‘Super Natural Night’ at Phipps Conservatory

On Wednesday evening we visited the Phipps Conservatory at the Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh, to see the illuminated giant glass flower sculptures created by the glass artist Jason Gamrath.

These huge glass orchids in the central atrium were a taste of things to come.  Overhead the more abstract and huge glass chandelier created by Dale Chihuly which is a permanent exhibit in the Conservatory dome..

We walked around the glasshouses one by one, enjoying the sight of the illuminated glass flowers of all types..

There were also several other Dale Chihuly pieces..

In some of the greenhouses there were tableaux of various types of glass flowers.

Historic Pittsburgh

One of my first stops today was the former Pittsburgh railway station.  (It is still an Amtrak station but the main building is now used for events with flats above).  Lots of traces though of the grand old days of rail travel..

The Rotunda at the front of the station is now listed as a Historical Monument.  It has a very ornate brick structure both under foot and overhead.

Inside, the former Booking Hall is huge and imposing and retains just a few hints of its former role as a busy transport hub.

And of course lots of station clocks..

Outside the modern buildings of Pittsburgh downtown are framed in the arch of the Rotunda.

I then walked onto the Heinz History Centre via the riverside path.  All looking a little more colourful with some sunshine.

The Heinz History Centre occupies a huge warehouse building quite close to the river which was originally built to store vast quantities of ice.

Inside on the ground floor, some interesting vehicles from Pittsburgh’s past.. including this car made of stainless steel!

A streetcar..

Inside it was so much bigger than I expected..

And of course a Heinz wagon..the company started in Pittsburgh with very small beginnings - horseradish grown in a garden and made into sauce which was sold at a market stall...

Lots more to share another day!

Grey Day in Pittsburgh

It was cold and raining when we arrived in Pittsburgh and has stayed that way for most of the day.

Our hotel room is quirky and colourful though!

We set off to walk across the river to visit the National Aviary, our logic being that, once there, we would be undercover.

This is a composite photo of just a few of Pittsburgh’s many iron bridges that I put together for Facebook.  The colour photos were not significantly more colourful, unfortunately..

When we got to the National Aviary, there was rather more colour to enjoy in the Grasslands, Wetlands, Rainforest and other exhibits.

This evening we went to the Phipps Conservatory to see ‘SuperNatural Nights’ - an installation of outsize glass flowers within the Autumn flower displays..

More of that another day..

Small Surprises

Today I went to Vienna with a friend to meet the lovely relocation agent who helped us both when we arrived in the US from the UK.  For me it was four and a half years since I had since this lady so it was great to catch up over coffee.

She is a big fan of hydrangeas and so we took her a bunch of them as a surprise.  Don’t they look different photographed in black and white and in colour?

Later on we called in to a small inn in Vienna which is well known for its basic menu and good beer.  We didn’t want the beer but we ordered lunch.  One item on the menu intrigued me as an interesting combination (turkey sandwich, mashed potato and gravy!).  This was what it looked like when it arrived, a bit of a surprise..

(It was also surprisingly good)

Our next visit was to the Pennywise thrift store where, in the basement, another surprise awaited!  How did that get there?  I dropped Emma a line to let her know I had found her lost softball .. then was chastised for not ‘buying it back’!

I have been converting some photos into black and white for a Facebook challenge.  It is interesting to see how different views look in colour and black and white.

This mural looks very effective either way I think..

Groundhog

At the end of this afternoon, I looked out to see a groundhog/woodchuck feeding on the grass outside the house.

Just a few photos - unfortunately when I went outside to get a clearer picture, he ran away faster than I would have thought possible!

Old Fox

I glanced out of the window at the end of this afternoon and saw this old and rather sick looking fox under the tree by the deck.

The fox was chewing its way through a squirrel which it had caught.

It was very wary and kept an eye on the surrounding area.

Obviously it was keeping an eye out for good reason - suddenly its ears went down and hackles up as a younger fox appeared and approached rapidly.

Unfortunately although I carried on taking photos, in the low light they were very blurred as the young fox rushed in and they fought over the squirrel carcass.

In a few minutes and after a noisy fight, the younger animal ran off with the catch.