Our daughter Faith had a break in her busy schedule, so she and I decided to spend a long weekend in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I grew up in Pittsburgh, and Faith enjoys visiting the city. Usually, our visits are planned around a sporting event, but ther…
Our daughter Faith had a break in her busy schedule, so she and I decided to spend a long weekend in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I grew up in Pittsburgh, and Faith enjoys visiting the city. Usually, our visits are planned around a sporting event, but there were no opportunities to attend a game. The greater Pittsburgh area is large, and unique. Pittsburgh is built in the triangle defined by the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, where they join and form the Ohio River. Hills rise all around the rivers and the city, so the landscape includes bridges (over 450), tunnels for cars and mass transit, inclines (funicular) and steps.
Steps?
Yes, over 700 public staircases, owned and maintained by the city. As the city grew, workers in the booming mills needed two things—a place to live and a way to get to work. They built homes, apartments, churches and stores up on the hills. To get back and forth to the city and the rivers, they built steps.
For my one-liner today, I'm going to quote Pulitzer Prize–winning American journalist and war correspondent, Ernie Pyle. This is from 1937.
"Pittsburgh looks like it was laid out by a mountain goat."
Ernie Pyle
Faith wanted to walk up some of these staircases. We often visit Oakland, the area of Pittsburgh where The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt), and Carnegie Mellon University - (CMU) are located, and one of the sets of steps highlighted by Pittsburgh Magazine are the Joncaire Street Steps. They connect the Pitt-side of the bridge that connects the two campuses to Panther Hollow (which separates them). With 137 steps, this was going to be our large set. I must say, finding a parking space in Panther Hollow was much easier than on the streets of Oakland. Climbing the staircase was daunting, but doable.
The next set of steps we wanted to see/climb was The Mosaic Steps. From the magazine's website, the 77 steps are "embellished with a steel mill sprouting flowers out of its smokestacks, a girl with red boots, a church, a sun and an assortment of wildlife, including a fox, a deer and a butterfly." The artwork was completed with 35,000 pieces of ceramic tile.
After climbing 137 steps, 77 sounded like a cakewalk…until we got to the top. Across the street? Another set of steps. At the top? Another set of steps. And at the top? You got it, another set of steps. We climbed them all. On the way back down, Faith counted 316 steps, give or take a landing or two. Apparently, the four sets are known as the Oakly street steps.
So, put on your virtual knee braces and enjoy the gallery. Some of the images are better viewed in a larger form. You can click on any picture to start a slide show.
This post is part of Linda G. Hill's fun One-Liner Wednesday challenge.
This is the kind of on-street parking available in Panther Hollow
Panther Hollow Bridge, connecting Oakland and Shenley Park (where CMU is located)
The 137 Joncaire Street Steps are waiting for us
That's a "Runnel" on the Joncaire Street Steps. It's for pushing your bike up/down
Looking down the Joncaire Street Steps into Panther Hollow
I don't know the purpose of these side steps off of the Joncaire Street Steps
Looking up the Joncaire Street Steps
The Mosaic Steps
Girl in the Mosaic Steps
Top of the Mosaic Steps, a.k.a. the first set of steps in Oakly staircase
2nd set of steps in Oakly staircase
3rd set of steps in Oakly staircase
Top of the Mosaic Steps, (end of tiled portion)
Cathedral of Learning from the top of the Oakly stairs
4th (last) set of steps in Oakly staircase
From the top of the Oakly street steps. The arrow points to my car
If you like character driven stories with strong female characters, magical realism, action, suspense, mystery, a bit of family sarcasm, and a slight religious undertone, you will enjoy these books:
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