pittsburgh, part one
Okay, since this particular part of my US trip is of interest to more than one of you (unlike my RI visit, which is likely only interesting to me), I'll post this bit first.
I had organized a cheapish flight from Providence to Pittsburgh on a regional plane operated by US Air. I hesitate to use the term 'jet', as I'm fairly certain this wasn't one. What is the capacity a plane needs in order to be a jet? Or is this something which has to do with engines and stuff? Paging jetboo... Whatever it was, I could only stand up straight in it at one certain point, and it's not often one's seat is both a window AND an aisle.
Upon landing, we were told we would need to sit on the runway for a while because our gate was currently occupied. Of course we were surrounded by completely empty gates, as this was the middle of the freaking day, but whatever. I understand the gate system a bit. It's still annoying, especially when you know someone is waiting for you to de-plane.
The airport was HUGE. Hub-huge. Is Pittsburgh a hub? for anything? I not only had a lengthy walk + people moving walkway, but then had a little public transport train thing to take to the baggage area. I felt like I was in a very important place, indeed. Along the way, I noted the artwork statue of George Washington (the first shots of the ... er.. French- American? war were fired here) placed with equal prominence beside the statue of a Pittsburgh Steeler in full uniform. I don't think much needs to be added to this observation.
macshel was at the baggage area to greet me, and there was much rejoicing + kvetching/apologizing by me re: long runway sit. I think she thought I got lost along the way from the gate to the baggage area.
We had a coffee while we waited for my stylish Marlboro bag (oh, it was the only weekend bag we could come up with at my mom's place!) to roll off the belt. We could have spent the day chit-chatting in at the airport, but indeed, we had more interesting places to sit in and chit-chat, so we eventually we moved onward.
I don't remember much about the drive to the city beyond the fact that she's an EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD DRIVER. :D And indeed, I've totally forgotten the name of the district in town which we stopped in for some window browsing. Once she's responded I'll edit this accordingly so I'll look like I knew what I was talking about here.
We had intended to have some Thai food for lunch, but they were closed (I suppose we were slightly past the lunch hour by this time) and I wasn't as keen to have a Primanti Brothers sandwich as I suppose I should have been, so we headed to a UK-style pub she likes. More gossiping ensued, appetizers were eaten, and beer was sampled. Music was playing, and this is the point where macshel learned my dirty secret: I know the words to every metal song from the 80's, evar. This is not a genre in which she partakes, however it did earn brownie points with mr. macshel later on.
After a lovely afternoon out, we headed to her house, where we discovered the phone wasn't working. She will likely go into more detail on this subject. It's an ongoing issue, apparently. :( As she was attempting to resolve it via a call on her mobile to the company, mr. macshel came home with The Child, who was, of course, adorable.
We had a semi-quiet evening in with some wine and TV, and I was able to pass along the load of British biscuits and chocolates I had brought along with me. I also returned some books I've had of hers for freaking ages, plus some I thought she'd like, and in return gained several new books to read. I love trading books with good friends, as it's a good way of trying new books I'd never normally pick out for myself (but end up liking anyway), as well as a way of sharing books I've enjoyed but don't necessarily need to preserve in my home library for eternity.
I digress. The Child gave up his room for me (which he was very proud of, awww!) and his bed was a real bed, not tiny and car-shaped. :) Not that I thought that would be the furniture of choice from macshel, but I admit I make up crazy things in my own head sometimes.
Saturday was an early-ish start (I believe we made it out of the house by 9am, but I'm not sure), and we headed to the Strip in the city for some breakfast at Pamela's Diner, which was recently voted best breakfast in town. I had the pancakes, which were almost as thin as crepes, and appeared to have been deep-fried. They were certainly different, and tasty, but I was also pleased that I'd ordered a side of potatoes on Shel's recommendation. Apparently the pancakes are what the place is known for (according to the articles I've just now read), but I think the potatoes were better. And why yes, I did eat potatoes and pancakes for breakfast. I realize that's a wee bit starchy, but I was only in town for two days, so I had to try the stuff while I could!
I have to say I LOVED the Strip area. The Italian markets there featured a variety of reasonably-priced imported foods, and there were several street vendors selling cheap snack foods from various countries. We stopped at The Enrico Biscotti Co after breakfast, which was a great time to do so because I wasn't tempted to buy out the place. I hemmed and hawed over what to get, and settled on a chocolate ravioli (chocolate-filled pastry, sort of ravioli shaped) which turned out to be a VERY good choice. I saved it for having along with coffee in the afternoon, and was seriously impressed by the pastry shell. Words cannot describe it. I will be honest; the last time I had pastry which made this sort of impression on me, I was in Paris. I regretted not having purchased more of them, but really, my waistline is okay with the error.
We perused a nice kitchenware shop where we both purchased some cute cookie cutter shapes, and she bought some salads at one of the Italian shops. She put distance space between us while I took some photos of the place. Hey, I've learned that if I want the photos, I need to take them, and I just have to deal with the fact that I look like a tourist while doing so! However embarrassing that might be for the locals with me. ;)
We decided to forgo our field trip to see Sweeney Todd, as the timing of the movie was just really poor and we would have had to cut our trip to the city short in order to see it. We ended up doing a bit more shopping elsewhere before heading back to the house in the late afternoon.
Okay, this has gotten really wordy, so I'm going to break it into two entries. I have some time today, though, and will very possibly get the second bit up a bit later in the day. Because I just know you're all waiting for the fateful conclusion to this tale. cough.
