The Fourth Quarter

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Q. How many boardings does it take to get a United Flight off the ground?

A. Well in our case it was three, making for a 3 hour delay on a flight with 37 minutes air time. Suffice it to say that the “friendly skies” were rather grumpy in all quarters the day we flew from DC to Pittsburgh. And so begins the fourth (and final) quarter of our US holiday.

Fortunately the delay was not enough to derail our plans for the evening which involved meeting up with friends who we had not seen in 30 years, and being whisked off by them for a quick bite to eat and then on to the stadium on the south side of Pittsburgh for the regional grand final of the schools' lacrosse competition in which their son was playing. From a sublime stadium viewpoint, across the river to downtown Pittsburgh, on a clear and crisp evening we were introduced to the game, which at times could be best described as rugby with sticks! A lack of knowledge of the game did not impede Peter from shouting, commiserating, cheering and generally getting well involved (our host also observed that he was probably laughing just a bit too much at times); Dianne was generally more sensible, well rugged up under a blanket, which was a particularly good idea when the game went into the second round of sudden death extra time – a cliffhanger indeed and a great outcome with “our” team the ultimate victors. Go Go Le Bo - What a welcome Pittsburgh!!!

Refreshed after a good night’s sleep it was out and about to explore Pittsburgh in the good and knowledgeable care of our friends. First thing that strikes you about the city is the number of bridges, which on brief reflection is pretty obvious given the confluence of two major rivers at the heart of the downtown area. How many bridges? – well 446 to be (more or less) precise as it was unclear as to whether this included a couple of derelict sites where only the stone pylons remained. The city is also in the throes of gentrifying it bridges, changing their names from the rather pedestrian ^th Street bridge to names reflecting the city’s famous sons and daughters – Rachel Carson Bridge, Andy Warhol Bridge etc. And why not, especially when its 6^th Street Bridge (aka Roberto Clemente Bridge) has a plaque that proclaims The American Institute of Steel Construction named the Sixth Street Bridge as the "most beautiful steel bridge" of 1928. Why should beauty queens and the Kardashians get all the attention?

And as if all that steel and rivets and cables weren’t enough (and they weren’t for Peter) it was off to the site of the decommissioned Carrie Blast furnace for a Rivers of Steel tour with even too many details and anecdotes for Peter and his metallurgical background. Two and half hours into a two hour tour (yes – do the math) our happy band decided to pull the pin (a number of other members of our tour group followed suit) and head back into town for some much needed refreshment in the revitalised warehouse area of downtown known as The Strip. Now before we talk about The Strip it is important to touch upon some of the observations from Rivers of Steel, lest you think that we did not enjoy it. It was an amazing site to visit and experience the slowly rusting and crumbling remains of this once massive furnace operation. It was a kind of industrial Angkor Wat, with vines now starting to grow up the girders and small trees sprouting from the top of the furnace and associated buildings – a mixture of social melancholy and witness to nature’s power to reclaim. However the furnace complex itself is finding new facets of its character including the tour we are on, use as a stage for an episode of American Ninja, and a site and source for some guerrilla sculpture affectionately known as the Carrie Deer. This parallels Pittsburgh itself which is coming back from some significant economic and social shocks by moving into education, medicine and technology. Similarly The Strip where we find ourselves for lunch still retains its warehouse flavour, while undergoing steady gentrification. Crowning one warehouse is the animated ketchup bottle neon sign from the Heinz factory (yes the 57 varieties Heinz) across the river, although we are told that Beans Means Heinz is not the case in the US as it is in Australia; must be a cultural thing or something to do with the winds of change. The Strip is pumping with the Saturday markets and an anti-GMO rally and everywhere is full to overflowing, and luckily we squeeze into an Italian café located in the storage area at the back of the Enrico Biscotti Company; we get the deluxe (seriously) table in the loading dock – chain roller door and all – right near the woodfired pizza oven, and so (excellent) pizzas it is for lunch. These are accompanied by wine dispensed by The Wine Fairy who operates a complementary business in this café, and the provenance of these wines is Carlo’s Garage. Billed as an urban winery – first urban bee keepers, and now an urban winemaker – we later discover that the winery is literally below our feet in the basement; wine from 200 litre containers appears to be syphoned into wooden barrels of various ages for further “elaboration & maturation”; not every “vintage” is a winner and so it is fortunate that The Wine Fairy has a try before you buy policy. Again a great example of how this city can adapt and regrow, plus an ever growing experience of the straightforward and welcoming warmth of Pittsburghers in general which is quite the social balm after some of our less than friendly DC encounters.

As this weekend is the Memorial Day long weekend the next day our friends spirit us away a couple of hours down the road to Deep Creek Lake. As our mutual friend from Maryland with whom we stayed the previous week remarked – “If you think our place at Maryland was chilled, then wait ‘til you get to Deep Creek Lake; it’s a great place to do absolutely nothing”. And she was absolutely right as the photo of Dianne and our hosts knocking themselves out attests. What a lush and tranquil way to pass a long weekend. Peter is reminded of his favourite Spanish saying – how wonderful to do nothing and then afterwards rest. Despite the somewhat remote location there is a great wine shop in town which has an excellent selection of international wines including some best kept Australian secrets, and so a gathering of our hosts’ clan over the evening meal is accompanied by The Black Chook sparking shiraz (and a Pazo Señorans albariño just to maintain an international balance); we also secured a Bullocks Rutherglen muscat, but more about that later in the post. Forget Nixon’s ping pong diplomacy this is the way to build international relationships.

