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Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Pittsburgh Traffic

Not what you think! Yes, traffic was terrible in Pittsburgh over the weekend. There is a lot of road construction going on and we crawled along for miles on Friday in bumper-to-bumper traffic. But that's not what I wanted to write about today. The traffic I refer to is the wide variety of means of transportation I observed while we were visiting Point Park.

First though, I have to show you this amazing bridge. This is the Andy Warhol bridge, and it was recently "yarn-bombed" to become a work of art. Amazing!


You can see better photos of the bridge and more of its story at the Huffington Post website.

 Here's a good example of the traffic I referred to : a barge, a pleasure boat, a train in the background and the bridge above-4 kinds of transport in one photo.


Motor boats idled past Point Park, then speeded up and zoomed down the river as a train chugged by on the opposite bank.



Across the river, building perch on a high cliff as a small red trolley makes it way up a track.

I really wanted to go over there and take a ride on the trolley and investigate the sternwheelers we could see across the way, but Larry was in his usual hurry to get home and I could not persuade him to take the time to explore. That is the down side of having him with me sometimes--I am always ready to take a side trip, but Larry? Not so much. So this will have to wait for the next trip to Pittsburgh.



We come through this tunnel every time we visit Pittsburgh. When you pass through from the other side, suddenly there is the city spread before you--the rivers, the bridges, the tall buildings. Looking back at the bridge from the park, you can see that some of the city is also clustered high on the cliff over top of the tunnel. 


Kayakers took to the water on Sunday, passing by the sternwheelers parked along the shore.


A tour vehicle passed by...



and drove right into the water! That's another thing I'd like to try sometime!


As we were leaving we saw these three-wheeled bikes offering free rides around the city, courtesy of a local business. Maybe next time I can convince Larry to stick around and enjoy the city before coming home. There is so much to see and do, it would take a full weekend to even make a dent. Pittsburgh, once the steel hub of the country has re-invented itself to become a center for arts, culture and tourism. It's quite a transformation, and a successful one from what I could see.

More about Point Park tomorrow. Right now, I am off to pay my taxes. Not fun, but it has to be done. Then it's more peaches to put up this afternoon, and maybe some firepit time this evening.



Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

7 comments:

  1. Such a nice variety, I thoroughly enjoyed this tour- yeah those side trips and hubbies, what is that :-)!

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  2. Your little red trolley looks very similar to one which exists in N Devon UK. There are actually two trolleys connected by a cable which runs over a huge pulley at the top of the "railway", as one goes down it pulls the other up. Underneath each of the wagons is a water tank. The one at the top of the hill has its tank filled while at the bottom of the hill the water tank is emptied. Then it's just a case of releasing the safety brake and letting gravity do its work. The one in Devon can be said to have been built by Sherlock Holmes as it was financed by the owner of Strand magazine, the success of which was due in no small measure to Conan Doyle's fictional detective.

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  3. You've brought fond memories of the NSN conference i Pittsburgh, and the stop there while on the Delta Queen Cruise . . . yes, worth a return visit. Thanks for sharing!

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  4. My husband always wants to wander and explore a little more than I do. He is interested in most everything when we travel, where I am more selective.

    We muddle along, though.

    =)

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  5. What fun! I know nothing about Pittsburgh so I enjoyed seeing it.

    We have the 'ducks' here in Arkansas as well, the buses that can float. I heard somewhere that they used those in WWII. We also have the fun bikes in our little northwest Arkansas town. but you have to do your own peddaling. They have huge family style bikes that will seat 6 to 8 people at least. they're pretty fun to watch.

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  6. I would have loved to take a trolley ride straight up that steep hillside!!

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  7. I'm going to ride that cable car up the hill some day. that looks awesome. Enjoy all your travels, your work, your booths and your observations. Keep them coming.

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