Pittsburgh, PA - Part 2

This part of the Pittsburgh experience is a little more cultured, shall we say. So far in this trip, we've managed to enjoy a good mix of aimless walking around towns, taking pictures, and actually visiting landmarks and cultural sights.

-Taras

Duquesne Incline:

First stop on the cultural tour (thanks again for the recommendation, Allison!) was the Duquesne Incline, a cable car dating back to 1877.  For $4.50, you get a round-trip ticket on the pretty red car, and for an additional 50 cents (!), you can take a self guided tour of the machinery that runs the whole thing. I was a big fan of getting up close and personal to the 13-foot gear that winds the steel cable! The top of the incline offers some great views of downtown. The yellow bridge (Fort Pitt Bridge) in the picture above is one of 446 bridges in Pittsburgh, making the city the world record holder for the most bridges, beating out Venice by only 3 bridges! (from wiki)

Mattress Factory Art Museum:

The Mattress Factory Art Museum has to be one of the coolest contemporary-modern museums we've visited. Taking up two separate multistory buildings, the museum features room-sized art installations of various media. One of our favorite pieces were two mirror rooms, with bright fluorescent dots and mannequins. I definitely got a "Bruce Lee - Enter The Dragon" feeling in the mirror maze.

Cathedral of Learning:

This 42-story building at the heart of the University of Pittsburgh campus is the second tallest university building in the world (after the Moscow State University building). The building houses 29 Nationality Rooms, donated and decorated by the city's ethnic groups. Fun story: the Russian room was not open for tours the day we went, but Amanda bravely played the "May we please go in, my husband is from Russia and we were really hoping to see the room!" card, and in exchange for a driver's license, we were issued the key to go peek into the Russian room - thanks, wife!

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Have tips on where we should go, see, do? Submit suggestions here or e-mail us! We're in Wisconsin for the next few days... anyone have a favorite cheese tour or brewery?