Hi everyone!

Anyone who has been following my blog this year knows that I am an ardent amateur photographer. It’s a hobby that I have enjoyed since my teen years, and I have progressed gradually from a cheap film-based point-and-shoot camera through to my current choice of a Sony A100 D-SLR.  In fact, one of my proudest moments was when two of my efforts were rewarded with 2nd place awards alongside the 3rd place award given to my (then) 11-year old daughter, at the Iowa State Fair. With the frequent travel that my job entails, I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to visit many places that I might otherwise never have seen. I love to create memories of the cities and landscapes that have impressed me; visitors to my office at PowerTech are now greeted with four walls filled with framed prints of my favorites. Humorously to me, you will even find a few of them adorning the walls in the Help/Systems’ restrooms!

Last week, I committed the cardinal sin of photography and decided to leave my camera at home. Sadly, it wasn’t even an oversight; rather a conscious decision to save lugging more stuff through an airport. A friend asked if I was taking my camera, but (and I apologize if this offends anyone) a 36-hour whistle-stop trip to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was not a journey I anticipated presenting much photographic opportunity. Besides, I knew that in a pinch I always had my trusty Blackberry PDA—a device that’s practically velcro’d to my hip, and that has a fairly respectable 3-megapixel camera built in.

The purpose of my first ever visit to Pittsburgh was to meet with a couple of large PowerTech customers, and to discuss the possibility of hosting a security workshop at with one of our regional business partners. After those productive meetings, I headed back to the hotel and prepared for a “suitcase” evening. This is an expression I use to describe when I am on the road, and I grab a quick bite to eat and then work from my hotel room. However, one of my personal goals for the next couple of weeks is to try to capture an image of the Minneapolis skyline at night (can’t forget the home town after all). As such, I began to ‘google’ images of our downtown—an area that is still not overly familiar to me. As I planned out a couple of good vantage points to visit upon my return, I decided to do the same search for Pittsburgh.

To say that I was surprised at what I found is definitely an understatement! Thanks to the Internet, I discovered that there is fantastic skyline of the entire downtown area, and one that is readily accessible from numerous dramatic lookouts atop the opposing hill; an area known as Mt. Washington (previously Coal Hill). There were still a couple of hours before dark, so I decided to make an effort and jump into my rental car and see if it was a place worth returning to the next time I am in town.

Overlooking Heinz Stadium, home of the Steelers football team, as well as the two rivers that converge around the city, the picturesque walk along the aptly-named Grandview Avenue offers breathtaking views of a panorama that I was shocked to find that was, in my humble opinion, at least as good as the one I saw earlier this year in Manhattan. Two funicular railways run at opposing ends of the street, and provide riders with a quick and affordable way to traverse the side of the hill. The riverfront area at the bottom was alive with hip restaurants, shopping, and restored artifacts from the city’s history as a producer of steel. While I was there, a gathering of motorcycle enthusiasts provided the hustle and bustle, but I get the sense that the district is a constant hub of nightlife activities.

Pittsburgh is known for its vast number of bridges, facilitating a network of routes to join the city with her surrounding communities. Some estimates have the number exceeding Venice, Italy! These are not characterless bridges providing only function, but many are historic and have been restored to their original glory.

There are a number of places that I like to call my travel favorites; locations I like to visit whenever possible. Surprisingly to me, Pittsburgh has just jumped clear to the top of that list. And next time, I promise, my camera and tripod will be in-tow! If you get an opportunity to visit, be sure to check out the riverfront area and ride the incline rails to the top of the Mt. Washington hill. If you appreciate man-made beauty, it will be the best $2 you will ever spend – I guarantee it.

Drop me a line at robin.tatam@powertech.com for more information about PowerTech, or visit www.powertech.com.

Cheers!

- rt

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 18th, 2010 at 12:24 pm and is filed under Other, Security. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.