Day 14

I received a package from my university's Global Health office today.  It was really great!

Adventures in the Strip District

The Strip.  Where to begin when describing such a wonderful place?

The strip district is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh full of shops and street vendors, and it is the place to be every Saturday morning, when it is packed with lots and lots of shoppers.  I like to go every week that I can make it--mostly just to enjoy the atmosphere, although there are some great shops with good deals.

One of the best coffee shops I have ever been to--everything I have ordered here has been delicious!

A beautiful Polish Catholic Church.  The interior is full of stained glass and the stations of the cross in Polish.

A whiskey tasting at a distillery nearby!


Important places in the strip that I don't have pictures of yet: the best taco stand in the world at Reyna's Mexican Grocery, a Saturday morning farmer's market, several other coffee shops, and other specialty stores (Penn Mac, a Biscotti Company, an urban winery, and so many more).  Every time I go to the Strip, I discover more.  It is one of my favorite places in Pittsburgh!

Notre Dame-Pitt Showdown 2012

Although this post is a little late (sorry for no new posts lately!), I am going to recount my epic adventure to Notre Dame for the ND-Pitt game two weeks ago.  I had an amazing time, it was really great to see so many of my friends that are either still students or came back to campus as well.  I hadn't realized how much I had missed everything about ND until I went back!  The whole weekend was filled with intense nostalgia for my years as an undergrad.

Instead of trying to describe everything I did, I am going to use a whole bunch of pictures to document the occasion!

After a long car ride and a quick stop by my undergrad research lab to say hello, it was time for the marching band's fun Friday march out.

Here are some of the clarinets!

We attacked Nik with a feather boa and since he was at attention, he had to wear it for the whole march out!  Ever the gentleman, he told me that it kept his neck warm during the chilly afternoon march.

Saturday morning--my first ever tailgate!  Erin is looking super cute with her awesome touchdown gloves.

On a speedy walk through campus before the game, I got a picture of the beautiful fall weather and Touchdown Jesus.

Olivia and I were sitting in the fourth row of a bleacher section in the south end zone--we had to walk on the field to get to our seats!

The players came over to our end zone to say a quick prayer before the game.

The view was amazing!

The band performance begins--and these ushers haven't figured out that they are in my way.

It was so great to see and hear the band in person, it was the first time that I have seen them as a spectator.  They sounded great!

Here is a video of the band playing the fight song and forming the ND monogram (although you can't see the formation from our seats). This is one of my favorite songs ever, and it never gets old. I apologize in advance if it won't play correctly!

**update: aww shucks, this is the wrong video!  Here is the actual video of the fight song:

It was an exciting and scary game, but it ended with another Irish win!

I didn't photo document everything that I did during the weekend, so this post cannot do justice to how much fun I had.  But there were many things I didn't get the chance to do in so short of time, and I am sure that it will take many more trips to do so!  I look forward to spending some more time at ND over the years, even if I won't have another chance to go to a game for a while.

Go Irish! Beat Demon Deacons! (and Trojans!)