Here we go, Steelers, here we go!

Heinz Field; image from thebrooklynnomad.com

I can’t let opening day of the 2010-2011 Pittsburgh Steelers season go by without a little mention here on Surrounded by the Sound.  While not about travel per se, missing out on good stuff at home is part of being on the road.  Missing the entire Steelers season is going to be rough for us.  The fever that surrounds Pittsburgh during the season is incredible.  Everyone – and I mean EVERYONE – gets caught up in it.  It dominates the local news – well, okay, this happens during the off-season as well (a Steeler sneezed? Lead story!) Parents put their unborn children on the waiting list for season tickets. On Fridays, benevolent employers relax the dress codes to celebrate the upcoming game, so downtown is filled with office workers dressed in black and gold on top and work pants on the bottom. Tortilla chips, ice cream, bagels, and Smiley Cookies magically change colors to black and gold. Around noon on Sundays, Giant Eagle (a local grocery chain) is a madhouse but every shopper and employee is decked out in a Steelers jersey or t-shirt. At Heinz Field, the noise isn’t as deafening as it once was at Three Rivers Stadium, but the sound of 65,000 fans working themselves into a frenzy in a sea of yellow Terrible Towels is a sight and sound to behold. The fever is downright contagious, and it is part of the essence of Pittsburgh itself.

Terrible towels at Heinz Field; image from www.thesteelers.com

Opening day is always so full of anticipation: who is going to win the division? Could this be our year? Can the team pull through without Ben Roethlisberger on the field for four games – and – sounding like a sports commentator now – how will Ben’s off-season troubles affect dynamics with the team? How will Maurkice Pouncey fare in his rookie season? We thought about paying for a subscription to watch the games on the internet, but the chances of getting consistent, fast internet for the whole season is slim to none. So it will be our turn, now, to live vicariously through everyone at home instead of the other way around. Here we go…

Happy Independence Day!

This is the first time we will be out of the country on the Fourth of July.  I always liked the Fourth of July – it is a low fuss holiday, it usually involves lots of food, and it gets you another day off mid-summer.  Plus, there are explosions.  What’s not to like?

I was trying to remember how we spent the last couple of Fourths.  Last year, we went to our friends Matt and Mindy’s annual picnic.  There was that potentially dangerous combination of beer and fireworks, but no casualties.

This picture about sums up the state of the world today:

I don’t recall what we did the year before, in 2008.  I’m hoping it didn’t involve work, but it is a distinct possibility if there are no pictures.

It didn’t surprise me that the holidays in 2006 and 2007 were spent in some house renovation related context. In 2006, with the help of our friend Scott, we must have spent the day painting our kitchen. Back then, long weekends meant renovations, without fail.

In 2007, at least we got to combine home renovations with travel – a strange concept, I know. Did I mention that not only did we spend four years fixing up a house that we ended up selling to take this trip, but that we were completely crazy in our efforts to do so? Long ago, I dreamed about writing a house blog, but there was never time. At one point, our plan was to stay in our house forever, but somewhere along the line of replacing character stripped out years ago to make room for bland apartments and fixing decades of other people’s shortcuts, we realized that the house was not for us. But not before we drove all the way from Pennsylvania to Iowa to pick up antique 5 panel doors complete with transoms that were likely similar to the ones originally in our house, saved from an Iowa farmhouse. In truth, we went much because it gave us an excuse to see many of the fly-over states – the ones where everyone says there is nothing but corn. Well, yes, but there is also a lot of life going on between the coasts. Our midwest road trip was one of my most favorite trips. We stayed in a B&B in a different state each night. We spent the morning of the Fourth that year in St. Louis.

After stopping by to taste some pie at a Slice of Pie in Rolla, Missouri, we arrived in Fort Scott, Kansas, by nightfall. Fort Scott, chosen at random because it was on our way, was the epitome of mid-Western, small town America.   I still recall the enthusiasm and vigor with which the townspeople celebrated the Fourth. Driving through the town, we were surrounded on all sides and above by big, intense fireworks. We watched what we thought was the town’s official fireworks display, until we realized it was just a family shooting off fireworks in the yard.

There will be no fireworks for us this year, but I suppose that’s the tradeoff. I hope everyone has a happy, safe, and fun Fourth of July!

The True Red White and Blue

I love photography.  Photography was one of those things I always wanted to learn more about, but since I didn’t get around to it before we left, taking pictures mostly on the auto setting will have to do.  Since I am not an expert photographer, sometimes I settle by being in awe of other people’s pictures.  When we learned that the Maison Européenne de la Photographie was free Wednesdays after five, we decided to go.

