Pittsburgh
April 5th, 2016
Originally written during my Ten Cities in Ten Days solo trip back in April 2016.
The minute I got out of the bus I realized it’s much colder here than in Philadelphia. I looked at the weather app and saw the temperature just above 30 degrees. Put my hood on, tightened the scarf around my neck and tucked it inside my jacket, stuck my hands deep inside the pockets and thanked God for bringing a sweater with me. I started moving fast, crossing streets back and forth like a disoriented dog, while looking for any directional signs — which in this frenzy couldn’t have helped anyway even if I knew what to look for. I’m hoping for a path to magically show up in front of me, being too cold to take my phone out and actually check where to go. Finally I do it, and decide to head somewhere deeper into the city to find some place to spend 5 minutes in an attempt to both warm up and to message my next Airbnb host. I find a Seven-Eleven. I enter it without any hesitation. This airbnb host was prompt, replying right away, welcoming me to drop by as soon as I wish, to leave my backpack. I take the invitation right away and start moving towards my new temporary home. I notice I have to cross a bridge; I remember just seeing one minutes before and I assume there’s only one bridge around so I start in that direction. Boy was I wrong — the bridge took me to the opposite side of town, from where I had to now come back and find the proper one to cross. I had the chance to see quite a bit more of the city in this fashion so I didn’t mind it. Moreover, the cold weather started to warm up, or I just got adjusted to it so I started to feel better.
A big yellow stadium rises up on the left side as I’m crossing the bridge, like a magnificent Arena of Ancient Rome. The only difference is that the gladiator blood spilled on the sand is replaced by the sweat and spit in the grass. The objective of killing is replaced by the purpose to score a home run, and the length of the entire game is scattered across multiple rounds with breaks in between — perfect opportunities to spend an extra dollar on some more of that highly branded junk food. The crowds on the other hand are not that much different, both being drawn to the extraordinarily of the moment, to clashes between the titans and to a spirit of “victory that shall become legend!”, cheering uncontained whenever such a “glamorous” moment arises. It also happens to be the first day of the season which makes both the stadium and the city itself the hosts to thousands of people dressed in black and yellow jerseys rushing around for the big game. I even saw a Jack Sparrow being hugged by one of the yellow guys after it all ended, in a celebratory fashion. The Pirates must have won.
At the base of the bridge, in the first building on the left side, a random door opens the way inside the Andy Warhol Museum, one of the main attractions of the city, which to my surprise looked rather insignificant from the outside, but hey, don’t judge a museum by its facade. Or should you?!
I’m going further, directed this time by google maps, and I gradually start to feel a faint sensation in my calves reminding me of the gym days. My new home is on a hill, and as I lift my eyes from the phone screen forward, I see the myriads of houses scattered all over its surface, painting a picturesque landscape. This too, reminded me of home and I liked it. After I’m shown around and told the “what’s” and “where’s” by E, the host, I decide to take it on foot again, and continue with my explorations. I’m getting a bit hungry and decide to check the strip district in an attempt to get one of those Pittsburgh famous sandwiches — the Primanty Sandwich which is Pittsburgh’s response to the Philly Cheese Steak. I’m walking back into the city by taking another bridge this time, and of course I’m getting lost again, being drawn to everything that’s green, has a body of water next to it or looks somewhat old. I’m taking pictures all the way and I enjoy the sun, which finally came out and raised the temperature to over forty, thus making the whole experience much more pleasent. Slowly but surely I’m creating a visual map of the whole downtown area and now that I’m more aware of my geography I’m reorienting towards the smell of food. Unfortunately the trail to the food place is long and it requires plenty of walking, which brings me to a desolated area that’s home to long and deserted buildings with broken windows and empty parking lots, crowded behind a long fence racing with the road I’m on. In the back now the Pittsburgh skyline, in the front old industrial buildings on both sides and not a soul. In fact, with the game in town on a Sunday afternoon the whole city is very silent and lonely. I’m used to silent and lonely, and to be fair I don’t really mind it.
When I finally synchronize with the map I realize that I am walking in parallel with the Strip for a while now, and that this whole area used to be quite active just a few minutes before but I’ve missed it. The little stores were just packing up their merchandise, and closing up. Had I only known I have to make a left 10 minutes before… Too late now for these kind of thoughts, and besides the main reason I came here was to eat! “Damn”, I realize, “I hope that place is still open and didn’t walk the last 40 minutes for nothing!”. And it was. It is in fact open 24 hours, and by its look it stays crowded all the time.
I take a seat at the bar and I start checking the menu. I was thinking there’s only one of those famous sandwiches instead of a full page, so now I’m not sure what to order. I feel like a disoriented dog in the middle of the street again. Going back and forth into the list, I’m asking for just one more minute, while I’m also frenetically browsing the Forsquare reviews in hopes to point me in the right direction. I finally find one tip that says “Pastrami is the only answer here” so I go with it, followed by “be sure to wash it down with an Iron Cold” and so I hesitantly order an iron cold beer not being sure if that’s its real name or the reviewer uses a slang. “Oh you want an Iron Cold?! I gotcha’!” she says while transforming her expression from slightly annoyed to happy, which puts me at ease again.
The sandwich was good, and very much needed after almost a whole day of eating nothing and I guess the beer helped me loosen up even more. After this endeavor I’m starting to head back into the city, but this time I choose the path that follows the river bank like a serpent. The view, oh the view is getting better and better. The Sun is almost ready to set, so I’m stoping here and there to take some more pictures.
The downtown maintained its silence and lack of people walking around — another sign I’m not in New York anymore, with one exception. There, in the middle of the sidewalk with nobody else around, a girl dances to the music blasting in her headphones, simply not minding at all what’s going on around her. “Hmm, I guess I’m not as far from New York as I just thought.” I pass right by her with the nudge of applauding for the show, but she’s to drawn into her zone and I lack the needed confidence so I’m skipping. I decide to complete my mental map of the city wishing to find more hidden gems.
Besides another plaza type of thing, and a square park surrounded by restaurants and also, surprisingly, people walking by, there’s nothing else so I decide to better go check out my new neighborhood. I’m choosing to take yet another bridge to cross the river back, and there she is again — the dancing girl, just moving her body in place, waiting at a cross stop with the same mood on her face and dissiniterest about the rest. She had no idea I just spotted her the second time, nor did she care at all. What a great way to live!
I see the hill laying its mark in front of me for the second time today, and this time I deliberately choose to climb it as high as I can to look for the best view over the city. I’m in luck ‘cause right in front of me a set of iron stairs were easing the way up. I start to move, and I already feel like a winner at the top. Then when the second set of stairs came upon I took them too. By the time I was done with the third one I had to take my jacket off, but the feeling was there. I was flying now!
The night ended soon after, and when I got home I fell into a deep sleep, dreaming of bridges and dancing moves.
