Ruth and the sunset at the island of Dhiffushi, Maldives.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Kuwait City, Kuwait on March 31st.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

A great day in Pittsburgh!

First of all, we couldn't have asked for better weather. It was a little cloudy and windy in the morning, but by early afternoon the sun came out and it was sunny and warm! We won't say no to 80F (27C) and sunshine in late October! Perfect!

So, we had done our architecture tour this morning, and then came back to the hotel and had some lunch in our room while I posted the blog update from the morning tour. We had a boat tour planned for the afternoon with Gateway Clipper Cruises, and we had to be at the dock around 2:30pm.

Ruth, at the Gateway Clipper dock.

Everybody was on the top deck enjoying the beautiful day.

Lots of different views of the downtown area.

Pittsburgh wasn't a very "liveable" city back in the 1970's and 1980's. Prior to that, the city used to be so thick with smog that streetlights were lit in the middle of the afternoon. People would go to work with a change of clothes because the soot from the smokestacks would stain their clothing as the day wore on. Pollution was rampant. The collapse of the steel industry caused widespread unemployment and there was a lot of poverty and crime. However that was the old Pittsburgh.

Today, Pittsburgh is home to three universities and the economy has shifted from industry to high tech, medicine, tourism, and corporate headquarters. There is a drive on to bring people back to live in the downtown core with many former office and warehouse buildings being converted to residences.

For 2012, Pittsburgh was listed as the 30th "most liveable" city in the world. Quite a change from only 30 years ago.

Pittsburgh.

Our one hour cruise was interesting, and our host Katy was really good at telling some stories and pointing out the sights.

After the cruise, we walked over to the Duquesne Incline to get to the top of Mt. Washington. There used to 17 of these inclines that were originally used to bring coal down to the river. Now, there are only two left and they are used by tourists looking for a view, as well as local commuters.

Ruth, in the old funicular cable car.

Beautiful view of Pittsburgh from the top.

We walked along the top of Mt. Washington and enjoyed the viewpoints along the way.

Tonight we are watching game one of the World Series. Interestingly, the very first World Series game was played right here in Pittsburgh back in October of 1903!

Lots of baseball history here in Pittsburgh!

14 comments:

  1. Looks like the great weather helped you enjoy the city.

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  2. Nice pics and tour of the city - never realized that Pittsburgh had so many bridges!

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    1. A study in 2006 said that Pittsburgh had 446 bridges, it is known as "The City of Bridges", and these are just the bridges in the city itself. It now beats Venice, Italy as the world record holder for bridges with piers and stands contained within the city limits.

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  3. Holy bridges, Batman, I think I count 9 of them in the header photo!! Who knew?!! As always, pictures and stories are great. Looking forward to seeing you guys!

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    1. Check out the reply above to see how many bridges there are in Pittsburgh. It is amazing!

      Can't wait to see you guys as well.

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  4. HELLO FRIENDS KNOW I'm glad to greet HAVING FUN BUT ESPECIALLY already CLOSER TO MEXICO AND SOON WE WILL SEE IN VALLE DE BRAVO. SOON

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    1. Gracias Paco y Ota para seguir adelante. Estamos mirando adelante a verle también en Valle de Bravo. Probablemente vamos a estar allí en enero.

      Thank you Paco and Oty for following along. We are looking forward to seeing you as well in Valle de Bravo. We will probably be there sometime in January.

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  5. Interesting info about the bridges but glad they cleared up the pollution. I pictured people with black lungs never mind their clothes.

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    1. They have done a great job cleaning up the city. It is a beautiful city and one thing we really noticed here is the lack of graffiti!

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  6. Thank you for visiting my beautiful city! Just wanted to let you know that we actually have more than three universities within the city limits, as well as several colleges. In fact, the Pittsburgh metro area has more institutions of higher learning than the Boston area, which is commonly considered the epitome of a "collegiate" city.

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    1. Thank you Vix for giving us that extra info on the universities and colleges. We really enjoyed our stay in Pittsburg and won't hestitate to stop in again. There really is so much to see and do!

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  7. Glad you enjoyed the beauty of the 'Burgh. I live one hour away and we are there at least twice a month. It's gorgeous, fun, filled with food and pretty buildings, has great music, sports, theater and festivals. Not to mention some of the kindest friendliest people in the world. LOVE it!

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    1. Yep, we sure enjoyed our stay. Ww would really have loved to have been able to have seen a baseball game there though :(

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