Bloomfield

So, to get to Bloomfield, you can get on any 54, 71A, 71C or 93 buses that are heading inbound. We took the 93 bus from outside of Litchfield Towers around 5:00 PM on Thursday and it took us about 20 minutes to get there. The bus ride was pretty uneventful except that there was a really long gap between the second last bus stop and the bus stop we needed to get off at Bloomfield. The bus driver wouldn’t let get off until we were at the very end of Bloomfield near the Bloomfield Bridge. 

Once we got off, we just walked down the street and stopped whenever we say anything interesting  -- murals and shops mostly. One thing we noticed about Bloomfield is that there are a ton of Italian shops there so if you’re craving for some Italian food, this is a good place to check out. There were also a few Chinese and Thai restaurants that looked interesting. We talked to a few of the locals and they recommended Thai Cuisine and

There’s actually a bunch of really interesting murals around Bloomfield. You can take a look at them in the pictures below:

So, we went on to the rooftop of the building with the mural in the  last picture and got a pretty cool view of Bloomfield and the surrounding area.

One of the places we really liked was the Italian Food Centre. If you’re looking for Italian food or ingredients, this would be a good place to go. They have a bunch of different stuff: tons of cheese, home made pickled olives, meat, pasta, bread. Basically, everything.

Inside the Italian Food Centre

Pasta and cheese

Spaghetti

Some meat

Olives in a huge barrel

A church in Bloomfield called that a historic landmark

We also went into a really nice CD shop called the Sound Cat Records. They don’t sell the latest music but if you’re a fan of old stuff, you could probably find something you like here. You could also get some second hand albums for a pretty cheap price (there were Coldplay albums being sold for $3-$5 each) and there’s a wide selection of vinyl records too. They also have a small section at the counter for local music in case you’d like to give that a try.

After the CD shop, we took a look at the East End Book Exchange. It’s a small but nice and cozy bookshop. They have a few comfortable areas where you could sit down and read. One of the things that makes this shop a bit different is that they write their own descriptions for some of the books that were on display near the entrance. Like the CD shop, they also have a section for books written by local authors. If you’re a book lover or like quaint shops, we would definitely recommend paying this place a visit.

There are also  a few thrift stores in Bloomfield but unfortunately, none of them were open when we went there. One of them is right next to the East End Book Exchange and another one in the picture below is called Clothes Minded.

Clothes Minded

After we were done, we decided to walk back to Centre Ave to catch a different bus home. All in all, Bloomfield is a pretty cool place. If you’re just walking down the street you might find it boring but there’s actually a bunch of interesting stuff around if you take the time to go into the shops or even if you just want to grab a bite somewhere, there’s plenty to choose from.

Thx Dan!!!!

By: Robert, Jamie & Iman

The Strip District

This past Sunday we, Dror, Haris, and I (Megan), set out for the Strip District and promptly got on the wrong bus,the 54D instead of the 54. Luckily, the wonderful people of Pittsburgh helped us out, and we didn't go too far in the wrong direction before realizing our mistake. The bus ride was fairly uneventful except for the two young children sitting across from Haris and myself and next to Dror. They argued in both English and Spanish and generally made noise. Finally we got to our stop and exited the bus. On the street we found artistic flyers handing out free "money" and high end apartments at the Cork Factory.

 The Cork Factory apartments had a swimming pool and fancy gardens.

 We're totally cool enough to live at the Cork Factory... if we could afford it.

 But it's a historic landmark!

Then we had to take a quick break on the railroad tracks so Dror could study for his Chem test.

After walking around for a while longer we decided to find a place to eat. The first few places we found were either ridiculously expensive, closed, or both.

We even entered an Oriental Food Market, where Dror bought some Ramen, which he managed to fit into his backpack.

Finally we came across the Spaghetti Warehouse where we ate dinner. The waitress took on the role of Haris's mother, asking him why he didn't eat his vegetable soup.

As Dror describes it:

"Did you not like your soup?" Haris-"yeah" "You didnt eat it tho"

 She also looked a bit startled when he ordered water for dessert.

 Dror studied some more as we waited for our food.

 Found on the walls of the Spaghetti Warehouse. 

After finishing our meals, we ordered a Uber to take us back to campus, where once again Dror pulled out his textbook.

All in all, our trip was a good experience. The neighborhoods seemed to shift from somewhat shifty to high class pretty quickly. We highly recommend the Spaghetti Warehouse if you want some food that isn't Market but don't recommend visiting the Strip on Sundays because most places are closed. Overall, a nice place to visit!

Lawrenceville

 On Monday night we went to Lawrenceville. We missed the bus multiple times at first so needless to say were weren't on a great start. The Port Authority are also ruthless. We knocked on the door and she wouldn't let us on the bus.We took the 93 there and back. The bus ride wasn't long and it was pretty easy to navigate once we figured out which side of the street we were supposed to be on. When we got there, we walked down Butler Street and saw some of the cool shops. We walked in and looked around for a bit then walked down Butler Street and some other residential streets. We couldn't tell if it was a good area or not. Some of the houses were really nice and others weren't as well kept up. We also got cat called by two creepy guys in a car so that was off putting for us. Overall, it was a really nice town. The streets were really clean and there were many unique houses. There were also cute boutiques, bars, and coffee shops. We had a really fun time taking pictures with some of the unique stores for example the teddy bear shop. Overall, we really enjoyed out time there. We would recommend not going on a Monday night because a lot of the shops were closed.