Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh

What does one do on a cold and windy day in Pittsburgh? I found the answer on Sunday, the 29th of Jan., 2012. Deepthi had mentioned this earlier to me and treated me to a wonderful visit of the Phipps Conservatory, right next to her campus, in Schenley Park. It is "a great steel and glass Victorian greenhouse" and has the most gorgeous flowers and plants inside. What a visual treat it was!



































Happy Birthday, Karun!!

Hot Metal Bridge of Pittsburgh

Some of the Bio Engineering labs at the University of Pittsburgh are on the banks of the Monongahela River. 

The students cross the Hot Metal Bridge to get to one of their favorite hangouts on the other side. The bridge is a truss bridge - interesting since Meghana just had her bridge-building project in her Physics class. Molten steel used to be carried on the bridge from one bank to another when Pittsburgh used to be famous for it's steel production.




The Cheesecake Factory, REI sports and other places are alongside the Hofbrauhaus, where many a celebration takes place.


Tuesday, the 31st of January, 2012 turned out to be a glorious day for walking, with sunny skies and the temperature around 58 degrees F. While Deep sat in class, she recommended I park the car and walk over the Hot Metal Bridge. What better way to celebrate Karun's 25th?!

 American Eagle Outfitters has it's corporate offices in the area. You can see the Eagle at the other end of the bridge, on the opposite banks (opposite to the BioEngg. buildings.)

Shadow of the bridge in the Monongahela River.

The  Allegheny River from the Northeast and the Monongahela River from the Southeast join to form the Ohio River in Pittsburgh. The area between these rivers in downtown is called the Golden Triangle and the old stadium was called the Three Rivers Stadium.


One can get the most beautiful view of Pittsburgh from the middle of the Hot Metal Bridge. The following pictures are views of the city through the arch of the Birmingham Bridge .



This is a monument built for the steelworkers of Pittsburgh.


 This is all the snow left after the big snowstorm they had around the weekend of Jan. 21st.


No visit to Pittsburgh would be complete without going to the famous SV Temple - Sri Venkateswara Temple, located in Penn Hills and constructed in 1975 - 1976. We were lucky to get a beautiful "dharshan" on a very quiet Monday evening.