Pittsburgh Visit 2011 Part IV

On our second to last day in the 'burgh we visited Oakland for the grand nostalgia tour.  First we stopped in Mt. Lebanon to visit our favorite aunt who says she always knew I was the right one for the Missus.  Bless her heart!  

Next we headed to the Science Center, always a favorite.  We did all of the interactive exhibits and toured the WW2 submarine tied up in the river next to the center.

Then we headed to Oakland to visit the nationality rooms at the University of Pittsburgh our Alma mater.  These are classrooms decorated in a theme of a country, mostly European, that reflect the heritage of the people of Pittsburgh.  Definitely worth a visit.  Keep in mind that you need to register to tour the ground floor rooms but not those on the third floor.  Who knows why only the first floor!   http://www.pitt.edu/~natrooms/

We met the Missus' other best friend from Pitt days and headed to the Carnegie Art and Natural History museum.  We got caught in a sudden downpour that despite our umbrellas soaked us but good.  The museum is full of wonderful and amazing art and natural history but I had eyes only for the display of the Berber fending off the lions.  This is an icon from my youth and the one exhibit I always had to see when visiting the museum.  I read somewhere a while ago that the museum wanted to ditch the exhibit but aging baby boomers like me put up such a fuss that they decided to keep it and even spruced it up. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09362/1024019-51.stm

Friday was spent resting and getting ready for the trip home.  President Obama was in town for a visit and with the resulting traffic snarls we decided to stick close to home station.   The Missus and I went for a walk by the airport on a path that paralleled the parkway west.  We realized that all traffic had come to a stop on the highway and that a helicopter was orbiting overhead.  Suddenly we heard the roar of a large jet aircraft taking off and then climbing over the trees and gaining altitude was Air Force one!  What a sight to see!  I guess that the secret service closed the highway to keep traffic away from the airport while the plane took off.

Saturday we sadly headed home and left friends and family behind.  Hopefully some will come to visit us in Southern California!

My favorite aunt and the Missus



The Pittsburgh Science Center



Part of the very elaborate model train display originally held at the Buhl planitarium which is now closed.  I was off to see this display many years ago around Christmas with the boy scouts when I fell on an icy driveway and got a concussion.  Later the head pain became so severe that the outing had to be cut short to get me home.

Young son tries his hand at being a weatherman on T.V. at the science center

The WW2 submarine



Young son tries to bring the sub to life



Hail Pitt!



Nationality room - Czechoslovakia?



India room

Here it is!  The Arab (Berber) courier v. the lions!!

One of the Arizona fires spotted as we returned home