Last day in Pittsburgh...

On Thursday we headed for 'the strip' - or Smallman Street, which is virtually next door to Pittsburgh's David Lawrence Convention Centre, it's where the restaurant Eleven is located AND the Heinz museum, which my colleague Pete visited while I was having lunch in Market Square (see previous post).

The view from the Grand View Restaurant, Pittsburgh

This week I have walked many miles because being on foot is, arguably, the best way to get around IF, like me, your hotel is close (ish) to where your work is located. Every day for the past six days, I've walked over two miles a day just getting to and from the David Lawrence Convention Centre, but then, outside of that journey, I have made many others and all on foot; and as discussed in the previous post, excessive walking probably helped with my overall health bearing in mind the type of food and the quantities I was eating (mainly burger and fries). Oddly, I didn't have many desserts (thank God!). I've enjoyed a couple of cookies (and by that I mean I've had TWO cookies, one in Starbucks and another in Yinz, an independent coffee shop on Station Square) and I remember a rather dainty dessert at a dinner on Smallman Street on Tuesday night from where I considered walking back to my hotel but decided against it as I didn't really know much about Pittsburgh at night. But suffice it to say that walking was a major part of the last week and I'm talking about 20,000 steps daily.

I'm losing track of what lunch we had where and on what day. So the following is a little bit sketchy. At some stage we had an awful pizza on the strip (it was square and not what I considered to be a pizza, they're at least round!). At the same restaurant I ordered an even more disgusting no-alcohol beer, this might well have been in the late afternoon of Thursday. The previous day we'd been to Eleven for dinner where, as mentioned in the previous post, we ordered from the Tavern menu and I ordered, yes, you guessed it, another burger and chips (I left most of it). As I say, I'm losing track of what I ate and when. Thursday night I think we were on Smallman Street again where dinner was a fried chicken sandwich and a root beer for me; Pete had the same but with a can of Sprite. 

My last burger and chips in Pittsburgh's Grand View Restaurant

There's a great Starbucks on the strip. I was there late in the afternoon of Tuesday ahead of a planned business dinner, also on the strip. I ordered a cookie and an English Breakfast Tea and simply chilled out. I was there again with Pete possibly on Thursday afternoon and preceding the fried chicken dinner with the root beer. Pete and I set the world to rights, talked about music and generally chilled out.

On Friday we headed for Mount Washington and what was the Coal Hill Steakhouse. It's still there but it's no longer called the Coal Hill Steakhouse. I can't remember what it was called, I think it's now The Grand View Restaurant, something like that, but the management is the same and so is the food. And yes, I ordered another burger and chips, had a non-alcohol cocktail and finished with a cup of tea. I'd asked for English Breakfast but was given Earl Grey, which was awful, and I like Earl Grey! The view of Pittsburgh was great and just how I remembered it in 2019 and 2022, but the food wasn't that good.

On Friday we had to check out by 1100hrs, which we did. It took me a while to cram everything into my suitcase but I managed it and then we hit the road again and went to Mount Washington. The funicular railway linking ground level Pittsburgh with Mount Washington was closed and, as we were soon to find out, some passengers travelling on it the previous evening had to be rescued by the emergency services following a malfunction of some sort that left tourists stranded on the incline. 

As we approached the funicular railway with a view to using it and unaware of what had taken place the previous night, I turned to Pete and said 'I bet it's closed' and sure enough it was, because of the aforementioned incident. At that point a man with a television camera strutted across the road and asked if we'd like a chat. We said yes and then a reporter appeared and started an interview for the local television station. It broadcasted around 1800hrs giving both Pete and I the chance to see ourselves on TV before jumping into a cab and heading for the airport.

After a short cab ride we arrived at the airport, checked in our bags and then chilled out in a Joe the Juice after walking around the airport. At last, I thought, as I tucked in to something decent (a chicken and avocado sandwich accompanied by a ginger tea and a healthy juice drink, which was great.

The flight was on time and very smooth all the way. We landed in London earlier than scheduled and then we went our separate ways. There is a view that if you stay up until the night time of the country you have landed in, your jet lag will be allieviated somewhat. Well, it's almost 2200hrs and while I've been taking it easy, watching YouTube videos, and nodding off occasionally in the process, I haven't really been to sleep in the true sense of the word. In fact, I might watch a bit of YouTube again and will probably hit the sack around 2230 if not later. It's amazing how somehow I still have gas in the tank, but I know that when I hit the pillow I'll sleep well. Here's hoping.

