After 8 hours of flying through the night, Ursa and I finally landed in Pittsburgh. We had a little time to do some exploring, so we picked up our rental car and drove up to Mount Washington where we got a gorgeous view of the city. After which we drove around a little to get a feel for some of the neighborhoods of the city. Pittsburgh has a lot of character, a lot of dirt under it's nails. A broke in, lived in look, like a comfortable pair of old shoes.
After our short drive we made our way over to
Phipps Conservatory, which is maybe the most amazing botanical garden that I've ever been to, and it was a great way to stretch out our legs that had grown so stiff over the flight.
The first, striking thing about the Conservatory is the structure itself; long greenhouses, glass domes and a huge special event area. We spent around 3 hours walking around the inside and were awe struck throughout at the variety of indoor and outdoor gardens each with it's own individual theme, but I have to say that the highlight for me was the orchid room. Every flower was a fragrant work of art unto itself.
Speaking of art, throughout the Conservatory were works by one of my favorite artists,
Dale Chihuly, a remarkable glass artist. To tell the truth, my favorite medium of art is sculpture, especially when displayed outdoors. When it's trapped in a museum sculpture loses it's ability to effect, and be effected by the world around it; the time of day, the weather, the seasons all change the look of a sculpture, and how it effects the viewer. Chihuly's glass is very much the same. Seeing it in a museum just doesn't do it justice, it has to be viewed in context with the world around it. That's why the Phipps Conservatory was such an ideal venue to display his works.
After our trip to Phipps Conservatory we made the hour or so drive out to Brookville, to attend the wedding of our friends Liz and Joe in the morning.
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