I had organized a cheapish flight from Providence to Pittsburgh on a regional plane operated by US Air. I hesitate to use the term 'jet', as I'm fairly certain this wasn't one. What is the capacity a plane needs in order to be a jet? Or is this something which has to do with engines and stuff? Paging jetboo... Whatever it was, I could only stand up straight in it at one certain point, and it's not often one's seat is both a window AND an aisle.
Upon landing, we were told we would need to sit on the runway for a while because our gate was currently occupied. Of course we were surrounded by completely empty gates, as this was the middle of the freaking day, but whatever. I understand the gate system a bit. It's still annoying, especially when you know someone is waiting for you to de-plane.
The airport was HUGE. Hub-huge. Is Pittsburgh a hub? for anything? I not only had a lengthy walk + people moving walkway, but then had a little public transport train thing to take to the baggage area. I felt like I was in a very important place, indeed. Along the way, I noted the artwork statue of George Washington (the first shots of the ... er.. French- American? war were fired here) placed with equal prominence beside the statue of a Pittsburgh Steeler in full uniform. I don't think much needs to be added to this observation.
macshel was at the baggage area to greet me, and there was much rejoicing + kvetching/apologizing by me re: long runway sit. I think she thought I got lost along the way from the gate to the baggage area.
We had a coffee while we waited for my stylish Marlboro bag (oh, it was the only weekend bag we could come up with at my mom's place!) to roll off the belt. We could have spent the day chit-chatting in at the airport, but indeed, we had more interesting places to sit in and chit-chat, so we eventually we moved onward.
I don't remember much about the drive to the city beyond the fact that she's an EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD DRIVER. :D And indeed, I've totally forgotten the name of the district in town which we stopped in for some window browsing. Once she's responded I'll edit this accordingly so I'll look like I knew what I was talking about here.
We had intended to have some Thai food for lunch, but they were closed (I suppose we were slightly past the lunch hour by this time) and I wasn't as keen to have a Primanti Brothers sandwich as I suppose I should have been, so we headed to a UK-style pub she likes. More gossiping ensued, appetizers were eaten, and beer was sampled. Music was playing, and this is the point where macshel learned my dirty secret: I know the words to every metal song from the 80's, evar. This is not a genre in which she partakes, however it did earn brownie points with mr. macshel later on.
After a lovely afternoon out, we headed to her house, where we discovered the phone wasn't working. She will likely go into more detail on this subject. It's an ongoing issue, apparently. :( As she was attempting to resolve it via a call on her mobile to the company, mr. macshel came home with The Child, who was, of course, adorable.
We had a semi-quiet evening in with some wine and TV, and I was able to pass along the load of British biscuits and chocolates I had brought along with me. I also returned some books I've had of hers for freaking ages, plus some I thought she'd like, and in return gained several new books to read. I love trading books with good friends, as it's a good way of trying new books I'd never normally pick out for myself (but end up liking anyway), as well as a way of sharing books I've enjoyed but don't necessarily need to preserve in my home library for eternity.
I digress. The Child gave up his room for me (which he was very proud of, awww!) and his bed was a real bed, not tiny and car-shaped. :) Not that I thought that would be the furniture of choice from macshel, but I admit I make up crazy things in my own head sometimes.
Saturday was an early-ish start (I believe we made it out of the house by 9am, but I'm not sure), and we headed to the Strip in the city for some breakfast at Pamela's Diner, which was recently voted best breakfast in town. I had the pancakes, which were almost as thin as crepes, and appeared to have been deep-fried. They were certainly different, and tasty, but I was also pleased that I'd ordered a side of potatoes on Shel's recommendation. Apparently the pancakes are what the place is known for (according to the articles I've just now read), but I think the potatoes were better. And why yes, I did eat potatoes and pancakes for breakfast. I realize that's a wee bit starchy, but I was only in town for two days, so I had to try the stuff while I could!
I have to say I LOVED the Strip area. The Italian markets there featured a variety of reasonably-priced imported foods, and there were several street vendors selling cheap snack foods from various countries. We stopped at The Enrico Biscotti Co after breakfast, which was a great time to do so because I wasn't tempted to buy out the place. I hemmed and hawed over what to get, and settled on a chocolate ravioli (chocolate-filled pastry, sort of ravioli shaped) which turned out to be a VERY good choice. I saved it for having along with coffee in the afternoon, and was seriously impressed by the pastry shell. Words cannot describe it. I will be honest; the last time I had pastry which made this sort of impression on me, I was in Paris. I regretted not having purchased more of them, but really, my waistline is okay with the error.
We perused a nice kitchenware shop where we both purchased some cute cookie cutter shapes, and she bought some salads at one of the Italian shops. She put distance space between us while I took some photos of the place. Hey, I've learned that if I want the photos, I need to take them, and I just have to deal with the fact that I look like a tourist while doing so! However embarrassing that might be for the locals with me. ;)
We decided to forgo our field trip to see Sweeney Todd, as the timing of the movie was just really poor and we would have had to cut our trip to the city short in order to see it. We ended up doing a bit more shopping elsewhere before heading back to the house in the late afternoon.
Okay, this has gotten really wordy, so I'm going to break it into two entries. I have some time today, though, and will very possibly get the second bit up a bit later in the day. Because I just know you're all waiting for the fateful conclusion to this tale. cough.