Mt Washington

we had been to Mt. Washington before....

once with friends back in 2010...

and then again with family...

however the other Sunday we decided to go there again... and this time we explored a spot that we hadn't visited before. we viewed the Pittsburgh skyline from one of the funiculars scaling Mt Washington.... the Duquesne Incline...

The funiculars in Duquesne Incline ferry passengers between its upper station in Grandview Avenue and lower station on East  Carson Street.  its a mere 6 minutes ride... but its a fun ride nevertheless. we took the ride down the incline in the century old cable-car. bought our tickets from the lower station.  and almost immediately took the ride back to the upper station... the cable car moves very slowly. so you don't really feel anything... but the view is spectacular... enough to entice even a 8 month old :)

the upper station building houses a lovely observation deck  with a panoramic view of Pittsburgh Downtown ....

and a cute little museum of Pittsburgh history including photographs and a lot of information and pictures of cable-cars all over the world....

 but it was the souvenir penny minting machines that scored the points with us :)

our baby enticed and thrilled by the whole spinning act laughed and giggled every time we spun the handle... and we did that as many times as we could for we  loved the impressions on the pennies and wanted them all for our collection....

we also liked the upper station gift shop from where i bought......

few DI picture postcards for my collection,  a pretty little poster of Southside works because it was pretty, a  DI-shot glass for my mother's collection and a DI pen because it was cute :)

With just 2 weeks left before we move to NY, I am begining to get a little sentimental about the little things that i'll miss about Pittsburgh. as a friend pointed out the other day... once in Long Island, we'll probably miss the easy traffic and short commutes to interesting places like this... every once-in-a-while.....

Dolce far niente.....

... because its a summer Friday....

          and pretty zinnias are in full bloom everywhere...

 

also.... we spotted a deer in our backyard....

 

which terrified little K to the core .....  

 So much from our end... Have a safe and fun weekend !

the fourth

Though Indians ourselves..... ....because it was a holiday and we have a cute little American boy... this year.. we decided to indulge in the spirit of the fourth of July. i had dreamt of greeting our friends Happy 4th with home-made choco-chip muffins in red-blue-white cupcake liners and some sparklers.

however not much of my dreams materialised... and what we really ended up doing was to drive to Pittsburgh-downtown wearing our American-flag tees...

 park our car somewhere in the 9th street and walk down three blocks ......

 

to Point State Park, where most of the locals had gathered for the final day of the 35th EQT Pittsburgh Three Rivers Regatta  and the 4th of July fireworks. 
At the Regatta, amongst other things the Powerboat Championship caught our fancy...

 besides this intricate and massive sand sculpture which was an absolute centre of attraction.

most of the evening our boy was happy... shouting and cheering with the crowd.

but by the time the fireworks begun he was totally exhausted  and the last thing he probably wanted was the noise of the fire-crackers. so  half-way through the show we had to leave :(

 

  nevertheless we enjoyed the day and hope to plan the next fourth a little better than this one...