'Burg to 'Burgh: Day 2

We headed into the Steel City early Sunday morning, coming in through the Fort Pitt Tunnel. The mountains surrounding the place bear a resemblance to those around Blacksburg in that you can see them miles ahead, but steep cliffs from the result of blasting dot the Pittsburgh perimeter.

That pointed building ahead is called Fifth Avenue Place, a shopping and office complex. The mast at the top sways  a good three feet in high winds.

 We passed through the University of Pittsburgh several times due to its central location, much like VCU in Richmond. It has more quads and recreational fields of its own though, and its buildings blend in with the cityscape, save for one:

The Cathedral of Learning has 43 floors with public access to the  36th. Despite the name, no religious events are held here.

The first few floors are the equivalent of Tech's Torgersen Bridge, a quiet study area for students, while the higher levels house offices for the Honors Program, Study Abroad, etc. A few students were at work, but we mostly saw visitors like us walking around.

I wonder how that old Headmaster is doing these days. Oh wait...

From the 36th floor. The Carnegie Museums are on the left, with a quad for communications majors on the right.

Our first stop was the Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History, both located in the same building. We didn't have time to visit the Carnegie Science Center or the Andy Warhol Museum, also in Pittsburgh. I can only appreciate a soup can for so long.

The Natural History Museum progressed in an evolutionary fashion, from dinosaurs all the way up to modern mammals and other cool things that can kill you.

The windows in the back show the museum's library, with over 132,000 volumes.

  Among the displays I recognized a model of a T. rex skeleton  I had seen before: "Jane", which I saw on exhibit when I was 14 at the Burpee Museum in Rockford, Illinois, where my mom's family is from. The actual "Jane" in Rockford is the best preserved and most complete skeleton in existence of a juvenile T. rex. My sister is also named Jane, who is also a cold-blooded reptile (sometimes).

Plenty of other animal exhibits from around the world were on display, such as this one:

A French naturalist and taxidermist witnessed this badass scene and recreated it in the late 1800s, entitled "An Arab Courier Attacked by Lions."  The courier has killed the lioness here with a shot to the head.

It's probably thanks to this guy that Barbary lions are now extinct. And yet, the public and art world of 1898 thought this was so discomforting and unsuitable for display that the Carnegie Museum acquired it for only $50.

The art museum has everything you would expect and then some; a giant statue room, a large atrium with casts of famous buildings and sculptures, and art pieces sorted by style and civilization. Japanese prints, Renaissance art, and Hindu idols were all there.

The modern art section is another story. If you've seen Banksy's documentary "Exit Through the Gift Shop," then you know how confusing modern art can be. It's not supposed to make sense. You're not supposed to piece together a story or find an underlying meaning from it. Scratching your head and wondering what the hell you're looking at is the point.

The first exhibit in the modern art section. I think I did something like this in third grade and got a C+.

Slenderman has really let himself go.

Yes, this is a looped video of a cat drinking milk. And yes, this is in the modern art section.

A more artsy piece called the "Walking Man".  It sold at auction for *Raises pinky  to mouth* $100 million dollars! But this isn't the only one; there are five more models.

After giving up trying to figure out what everything meant, we took a wooden gondola up to Mount Washington, which offers many high-end restaurants and homes along with a great view of the Pittsburgh skyline. Unfortunately, we weren't dressed for the occasion.

The gondola during its 300 foot descent. The red building below is an old train station converted into a shopping and tourist center.

 From the top of Mt. Washington. Heinz field is centered here, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Nice try, Bane.

Our workshop at Carnegie Mellon started early the next morning, so we left after eating to rest up and read over some papers. Pittsburgh has a lot to offer, and it can't be covered in a single day. A Pirates/Steelers game in town would definitely make a great second trip.

Cheers,

Ben