Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Pittsburgh


So, what does Pittsburgh look like? It's a lot like Cleveland. You can tell that these were both big, booming manufacturing towns that flourished in the early twentieth century. They also both suffer from the same perpetual overcast skies.

Pittsburgh had a lot of money at one point (much of it from Andrew Carnegie) and a good portion went to educational endeavors. This explains my visit to the Cathedral of Learning, an enormous 42-story building that is a cross between a Gothic Cathedral and a skyscraper.


The inside really does look like a cathedral, although instead of singing hymns, you have study hall there. It looks like great fun to study here, except that tourists are always walking by, talking loudly.




Several dozen rooms in the Cathedral are classrooms. Each one is sponsored by one ethnic group of Philadelphia. (Except the Latin American room, which is sad. Wales, which is not even a independent country, gets its own classroom. But the entire continents-spanning regian of Latin America has to cram into one room.)

To the left, you can see a typical example: the Greek room, with marble facings, a decorated ceiling, and my friend M (she's not a permanent feature of the Greek room.)


We also spent some time food shopping at small ethnic stores, so I could stock up on things that are difficult to find in Miami. High quality Asian groceries are hard to find, which explains the nori and bean curd skin knots. Varieties of looseleaf tea are rather rare, which I attribute to the preponderance of Cuban coffee.

(Cathedral of Learning exterior photo by Piotrus)

5 comments:

Beth said...

Can you recommend any specific ethnic stores in Pittsburgh, since you seem to have discovered more in one weekend than I've found in 9 months of living here? :-)

alexis said...

oh! is your friend M also expecting a family addition or have I just put my foot in my mouth?

Love the Cathedral of Learning, what a great way to enjoy the beauty of the cathedral without religion.

Renee Michelle Goertzen said...

Alexis, yes, she is in the family way. I went to visit her now because I figured her life would be a bit too full for visits in a few months.

Shaela said...

So if I ever get to Pittsburgh, or Cleveland, I can check the other off of my list as well? I find the idea of you traveling from Miami to Pittsburgh and searching for ethnic foods kind of funny.

unclem-nm said...

Pittsburgh is one of the few cities in the US I have not been to. Seems like I should figure out a way to got there.