the concert that was to come.

The concert was awesome. It was such a privilege to hear Graham play and to hear the group perform in such an amazing venue. The orchestra performed Beethoven's "Emperor Concerto" and Sibelius' 2nd Symphony. The Beethoven is always wonderful to hear, particularly without a competing yodeling demonstration plainly audible as was the case when I heard it performed by the Milwaukee Symphony at GermanFest back in 1992. The piano soloist was fantastic - a member of the Duquesne faculty, if I remember correctly. The Sibelius was an interesting piece: many beautiful sounds but without a strong, identifiable structure - an impression affirmed by the composer's own words in the program notes. During intermission we had an opportunity to explore the lobby at greater length, admiring the ornamental sculptures devoted to important composers which were set at regular intervals in the walls of the upper gallery.

Again, it was a privilege to be present at that concert. I was thinking at the time that one of the great benefits of higher learning institutions is they make such experiences possible - a compelling performance by a group of talented young people taking place in an architectural treasure. We ambushed Graham as he emerged into the lobby after the performance. I hope he wasn't too overwhelmed.

After seeing it time and time again during the weekend, we finally visited the Cathedral of Learning on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. Built as a classroom and administration building in the 1930s, it's one of the tallest educational buildings in the world and (thank you, Wikipedia) the second-tallest gothic-styled building in the world. "Cathedral of Learning" is one of those designations which might sound grandiose - having actually toured the place, I can say it's no exaggeration. The place is hugely impressive. The reading room on the main level is vast - "half-acre, four story" says Wikipedia. At UVa, all we had was a Rotunda of R..., of R...., of Revelry.

In addition to being gobsmackingly tall and scarily gothic, the building features the "Nationality Rooms" - thirty classrooms "done up" in the styles of thirty countries 'round the world. We were told that we could have a shufti at any of the ones that weren't currently in use. I (with various combinations of our party) saw the Swedish, Scottish, Chinese and maybe one or two others.

Paul, Roy, Lynne and I took the elevator up to the 30-somethingth floor to try to score a view. We weren't disappointed - it was a clear day and we could see for miles and miles. The shadow of the tower stretched away (toward the northwest?) and, looking down, we could see the rest of the Pitt campus including a large, Mausoleum-of-Halicarnassy-looking building just across the street.

Back on the ground floor, we visited the international gift shop which had, among many other things, those wonderful Polish porcupine ball Christmas ornaments. (Carolyn gave me one for Christmas which she must have bought then and there, the sly one.) I bought a set of picture postcards depicting the Nationality Rooms.

Rounding out the weekend was a walk around the Duquesne campus. The campus occupies high ground adjacent just east of the downtown and just north of the Monongahela River. It's a remarkable location for a University - high above the surrounding city. A sort of Pittsburgh Parnassus. Looking between the buildings on campus one gets unexpected glimpses of the far distance. An illustration of the setting's verticality is how one can enter a building at ground level and then exit it on the other side on a skywalk several stories above the next street. I can't quite remember how it played out, but the party divided at some point with Graham and I going into the music building so that he could play for me the piece he was practising for his latest vile injury. Violin jury, I mean. It was a treat to hear him play - hugely enjoyable as a musical experience (he really is very talented) but also because it was in one of the practise rooms so I now can have a memory of him playing in the very place where he practices on a daily basis.

Reunited, our party walked down (and "down" means "DOWN" on that campus) to an antique store frequented by Graham - an astonishing place consisting of five floors of mind-boggling disarray. This shop makes our basement look like a zen garden. Wobbling stacks of junk piled up to the ceiling. In one stairwell, there was a picture with shards of it's smashed glass pointing out into the walkway at eye level.

After a lovely meal at a little Peruvian restaurant we started on our way back to the airport, stopping at a scenic overlook on the southern bluffs for one last look at the city. Thanks once again to Carolyn and John for a wonderful 50th birthday treat!