Fun places in Pittsburgh

They say if you love the Pittsburgh weather, wait for 5 minutes. :)


Excuse the unpredictable weather and Pittsburgh is not all that bad....The city is not as fast paced as New York or sunny as California but it definitely has its own charm. There are a lot of good places to drive to in and around Pittsburgh. Depending on your mood and the weather, you can go to a variety of places: Mt Washingon, Station square cruise, adventure sports (sky diving, white water rafting, skiiing etc), Carnegie museums, Cathedral of Learning are just some of the attractions. You can also catch some great shots if you are here in the Fall season.


In the following part of this post, I have added my review on some of the places in and around Pittsburgh where one can go and enjoy a day of fun and frolic.

Mt Washington: Situated just 6 minutes from downtown, it is one of the best spots overlooking the Pittsburgh skyline and the confluence of the Alleghany and Monoghella river. This spot was rated the second most beautiful vista in America by USA Weekend (and the best urban vista). Its fun to go by train to Station Square and go uphill by the the Monogahela and then enjoy the view and come downhill by the Duquense inclines, the oldest continuous inclines in the world. Its an amazing place to watch the sunrise or sunset from or just go with friends during New Year to watch the fireworks. 

Point State Park - Amongst the numerous crazy things we did, Malay & I spend a winter dawn sitting on the ledge of this park waiting for sunrise. I will not recommend this to you. But I will definitely recommend visiting the park in good weather to enjoy the sunrise with the view of confluence of Allegheny and Monongahela river. This park also has a fountain at the head of the Ohio river, which shoots water upto 150 feet. Today the park provides recreational space for workers, visitors, and residents in downtown Pittsburgh and also acts as the site for major cultural events in the city, including the Venture Outdoors Festival, Three Rivers Arts Festival and Three Rivers Regatta

Schenley Park - Want a walk through the tranquil forest, Schenley park could be the place of your choice. We used to frequent this place on late nights for a stroll. If you walk down to the place below the bridge on a sunny morning, its a beautiful site with butterflies fluttering and ducks swimming in the lake. You can feel the strength of the wind and enjoy the site of the stars if you stand on the bridge on a clear night. The lake is frozen in the winter and it offers skating also. If you want to go for a picnic or enjoy a nice drive, this park offers it all.

SV temple: My first visit to the 'Tirupati of the West' was in Fall'07. After that I have been to the abode of God Vishnu once or twice every semester. The temple is not as big as Tirupati and definitely not as crowded but it is one of the most serene places. The temple is situated on a hill top near Rodi Road and mind it you will never find it with the GPS unless you enter the address: 1535 McCully Rd., Monroeville, PA 15146


The temple opens at 9 AM and closes at 8.30 PM. There are bharat natyam classes and music school at the temple. One of the attractions at the temple is their awesome south Indian cuisine. The temple sells $2 dishes : upama, sambhar rice, curd rice and pulliogre (tamarind rice). On celebration days pulao, eggless cakes and other special dishes are also served. Most Indian/Hindu visitors to Pitt do not miss the SV Temple. So if you have about 3 to 4 hours, do make a trip to the temple.


Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium - Most people skip this one not knowing what they are missing. Its one of the fun places to visit (especially if you love animal photography or have kids). It costs $8 only but its definitely worth the price. Apart from the well fed His and Her Highness of the jungle, the yellow n black stripped soul, the horned rhinos, the long legged ostriches, and giraffes, elephants you will find the milky white playful polar bears which are one of the main attractions in this zoo. The PPG Aquarium is also just awesome. Colorful fishes, hammerhead sharks, jelly fishes, penguins and putins are only some of the residents of the aquarium. It houses a lot of exotic flora and fauna. There is also a glass pool where you can pat sting ray and baby sharks. The Zoo and aquarium would almost take 4 to 5 hours. It opens at 9 AM and closes at 4 AM,


Sever Springs - Situated about 1.5 hrs drive from CMU campus, this is also an amazing place to go to in the winter and the spring. The best time to visit would be early spring when the snow has not melted from the slopes and it is also not bitterly cold. There are seven slopes and pretty much from beginners to professional skiers will have fun here. They also have lessons for beginners. Whats amazing to watch at seven springs are some of the 5 to 6 yrs olds who can ski better than most of us. Its a treat to watch some of the professionals skiing gracefully down the steep slopes. Skiiing is a must if you are coming to Pittsburgh in the winter and now you know where you would need to go for that. :)
Kennywood - We had a lot of fun at this amusement park. 1st sem @ CMU, Fall 07, a bunch of the INI gang left for Kennywood. We took a convenient bus ride from school. You can easily spend a whole day at the park. There are fun rides including an old bumpy wooden roller coaster. Thunderbolt and phantom's revenge were awesome rides. If you love the splash, do go for the Pittsburgh plunge.

