10 Reasons to Visit… Pittsburgh
We love sharing our reasons to visit different places around the world, but we also enjoy hearing from you. Is there somewhere we’ve missed that you want everyone to know about?
Today we’re hearing from Emily Nemchick, who lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with her top ten reasons to visit the city.
1. The Museums
Although many Londoners might baulk at having to pay to enter Pittsburgh’s museums, they are well worth a visit if you’re in town. Pittsburgh’s Carnegie museums offer a whole day’s worth of fun for art or history lovers. The Andy Warhol museum is also worth looking up for pop art fans, and the Mattress Factory is the perfect day trip for enthusiasts of quirky and imaginative art installations.
2. Mt. Washington
Mt. Washington offers some of the best views of Pittsburgh’s downtown, rivers and gorgeous skyline. Though it has a reputation as a rust-belt city, Pittsburgh’s setting at the confluence of the Ohio and Monongahela rivers makes for some extremely worthwhile vantage points from Mt. Washington’s overlook. Plus, if the season is right, Mt. Washington has some pretty darned good ice cream, too.
3. The Three Rivers Heritage Trail
Anyone who likes to bike or hike should definitely give Pittsburgh a go. Not only does it have trails aplenty, it boasts a biking trail that stretches from downtown Pittsburgh all the way to Washington D.C. For less adventurous bikers or those questing for a quiet stroll, there are also shorter riverside trails, which are a great way to see Pittsburgh whilst enjoying a bit of nature.
4. Local Cuisine (Pierogies!)
Pittsburgh has strong Polish heritage, and as such a local favourite is pierogies. If that isn’t your thing, there are still countless local restaurants offering a range of tasty cuisines. There are great places scattered all over town. Try Primanti Bros for a real taste of traditional Pittsburgh fare – their specialty is sandwiches with chips (French fries) and coleslaw inside the sandwich. It’s pretty decent, actually.
5. Pirates, Penguins and Steel
Not too many actual pirates or penguins unfortunately, but Pittsburgh’s sports teams might make up for the lack if you’re into American football, baseball or ice hockey at all. Pittsburgh’s PNC Park is a huge sports stadium which is a great place to catch a game if you’re in the Burgh during baseball season.
6. The Strip District
This is my absolute favourite place to be in Pittsburgh. The Strip District isn’t as naughty as it sounds, but it’s a great place to spend the afternoon nonetheless. The Strip is a long street boasting specialty cheese stores, coffee shops, fishmongers, butchers, baked goods, spices, open fruit and veg markets and a ton of great bars and restaurants. Anything you want to buy, you can buy in the Strip. It’s also a great place just to window shop and hang out.
7. Phipps Conservatory
Pittsburgh not only has awesome museums but a pretty nifty conservatory chock full of gorgeous flowers and plants. The exhibits change with the seasons, but they are always worth a visit.
8. The South Side
Anyone in search of some nightlife should check out the South Side, home to the happiest happy hours, the hippest clubs (I would assume from their long lines on Saturday nights) and the hoppiest bar hops (I wanted to keep that going there, but seriously, good bars). The South Side is a great place to go out to dinner, grab a few drinks or have a night out on the town affordably.
9. Station Square
Station Square is a fun place to check out some nice boutiques or head to a fancy restaurant. In the summer, it’s also the ideal place to break up a bike ride with a rest and a drink, because it’s right on the South Side bike trail. You can even roll your sightseeing into one and hop on the Incline (cable car) down from Mt. Washington. Pittsburgh is pretty pocket-sized, so it’s a great place to explore on foot, and Station Square is a fun and convenient addition to any itinerary.
10. Breweries
I confess, I saved the best until last. Pittsburgh is the home of many fantastic breweries, and locally brewed beer is pretty epic. Church Brew Works is a must-see as a brewery built inside a converted church, East End Brewing Co. has some tasty seasonal brews, and even whiskey fans can enjoy Pittsburgh’s locally distilled whiskey at Wigle.
It may not be the most glamorous city, but Pittsburgh has tried hard to change its traditional image as a rust-belt city and is regarded as one of America’s most livable cities. It’s guaranteed to keep tourists happy for days too. Stop by if you get a chance!
By Emily Nemchick, English expat and happy Pittsburgh resident.
Website: http://emilynemchick.weebly.com/
Blog: http://londontopittsburgh.wordpress.com/
Do get in touch with us if you’d like to share a ’10 reasons’ post of your own, or you have a suggestion for where we should cover next.
From Advanced Course to “um …” and “er …”
Our post this week is by Lisa Erne from Germany, who’s spending a few months with us at EuroTalk as an intern. Lisa’s been in London now for six weeks, and here she shares some of her experiences so far.
When I arrived in London a few weeks ago I expected a tough start but people here made it very easy for me to feel comfortable. I moved to Brent where I supposed to live with four other housemates, I was really nervous, but there was no reason for that. I was very welcome.
I noticed really fast that the English are always easy-going like always saying sorry, even when you hit them by accident. Every day in the morning on my way to the tube I got like three “Good-Morning’s” from people, who are just passing my way. And everyone here is always pleased to help.
When I started school in the Central School of English near Tottenham Court Road I made easily friends with people from all over the world.
I felt quickly that I “improved” my English. After a few days I lost the habit of saying “um…” and “er…” all the time when thinking about the right words when having a conversation. I mean, home in Germany at my school I was in advanced course of English but you never had like a real conversation situation. The teacher asks you something and you will answer in a few sentences. There has never been real circumstances like this for me. When you’re here you’re forced nearly all the time to speak English. Even a little chat with the cashier in the Tesco supermarket can be a good practice.
London is a varied city, even if I didn’t do any sightseeing yet, I saw a lot of different attractive areas here. There is Camden Town, where you can find a lot of markets and Tattoo & Piercing Shops. Oxford Street became one of my favourite places to be. When the temperatures were still warm, my friends and me walked from our school over Oxford Street to Hyde Park to enjoy the sun. While walking we did window shopping a lot, or just enjoyed everything else around. Also one of our favourite places became the Thames in general, just sitting at the water hanging out.
I already love London, but there are things that drive me mad. One of these things are the tubes. Tubes are always crowded and always late and they stop driving around midnight, but I got already used to it. Buses are the essential alternative to that, but I couldn’t really make friends with them either, because the timetables are sometimes very confusing. And the prices such as for tube tickets and cigarettes are an essential difference to for example in Berlin. Now I’ll really appreciate the prices there when I come back.
A great difference to Berlin is that shops here are opened on every Sunday, even till late hours. In Germany we have just a few weekends when the shops are open on Sundays like some weekends before Christmas, so people can do their last minute present shopping.
As well I enjoy the pubs pretty much. We don’t have a lot of them in Germany, but if it is no spot for young people, more for elder people who want to have a drink on their own after a stressful working day. Here it is a lot more fun, you always get to know new people. My favourite became The Green Man near Oxford Street, because you can also dance there, and The Crown, where many students of the Central School go on Fridays and the drinks are also very affordable.
After all this adventures and experiences yet I can say that London is a place, where I never learned so much about people and life.
Since the six weeks that I’m here I feel pretty much adapted to the lifestyle here and also a little bit of a part of London. I can already say that I won’t forget the time here ever.
Lisa
Has anyone got any suggestions for places that Lisa should visit while she’s in London?