Thoroughly relaxed and refreshed from our time at the Lake we return to Pittsburgh for our last few days in the city before our return to New York and then the inevitable return home – siiigh. This is a time to explore the city in more depth and it too, like the wine store at Deep Creek Lake, reveals some intoxicating surprises (other than Carlo’s Garage that is). Prime among these is the Andy Warhol museum a truly amazing jewel box discovery. Yes he is a native son, yes he is buried in a non-descript cemetery (with a webcam focussed on his grave) about 10 minutes’ drive from our friends’ house (we pay a post dinner visit there), and yes the 5 floors of this museum and its archives are fabulous and fully available – in much the same way as are Pittsburghers. This warmth is reflected at Schmidt’s deli in the creative district downtown where we call in for some nourishment after passing over 3 hours in the Warhol museum. While Dianne had a fail to launch (or is that lunch) at Katz Deli in New York, all was made right with the Angry T “sangaweech” (as they say here, yins) at Schmidt’s – refer to photo; 'nuff said – with an aperitivo of 2 pierogi (nod to Poland), washed down with a draft root beer, plus some Australian Crawl on the house sound track which our waiter points out to us: triple bonus points here as he didn’t initially ask us where we were from. Nourished and enriched we take in some of the downtown architecture in the theatre district (also making a comeback) and again attempt to find the Mattress Factory arts centre on the northern side of the river(s) and, with the help of a map and some directions this time, are richly rewarded. Four floors in the main building plus two other associated buildings, major installation pieces of both the current artists’ residency program plus longer term (1980’s works) installation artists; stunning, challenging and stimulating – the essence of Pittsburgh. After the Mattress Factory we ramble around the surrounding area and reflect on the grit and gentrification of the area – it is an area in quite a state of flux – and then head back to our hosts’ on the T; the light rail network with the home grown feel (Garrison Keillor voice over here). A meal together, and a cultural exchange at the end of the evening where we demonstrate how to nip off opposite corners of a tim-tam biscuit and use it straw-like to saturate the internal biscuit with some muscat; refer to the Bullocks purchase at the lake in the previous paragraph (or other sweet wine of your choosing) and then eat it; this is a true cultural exchange and the world will be a better place for it. As our hosts have Italian heritage we attempt to package this as an Australian version of a tiramisu – and if none of this makes any sense then, well, that’s your problem, because it tastes delicious.

The next morning it is time to pack up and head to the airport for our only not-off-schedule journey to date during our trip, and there we are back in New York for four days and then home to Australia. This time we locate ourselves on the upper west side, and spend quite an amount of our time catching up with friends, which has been very much the flavour of this holiday – a very different and enjoyable flavour to our previous jaunts. Amongst this socialising we visit the Cloisters, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, imbibe at McSorleys (spot the odd one out but just as legendary), ramble the Time Warner centre, and do a Scott-guided walking tour of Washington Heights (thanks Scottie B).

And then it is time for the long journey home, and so as not to break the pattern our plane is prevented from taking off for more than two hours as lightning strikes twice close to the runway at JFK airport (including while we are on the plane and they announce that they are refuelling while we wait – comforting; nothing like a fiery death). However eventually we are home to a clear bright and chilly autumn morning in Sydney, and as we reflect upon our travels this time, and the nature of travel and stepping outside the everyday world in general we are reminded of an E.E Cummings poem that accompanied one of the installations at the Mattress Factory that seems to capture the essence of undertaking “frivolous” ventures such as travel and everyday journeys and flights no matter how grand or seemingly small….

“Damn everything but the circus! ...damn everything that is grim, dull, motionless, unrisking, inward turning, damn everything that won't get into the circle, that won't enjoy. That won't throw its heart into the tension, surprise, fear and delight of the circus, the round world, the full existence...”

Thank you for journeying with us, and especially to our generous hosts and erstwhile companions; thank you all for helping us weave the tapestry of this trip. Travel well where ever you go, and may you throw your heart fully into the circus of this world and life.

Until our next journey, warmest wishes

Peter & Dianne O’C

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Photos

Game ON
View from the southside across the lacrosse stadium to downtown Pittsburgh; is that a bridge in shot?

How Many Bridges Make a City?
446 so we are told

Carrie Reclaimed
Nature re-instates itself atop the Carrie Blast furnace

The Carrie Deer
Guerrilla Sculpture Reanimates the Carrie Blast Furnace

Heinz Doesn't Mean Beans
Neon signage above The Strip

Serenity Squared
Dianne and our Hosts putting in 110% effort at Deep Creek Lake

The Eternal 15 minutes of Fame
Andy Warhol's grave - now available on webcam 24/7

The Angry T
Pittsburgh's answer to Katz's Deli Sandwich

Angles on Old and New Pittsburgh
Eras of building frontages in Pittsburgh's cultural district

Mattress Factory Inspiration
A thought for our imminent return to work

Comments

[GemB]

Sounds like a gas
Had to get a fart joke in there didn't ya?