Governator

Hi, My wife and I decided on a last minute trip to Pittsburgh. We're here now staying downtown, looking for some advice on what to see and do for 2 days. I'm on a moderate budget so, if recommending restaurants, please keep that in mind.

1. What are the most interesting neighborhoods to stroll around. What's the prettiest parts of town? What's the hippest, trendiest part of town?
2. Where's a good place for breakfast? (lunch, dinner.)
3. Is one incline better then the other?
4. Can I park my car on the street on Memorial day (i.e. Sunday rules?)
5. How's the subway here?
6. Any other advice?

Thanks in advance.

Governator

Well we're on our way over to Pamelas for breakfast. I hope I have some replies when I get back.

capxxx

1. Interesting neighborhoods: Southside for hip trendy nightlife, Shadyside for boutique shopping and nightlife, the Strip District (not what it sounds like) for world markets and good food. The triangle area is very pretty.

3. I think the incline by Station Square has a slightly better view, and easier to get to.

5. The subway is the cutest little thing you've ever seen.

6. Look for great ethnic food in Oakland and other parts of town. The museums and Schenley park are nice for strolling around.

Governator

Thanks,capxxx

I'll go check some of that out.

Governator

Well yesterday we ate breakfast at Pamela's on 21st st. We were seated immediately. Enjoyed the blueberry pancakes loaded with real blueberries. Then we strolled the interesting shopping along the strip. One guy selling rings was asking $65 for a ring, but was overheard to be bargained down to $40, that's a lot of leeway.

We drove around some of the recommended neighborhoods, southside, shadyside, oakland. I was impressed by the houses in the shadyside neighborhood. I wonder what some of those old houses go for. The Pitt campus was very impressive, especially the 'Cathedral of Learning' which I found out later is the tallest university building in the western hemisphere. In fact, there's lot's of impressive architecture to be seen all over Pittsburgh.

Later I noticed on the map that there was a scenic drive in the Southside. I was very pleasantly surprised to find out that it led to the view at the top Mt Washington. That was the highlight of yesterday. The views of the triangle and the 3 rivers was awesome and made the trip here worthwhile. We came back to see the view later at night, again.

We ate dinner at 'The Thai Place'. The name leaves no doubt as to what they are . The food was very good and tasty. They ask you how spicy you want it and for us it was just right.

I parked on the street last night and think it's Sunday rules on Memorial day. I'll need to find some other spot for tonight as I don't want to pay the 16 parking at the Marriot.

Today we'll probably walk around downtown, and hopefully find something else to do. Tomorrow we'll hit the Carnegie museums before heading home.

longhorn55

I'm glad you got over to the Pitt campus as I would have recommended that had I read your post earlier. Did you tour the Nationality Rooms in the Cathderal of Learning? I've done that twice as I have a student at Pitt and I thorourghly enjoyed it both times (and saw things the second time that I missed on the first tour). The Heinz Chapel and its wonderful stained glass windows is also worth a visit.

cd

There's also the Andy Warhol Museum and if you have time, Fallingwater is a wonderful day trip! http://www.fallingwater.org/2

alise007

I think you hit most of the highlights that I would have suggested! I hope you had a great trip!

The strip district is prob the best place for cheap eats! I recommend Enrico Biscotti for bfast! I love Peppi's for subs and cajun fries. A very Pittsburgh place is Primanti's

Governator

On the second day of our mini-vacation, Memorial Day, turns out I was able to park on the street.

For breakfast we wanted to try Deluccas, however the line was way too long. We walked over to Pamelas, but they were closed for the holiday (thus the long line at Deluccas.)

We went across the street and down a block to a pizza place and had a pizza for lunch. Though the pie we ordered looked good enough for a magazine picture, the taste was somewhat lacking. Never the less we gorged ourselves on most of it.

We went over to the Heinz Historical Museum and spent 4 hours there. That is a very interesting place and I learned a lot about , among other things, Pennsylvania sports, and innovations in Pittsburgh. The sports museum section seems to give way more attention to football then baseball. It's probably there, but I couldn't find anything on Ralph Kiner.

When we left there, I was running out of ideas, but I remembered that Mexican Wars neighborhood was supposed to be interesting. When I asked for directions to it at a gas station, one of the guys there raised his eyes. The other however, said that Art Rooney lived there, and gave me directions. Anyway, I found the neighborhood and it did indeed have some interesting architecture.

Another interesting thing I saw , while driving around in other neighborhoods , was the Liberty Presbytarian Church. I researched it later and found that it was financed by the son of Mellon, which explains it's enormity. I guess having had all those rich guys living in Pittsburgh is the reason there is so much good architecture in the city.

Driving around I was wondering who built the numerous mansion sized houses. Even a lot of the ordinary houses seem very large. I was wondering if the average middle class person was able to build a large house, in the past.

We ate dinner at an old restaurant in the squirrel hill section Gulifty's. The food was good and reasonable, however my wife said it smelled kind of like a mop and had a depressing atmosphere. Unfortunately we got so full on the food we didn't get to try the desserts, which are probably very good.

In the evening we went back to see the awesome view from Mt. Washington. This is the best thing about Pittsburgh. There were a lot of people up there enjoying it , as well.

The following day we ate at Pamelas again, however, they must have different chefs, because it wasn't as good the second time around. It was funny that when I ordered my eggs with whole wheat toast, they brought it italian bread. I sent it back and then they brought it with rye bread ???

We were going to hit the carnegie art museum before leaving for home, but with the heavy rains and the long trip ahead we decided to skip it for another time.

All in all, we had a very good time and liked Pittsburgh. We especially liked the Marriot hotel where we got a great room at a discount, using Priceline (not a plug.) Hopefully we can return some day, to see a Pirate game and the Carnegie museums.