My friend Tony always says I need my art spoon fed to me.  I don’t disagree with this statement.  So I was a little creeped out by an exhibit that demonstrated the photographer’s clear obsession with horses, and I didn’t know what to make of the exhibit with posed pictures simulating murder accompanied by punk music and giant bullets.  But I really enjoyed, and understood, the exhibit featuring the work of the Swiss photographer Michael von Graffenried.  von Graffenried is a photojournalist of sorts.  The exhibit covered a range of his work, including photos from his year following Peter and Astrid, two Swiss herion addicts.  These photos were shown in the park where junkies hung out upon the project’s completion.   There were also photos from his time covering people in Algeria, and some from his time covering people in Cairo.  The Cairo photos were also displayed on rooftops in the projects.

We were amused by his photos from a nude camp.  The photos of a naked people mowing the grass, playing tennis, riding a bike, and other such activities made me think of the Seinfeld episode when Jerry told George that some activities just shouldn’t be done naked.

We also were intrigued, and horrified, by his photos from New Bern, North Carolina.  New Bern is the sister city to Bern, Switzerland.  von Graffenried spent some time observing life in New Bern, outside the big cities.  Life in New Bern included men completing drills at the army base, a boy playing basketball, the mayor in a taxi, religious signs outside a church, a not-so-attractive stripper leaning over a man at a strip club, and a myriad of other pictures.  The horrifying part was a picture depicting people walking down a main street.  One of those people was a woman, wearing nothing but a white bikini and wedge flip flops, with her gut hanging out and cell phone strapped to her bikini bottoms.  That’s America right there, on display for all of Europe to see.

Interestingly, despite free press in America, the newspapers in New Bern refused to reprint his photos, and he experienced a lot of flak for the exhibit at the time.  Yet unlike the photos in the murder exhibit, these were not staged – all he did was take pictures of what was happening around him.

The Big Apple Bust

When we realized that flying out of New York City was much cheaper than flying out of Pittsburgh, even factoring in the cost of the hotel, we jumped at the chance to make a quick return visit to the Big Apple.  Truth be told, New York City was a bit of a bust this time around.  In an effort to kick off our new adventurous, frugal style of travel, we decided to stay at the Jane in the West Village (http://www.thejanenyc.com/).  I had heard about the Jane from a post on The Lost Girls’ website (www.lostgirlsworld.com).  When we booked our room, we knew that the room would be small, bunk beds would be involved, and we’d have to use a shared bathroom outside the room.  We were trying to just get something reserved, without having to do our normal advance research, and the reviews were good and the website was persuasively trendy.  And really, everything was exactly as advertised.  But reading that a room is 50 square feet in passing is different than actually taking a step inside.

From Departure and New York City

From Departure and New York City

Things had been good up to that point.  The street leading up to The Jane was cobblestone, the lobby was awesomely vintage, and there was an antique elevator operated by an actual operator.  Following the porter down the hall, I felt the familiar anticipation I always experience when I am about to view new accommodations for the first time.  The porter opened the door to our room, and I entered first, Sean following.  He ran into me when I stopped short, realizing that both of us could not stand inside the room together.  The space situation was even worse once the backpacks involved.

Despite the lack of space, or most likely because of the lack of space, the room was exceptionally well designed, with hooks on the wall to hang your possessions, and a personal TV at the end of each bunk bed.  The shared bathroom, located down the hall, was clean and full of black and white tile.  I was having flashbacks to college, what with the bunkbeds and random half dressed strangers in the bathroom.

The biggest problem compounding the space issue was the constant downpour outside.  The rain frequently blew sideways, causing many New Yorkers to abandon their useless, inside-out umbrellas on the street.  On the plus side, we determined our Gortex shoes and jackets really did work as advertised.  At one point, we caved and got a cab to take us across town to my favorite New York bagel shop, only to discover upon arrival that it was closed for Passover.  I was planning to be consoled by a black and white cookie I purchased to eat later, only to discover on the plane that the cashier gave me a completely different type of cookie.  The rain also caused us to forgo exchanging the defective camera filter we had ordered online from a camera shop in New York, rationalizing that it really wasn’t that broken anyway.  We did manage to get some tasty New York style pizza, paired with Magnolia Bakery cupcakes for dessert.  (As a side note, Vanilla Pastry Studio cupcakes in Pittsburgh are still my favorite).

However, things are looking up in Europe.  We have a five hour layover in Brussels.  The layover itself is not fun, except for the abundance of waffles and Belgian chocolate for sale in the airport.  I am focusing on this, instead of the coke and oj we just purchased for 7 euros, pretending it is morning instead of the middle of the night, and the lack of free wifi in the airport.

Here’s hoping it is sunny in Spain!