Postscript...

In the end I stayed up until almost midnight, watching a documentary on iPlayer about Paul McCartney's lost Hofner bass guitar. I need to finish it, which I will later. I slept a total of 10 hours, not bad, and now here I am watching a YouTube video, well, half-watching it. Last night, or late in the afternoon yesterday I watched chilled stuff on YouTube like Nomad Sam and Rewilding Jude, the latter recently inspired me to get out into the garden and take down a dead tree. Basically the 'vlog' is all about a guy called Jude whose parents both died. He decided to move to a remote part of Scotland and live in a crofter's cottage with land for a reasonably-sized garden, he's done a lot with it, taken on chickens and growing his own vegetables, it's a great watch, or at least I think it is. Nomad Sam is all about Sam, who lives in a tent with his dog and travels around the country, staying in remote places for a few weeks/months and then moving on. He is now in the Scottish Highlands. They both chill me out and that was what I needed yesterday.

Avid readers of this blog will know that I have read Martin Downham's Remind Me to Smile, which I've probably mentioned before, it's a great read and yesterday, being in mind that he is Pete's dad, I met him, albeit briefly, at the airport. I just wish I'd been a little more awake, but I managed to tell him he had written a great book and shook his hand. Pete's mum was there too and I was offered a lift, but I didn't want to put them out and opted instead for the Heathrow Express.

Saturday morning ride to Oxted...

Cloud but not rain. I'd checked the iphone's weather app and there was zero per cent chance. It was Saturday 7th March and while there was a mild, fine spitting of rain that left me damp but not soaked I definitely went out and my intention was to ride to Oxted and come back up Titsey Hill. The ride is pretty standard: up Church Way and then the B269 to Botley Hill before heading down Titsey Hill and riding through the Oxted suburbs towards the High Street.

Heading towards Clarks Lane from Tatsfield village, 7/3/26.

Usually I find myself in Caffe Nero with a cup of tea and an apricot croissant, but it was crowded and sometimes I just don't fancy it. I moseyed down the High Street and while I considered Costa and Starbucks, I settled on Coughlan's where the cakes looked a little brighter even if the tea could, on occasion be a little suspect. But not today! The tea and the Bakewell tart were both fantastic.

I sat and read Remind Me to Smile by Martin Downham, a truly amazing, feelgood book about the author's early life mixed in with memories of the early career of Gary Numan. I'd like to think that Numan has read the book and that if he hasn't he really ought to get on Amazon and order a copy. It's a truly great book.

I swanned around Oxted for a short while and then headed for Titsey Hill wishing I'd cycled to Westerham instead but telling myself that the horror of Titsey Hill was all in the mind, it wasn't that bad, especially once you passed White Lane on the right. I was, of course, right, and when I reached Botley Hill a sense of relief washed over me as I realised I'd done it and all that was left was the 269 where, incidentally, there was a lot of fog, so much that I used the off-road track all the way to Beech Farm Road where I turned right and followed the road to Washpond Lane where I turned left and then right on to Ledgers Road before turning left on Church Lane and following the road round to the mini roundabout outside of Warlingham Sainsbury's. Not long to go now, I thought, and soon enough I reached home but not before I'd nipped in to Waitrose in Sanderstead to buy some food for lunch. I was running late because I'd left the house late, but it didn't matter as we were all confined to the house. We were having work done, a new bathroom no less, and that meant that somebody had to be around. 

After a brief snack I headed to the municipal dump with an old hose pipe and also a bag of clothes that I was planning to take to a nearby charity shop and once those jobs were done there was little to do other than slob around, watch a bit of TV and then have dinner before more television. I need to sort out this aspect of my life and perhaps read a little more when I'm home. Currently, I'm reading a lot on trains and in cafes.

On Sunday a drive over to Virginia Water to see pals and then a week at work, or rather three days in the office and then (as of tomorrow) two days working from home. 

I've been walking from Redhill to Merstham all week, it's roughly 2.10 miles and takes around 40 minutes and I intend to keep it up as the weather starts to improve. I've even thought about riding to work on one of my three days in the office, but not just yet, possibly after the clocks go forward in a couple of weeks.