travel

My reception in Pittsburgh? Immaculate.

/ Greg / Leave a comment

I really like Pittsburgh.  It’s my kind of town.  I’m just back from my third stay in the city over the past few years, and there’s a consistent feeling from each of the trips.  Pittsburgh is a friendly city.  Really, really friendly.  Certainly you know you’re in the USA when you’re there, but it’s the kind of city that wouldn’t feel out of place if you dropped it up here in Nova Scotia or New Brunswick.

I’ll be writing about some of the things I squeezed into what was primarily a business trip.  Until then, here’s one of my favourite things about the culture of Pittsburgh.  When you arrive by air, you pass by this statue on your way out of the airport.  It’s not of a founder or of a patron.  It’s of something so much more important to the people of Pittsburgh.  I can only imagine that Franco hasn’t had to buy a drink for himself in the city since 1972.

Franco's immaculate reception

Looking back on 2012

/ Greg / Leave a comment

Banff and Lake Louise.  Toronto.  Ottawa.  Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Iceland.  Denver.   Even considering plans for trips to Trinidad and Pittsburgh that didn’t work out, it wasn’t too shabby a traveling year.  It’s hard to sum up a year’s worth of seeing and doing things in different places and the trips there and back, but here are a few of my favourite travel-related memories that will stick from 2012.

Best travel days:  The day trip outside of Reykjavik to see Iceland’s “Golden Circle”.  So much natural beauty and so peaceful.  It was the day that cemented my love of Iceland and ensured a return visit in the not too distant future.  In a similar vein, seeing the Sognefjord in western Norway was the reason we included the country on our Scandinavian trip.  Jaw dropping natural beauty was the story of that day.  Last but not least was a rushed visit to Lake Louise due to a string of forecasted bad weather that forced us to change our travel plans.  Even with limited time, looking out over a frozen Lake Louise on a serene day in the Rockies made me feel more connected to my country.

Continue reading →

Denver, delicious

/ Greg / Leave a comment

The last word on my recent trip to Denver will be all about the food.  I spent remarkably little money for some truly delicious eats.  Here are a few of the highlights…

Euclid Hall – On a recommendation from a colleague, I headed here for dinner the first night and had what was probably the most unique of the dishes I sampled on my trip – a green chile and pork cheek poutine.  It was a perfect blend of sweet, hot and salty:

Euclid Hall Continue reading →

Denver Nuggets Game

/ Greg / Leave a comment

The NHL lockout cost me a chance to see my Nordiques (I refuse to call them the Avalanche) play Chicago while I was in Denver, so I took the opportunity to see only my second NBA game, taking in a Nuggets – Jazz game on a Friday night.  A small crowd gave me the chance to snag a snazzy club seat at a fraction of the cost, making for an economical and fun way to spend my last night in the city.

Once in the arena, I found my way down to the lower level seats to take in some of the shoot-around (thanks to the usher who turned a blind eye to me sneaking in to seats that weren’t mine):

Sneaking down to the good seats Continue reading →

I love the Big Blue Bear

/ Greg / 2 Comments

Living, as it is, in a city with little to no public art, I sometimes get a little giddy at the effusive displays of creativity in public spaces in the places to which I travel.  With limited time to fully explore Denver, I still managed to come across a number of really interesting pieces of public art.

First, the striking “The Yearling” by Donald Lipski outside of their public library downtown.  Indeed, a horse standing atop of a chair.  Love this:

The Yearling Continue reading →