Oslo to Pittsburgh

It was time to return to Pittsburgh to visit Nana and generally regroup. We stayed overnight at the Oslo airport, arose the next morning and boarded a Delta Flight that took us to Amsterdam, then Boston and onto Pittsburgh. It wasn't quite as painful as it sounds. Long day, but by evening, Pittsburgh time, we were walking into or downtown apartment, looking forward the next morning to sifting through bales of mail and visiting with our kids, old friends Pirate baseball, and, of course, Nana herself, still standing after 86 years on Planet Earth.

The Best of Pittsburgh

We've been traveling so much and we write and share so much about the many places we have been on our odyssey that our hometown gets short shrift. But now it's time to share a little love for a city we truly consider to be one of the world's gems: Pittsburgh. It's beautiful; its history is central to the history of the United States and therefore the world; its people are warm, fun-loving, hardworking and tolerant. For too many years, the city has been seen as an old and grimy industrial city (and indeed it did once produce more of the world's steel than any city on earth). While that industry made it quite ugly at one time, it also made it quite wealthy and that wealth and hard work has transformed it into a city I recommend to anyone who loves urban life, history, architecture, and superb culture. You'll find few American cities more authentic and more fun whether it riding it's inclines (funiculars) above its three rivers, enjoying one of the world's top rated symphony orchestras, exploring its many superlative universities, enjoying any of its three major league sports teams, shopping the mayhem of its Strip District markets, visiting its world-class museums (including the Andy Warhol, Carnegie Science Center, Carnegie Museum of Art and natural History, the Heinz History Museum), and walking amongst some of the most beautiful urban architecture anywhere. I like to call Pittsburgh America's most European city because it has that kind of sensibility, beauty and embraceability. If fellow vagabonds out there want to visit, contact me and we'll set you up (if we're in town :-). Enjoy the beauty shots below.