Pittsburgh in a Day

I am working on several projects right now, but they have taken me longer to finish than I had expected. I will post pictures soon, but until then, here are some snapshots of Rick's and my trip to Pittsburgh this weekend (again, I apologize for the poor photo quality - Rick's old iPhone is still my camera for now). 

We thought for a minute that we went the wrong way when we saw this sign (By the way, I love that their slogan is "Wild and Wonderful"):

But when we looked at the map, West Viginia extends a bit between Pennsylvania and Ohio, and I never knew that. Anyhow, we were happy to eventually see this sign: 

Apparently The New York Times has called Pittsburgh the only city with an entrance, and our drive in definitely supported that. The area was far more hilly than we had expected, and because of this we couldn't see the city before we were in it. We drove through this tunnel...

... and here is what we saw when we came out:

It definitely looked more stunning in real life, but at least you get the idea of it all. We drove into the city to a cool old area called Lawrenceville for lunch.

Then we explored a bit and drove over some bridges to get different views of the city. I included this next picture to show you what the iPhone does to railings, signs, and trees when taking moving pictures - it looks so warped! :) Oh well...

Some downtown architecture (again, the second picture curved the building):

We then drove up to Duquesne Heights, where there was a gorgeous lookout point with a panoramic view of the city.

We then headed over to Oakland for some ice cream and a walk around the University of Pittsburgh. This cathedral is called Heinz Chapel, and it's situated across the green from the Cathedral of Learning.

Rick and I had read about the Cathedral of Learning from a book we read recently called Desiring the Kingdom by James K.A. Smith, so we were interested in seeing what it was like. Here it is, a towering structure:

While we both have reservations about naming a building the "Cathedral of Learning," we both agreed that we wouldn't mind studying there. The architecture is breathtaking.

We then ate dinner at Joe's Crab Shack across the river from downtown, and it was so nice to have some seafood! For a while I thought the building in the middle below was the Cathedral of Learning because I think it looks kind of church-ly as well, but it was offices and shops, which I guess could have its own symbolic message. :)

The drive home was beautiful. I love that the sun sets so late here now. We got home around 9, and the skies were still light. I took these pictures just outside Gambier, which is about 5-10 minutes away from Mount Vernon.

My next installment will be "Pittsburgh in Pattern," coming soon! 

-Shelley