Lake Erie and Presque Isle State Park - Malay and I planned a picnic to lake Erie in our last spring semester at CMU. It was about 4 hour drive from Pittsburgh. Erie is one of the great lakes. Its vastness gives an effect of a pseudo-sea where you cannot see the shores on the other side. When we arrived at the venue it was quite cloudy but beautiful. Given the weather there were very few people and it was quiet and serene. Right after we munched our sandwiches we thought of wading in the water and oops....it was REALLY cold. We walked for a while, enjoying the breeze and before we could soak the beauty of the ambiance we literally got soaked in the rain :)

Falling Waters - This place was strongly recommended by a  friend and I am thankful to him for convincing me to visit it. Falling Waters is organically designed house on top of an active waterfall. Without disrupting the harmony of its surrounding, this weekend home of the  Kaufmanns, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It is considered an architectural masterpiece. The house has small bedrooms forcing people to walk into the balcony to enjoy nature. Going uphill the house are the guest quarters. The guest quarters feature a spring-fed swimming pool which overflows to the river below.

Hershey's Chocolate Factory - On a spring weekend, I had managed to convince Malay and 2 of our common friends to drive down to Hershey's chocolate factory, luring them with descriptions of how we would see chocolate being made in an actual factory. It was quite a let down when we visited the place. This factory was definitely one of the best places for kids but I am not sure how the 3 grown up kids felt about sitting on the chocolate train and tasting 'kisses'. I would recommend it for families with kids as they would enjoy the colorful setting and the fun miniature chocolate making machine. But for others, I guess a happy hour at CMU might be a better option :)


Pittsburgh cruise ride -

Mayakoba, Riviera Maya

One of the best perk which an employee can get is a holiday to Cancun with your loved one to celebrate Valentine's Day! While at HRT, I was part of the lucky lot. Being in the transition phase of F1 to H1B, I was quite skeptical if I would be able to make it  but alas Malay and I were booked for the trip. Tons of thanks to Julia!

Malay and I were to meet at the Cancun airport. Malay was flying all the way from India. I flew from New York to Cancun with a stop over at Charlotte. When there are hurdles you can never rest till you have reached the final destination of travel.  As I arrived at Charlotte, we got to know all flights ( to Cancun and Hawaii) were overbooked. Some flights from New York arrived pretty late due to the stormy weather. As extra flights have been scheduled to accommodate passengers, the airlines was in short of pilots! I was quite scared to know that passengers were stuck in Charlotte for 2 days! The crowd was getting so impatient that volunteers started coming up for flying the plane! The airport was a complete chaotic scene. After a long wait of 6 hours, the good news was finally announced that a plane has been scheduled. Hurray! Oh wait! The bad news was of the 200 waiting passengers about 120 would be allowed on the flight. They declared people with seat numbers below 23 cannot board the flight. My seat number was 23F! When luck favors you nothing, you breeze through all problems without doing much. I was really lucky to be on the flight and even though I felt sad for the ones who would have to wait for an indefinite period at the airport, I was could not help grinning broadly. What could be a better than being able to spend 14th of Feb with him on the sunny white beaches of Cancun!

I captured this breathtaking shot from the flight. Finally I landed at the Cancun airport. Malay had arrived from Mexico City and was already waiting for me. Clearing immigration we started towards the Riviera Maya, our last and final stop. Mayakoba, the Fairmont resort is tucked under a forest canopy. It was dark by the time we arrived. Escaping the New York snow and cold weather, this place was heaven. After a quick check-in we were transported to our casita (villa) in a golf cart. 

The design and decor of the casita was in complete harmony with the mangrove forest around.  They never fell short of ways to perfectly pamper us. The luxurious bathroom had a soaker tub and a garden next to it. Malay and I decided to have a quite dinner at La Brisas Restaurant. There was sensual harmony about the place. Hearing the waves of  the wonderful  Carribean Sea we enjoyed our wonderful dinner. We went to  bed looking forward to the next 3 day of fun and frolic. 

After an good breakfast next day, we went for a walk around the resort. On the way we met several friends from HRT.  Mayakoba had a network of crystal clear waterways. It offered the feel of 5 different ecosystems - mangrove, tropical forest, lagoon, water canals and coastal dunes. As we reached the beach we were stupified by the breathtaking blue lagoon infront of us meeting the blue sky in the distant horizon. Julia had booked a super fun suite with an infinity pool for all of us. We lazed on the hammock and gazed at the sea. 

After a while we decided to take a walk on the beach. As we strolled, it felt like we are time warped. I was walking on the soft white sand, dipping my feet in the warm and crystal clear water, letting the wind in my hair, in the arms of the guy I am going to spend the rest of my life with.... Every moment felt like I was living a dream. 

Later that afternoon we went for a horse ride on a more secluded side of the coast. Malay's horse was galloping in parts and mine was quite excited about trotting on the water, playful and joyous.