I am happy to share with you that we will take a family vacation in July 2021 after a break of 18 months! Yes, the COVID situation is the culprit because it is true for all our travel lovers, our last trip was in December 2019! Finally, after being vaccinated and feeling more comfortable to travel, we undertook air travel in July 2021.
The last family vacation for the four of us was in December 2019, but our last air trip was in July 2019, when we visited India and parts of Europe.You can read This post about Us Trip to Europe We visited several cities in three countries-Switzerland, Austria and the Czech Republic. This is our first trip to Europe and we can’t wait to go back.
Back to the last holiday before the pandemic, we had a wonderful time Walt Disney World Tour During the 2019 winter vacation and spent January 1, 2020 in WDW, before returning to Houston from Florida.You can read our tour of Disney World Here. Did not realize that we would not travel again for many years, because we like to travel with the whole family and try to take at least 2 vacations a year. So please read on our recent trip to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and New York, New York. This is part 1 of a trip about the places we visited in Pittsburgh. My next article will be Part 2 of this trip, in which I will write down the details of our New York holiday.
Our main purpose in coming to Pittsburgh is to do a campus tour of the University of Pittsburgh. My freshman is a senior who is about to graduate. She received her acceptance letter in January, but we are waiting for more scholarships to make a decision. She won the second batch of outstanding scholarships, and by the end of April, we knew she was going to go abroad to Pete!
Arrived in Pete
We discussed whether to travel by car or by plane. We like road trips and take a road trip at least once a year. But we decided to fly to Pitt to save time and spend more time visiting the city instead of on the road. Our flight is at 11 am on July 4th with a stopover in Atlanta. We arrived in Pittsburgh and immediately checked into the Hilton Garden Inn on University Avenue. It is very close to the campus, a few minutes walk, and valet parking is $25 a day. We rented our car from the airport itself and used our car to get in and out from the hotel every day.The first night was at Point State Park We stayed until 9.35pm to watch the spectacular Independence Day fireworks! Point State Park is located at the confluence of three rivers, at the top of Pittsburgh’s “Golden Triangle”. Point State Park is a National Historic Landmark and preserves the strategic and historical heritage of the area during the French and Indian Wars (1754-1763).
All the nearby dining venues were booked and could not even be taken out, so we finally ordered online at Pizza Parma and returned to the Hilton Garden Inn for dinner at 11pm. The first day went well, and we all had a good night’s sleep.
Pete the next day
We enjoyed the beautiful city landscape at dusk and had an amazing slope ride. Pitt-Duquesne & Monongahela has 2 slopes. We like Duquesne slope riding-it was completed in 1877, is 800 feet (244 m) long, 400 feet (122 m) high, and has a 30-degree incline. In the morning, we explored Mount Washington and visited the Andy Warhol Museum. Mount Washington has a stunning panoramic view of the city. Pittsburgh has three rivers: Allegheny River, Monongahela River and Ohio River. They can enjoy the picturesque scenery from the top of the mountain. The Carnegie Melon Museum, CM Science Center and Phipps School of Music are all on our list, but we did not have enough time to visit these attractions that day, but for those who visit Pete for the first time, these are all good Suggestions.
We also visited Randyland, a local attraction. It is a colorful public art landmark. Dinner was in an Indian restaurant-tamarind flavor, which is a delicacy to end our day.
3rd day
On July 6, our campus visit was arranged at the University of Pittsburgh. This is a student-led tour with a small group of only 2-3 families. We went to the Cathedral of Learning, which is a 42-story skyscraper in the center of the university. It has a lecture hall and has 29 different rooms with different countries as themes. It is the tallest university building in the Western Hemisphere. We also saw many UPMC (University of Pennsylvania Medical Center) buildings on the Pitt University campus. We also visited the Balaji Temple in Penn Hills, which is only 20 minutes away by car. Love the tamarind rice and yogurt rice served in the cafeteria!
-
Cathedral of Learning
Lunch is at Condado Tacos and dinner is at Everyday Noodles. Thanks to my boss, we tried 4 different foods in 3 days in Pittsburgh!
Last day, day 4
In the morning we walked a little bit more on campus, and then caught up with the afternoon flight from Pittsburgh to New York, which was only an hour away. Lunch is at the airport and dinner is Italian cuisine.
wrap up
To sum it up, the 3 days spent in Pittsburgh were very interesting, full of river and mountain views, downtown views and many explorations of local museums and parks. In addition to Pete’s campus tour, we also enjoyed the Duquesne slope ride, Mount Washington, Point State Park, local museums and parks.
related articles
Dear readers, we would be happy to hear from you. Did you travel after the epidemic? Are you planning one? Have you been to Pittsburgh, or have you visited the campus with your children? If so, please share any recent travel experiences. Please leave a comment below or send an email to nishtha@dawnandhope.com.
