My trip up to Pittsburgh was mostly to see a friend, but I also put in some time as a museum tourist which gives me something to blog about.
First, food-wise, we hit local chain Aladdin which serves a wider selection and is more sit-down oriented than Lebanese Taverna, although for the moment I prefer the food at the latter. That said, there's a fair amount at Aladdin safely below $10 which is always nice.
After lunch on Tuesday we went to the Carnegie Museum which includes both natural history exhibits and art and architecture. I felt I got my $15 admission worth (less for students), although we mainly had time to see some of the best hits:
- Dinosaurs! They had a wide range including the first T-rex ever discovered if the displays are to be believed. I'd say the number of assembled skeletons is on par with other top-line natural history museums.
- Minerals/Gems: This doesn't quite reach the New York Museum of Natural History level but still offered a terrific variety. My favorite bit of jewelry was a rainbow selection of corundum, a gem type that includes both rubies (the red sort) and sapphires (blue and everything else).
- Architecture: There was a reasonably interesting side hall exhibit, but the real star for me was the main architecture room which had giant facades of ancient buildings that reminded me of my visit to the Pergamon in Berlin. (Not sure if any of the originator countries want them back; that's not the sort of thing displays tend to cover). It was decked out for Christmas with various trees inspired by the Greek muses, although I preferred the odd Romanesque nativity scene over the trees on aesthetic grounds.
All told, a great way to spend the afternoon. Afterwards we walked a few miles back to my friend's house and that was that for the tourist part of the day.
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