Dogs in the City

Posted on December 3, 2017 by Carolyn Ristau

Not being a dog person, I have been fascinated by different dog behaviors and treatment that I have seen in traveling. In New York City, I was surprised to see people bring their pet dogs onto public transit, both on the metro and on the bus. I wasn’t sure if this behavior was like eating on the buses in Pittsburgh–it’s not permitted, yet people do it anyway–or if pets are allowed on public transportation in NYC. It also seemed unusual to me that most of the dogs I saw were small. But then, thinking it through, I decided it made sense as if you live in a stereotypical tiny New York apartment, you wouldn’t have the space to keep a big dog.

In Pittsburgh, dogs seem to be more like what you would find in suburban areas. They are often big and they tend to bark a lot and strain toward people they pass on the street. After coming back from New York City, I realized that you don’t see dogs in downtown Pittsburgh. However, as more people have moved downtown, dogs on the streets downtown have become much more common. Including ones that are pushed around in what look like baby strollers, but given how some people feel about pets, they might have been strollers designed for dogs.

Istanbul dogs were quite different from the average dog in America. I believe most of them were strays, but they appeared to be quite self-sufficient (such as the ones in the photo above). They minded their own business and let everyone around go about their business. It was quite refreshing to me to see numerous dogs that did not feel the need to bark their heads off just because someone was walking by. I regret that I did not get a picture of the most notable dog I passed. He had a human companion, but no leash, instead he was decked out in sunglasses and other bling like mardi gras beads.

Brooklyn Bridge

Posted on November 6, 2017 by Carolyn Ristau

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Yesterday, as I was writing my post about the Wheeling Suspension Bridge by Roebling’s competitor, I was fascinated to discover that I never wrote a post about my walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. I decided to rectify the situation. The more I worked on it; the more fascinated I became. At this point, nearly 5 years after having walked it, all I can surmise is that I must have been very tired and/or hungry while crossing it.

In my post on the Manhattan Bridge, I mention how much more I liked that bridge than the Brooklyn Bridge. I can remember how much more thought provoking I found the Manhattan Bridge, but in looking back at my photos, I am shocked at how uninspiring I found the Brooklyn Bridge. I think it may hold the record for the fewest number of photos I’ve taken of any of the bridges I have walked. Especially, if we look at number of photos versus the length of the bridge. I suppose there may have been some other factors such as the construction zone on parts of the bridge.

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Another factor may have been the fact that the walkway is in the center of the bridge and above level of the traffic. While I remember this as a highlight and an intriguing part of the bridge, I also seem to recall that it may have caused interference with framing any potential photos.

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I will take back some of my comments on the Wheeling Suspension Bridge. While both bridges do have a lot of structural parts holding them up, those of the Wheeling bridge were much more fascinating. This may in part have been because you were able to get up close with them.

Below are the views of the surroundings. On one side you have the Manhattan Bridge and on the other the Statue of Liberty. That is just about the extent of the photos I took from the Brooklyn Bridge.

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I feel that I ought to give this bridge a second chance. If/when I ever make it back to New York City, I think I will have to walk it again (maybe after a good meal). The problem here is that my last trip there in 2012 when I first walked the bridge confirmed for me that New York is really not the city for me and I have no plans to make a trip back anytime soon.

Manhattan Bridge: A Multimodal Link

Posted on April 7, 2013 by Carolyn Ristau

When I was planning my walk across the Brooklyn Bridge while in New York City last December, I noticed there was a bridge nearby called the Manhattan Bridge. I decided to cross to Brooklyn by the Manhattan Bridge and return to Manhattan by the Brooklyn Bridge. The Manhattan Bridge ended up being the more interesting of the two bridges.

I found my way from the subway stop to the Manhattan Bridge by following the way-finding signs for the bike lanes in the Lower East End. This brought me to the left side of the bridge, where I was temporarily upset to see that pedestrians were not permitted to use the sidewalk on that side of the bridge–it was dedicated to two-way bicycle traffic. I was concerned that I was not going to be able to walk across this bridge and instead would have to cross the Brooklyn Bridge twice (I try to avoid walking across a bridge just to walk back across it; doing so gives me a sense of pointlessness). Luckily, there are sidewalks on both sides of this bridge (from walking Pittsburgh bridges I know not to assume that bridges have sidewalks on two sides) and the sidewalk on the right side is dedicated to pedestrians.

I suggest that NYC puts up a sign on the bicycle side to direct pedestrians to the other side, which might help encourage pedestrians to follow the traffic directions set up on this bridge–I watched a pedestrian ignore the bicycle-only signs to cross the bridge on the bike lanes.

This bridge is the most multimodal bridge I have walked with the bike lanes on one side, pedestrian way on the other, and the subway and roadway in between. While I approve of this welcoming of alternative transportation methods, I am not sure about placing the pedestrians next to the subway tracks. This does give a barrier between the pedestrians and the noise of the cars, but instead, the pedestrians have to deal with the noise of the subway, which while it is less constant than the cars, it is a little more startling/disturbing.

The neighborhoods the Manhattan Bridge links had some similar physical elements, but are clearly used by different populations. The populations on both the Manhattan and Brooklyn sides use their rooftops, but for different purposes. On the Manhattan side, the rooftops were covered in graffiti, while the Brooklyn rooftops had new additions and places to sit. There were also parks on both sides of the East River. However, the Manhattan side only had a baseball diamond while the Brooklyn side had a carousel and a pirate-ship playground.

What intrigues me most about the Manhattan Bridge is that I had never seen or heard of it before and yet it is the bridge shown in the background (multiple times) in the Doctor Who episode “The Angels Take Manhattan.” Based on my walk on the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, it looks like these shots were taken on the Brooklyn side of the river, in which case it seems like it possible to get the Brooklyn Bridge in the background instead as these two are close together on that side. To me the images of the Brooklyn Bridge say New York, while (at least before I walked it) images of the Manhattan Bridge just say a place with a bridge and hence water. I wonder if the Manhattan Bridge is better known in the UK than in my circle?

Caerphilly, Castles and Cheese

Posted on March 24, 2013 by Carolyn Ristau

When I arrived in the UK last spring, I realized I had one major flaw in my trip: I hadn’t planned to visit any castles. Cardiff has a castle in the center of town and my hotel was right across the street from it. However, I visited this castle on my last trip and remembered much of it: the Roman wall in the basement, the ornate room in the clock tower, the nursery painted with scenes from fairy tales, and the view from the keep. Looking for a new castle to visit, my guidebook recommended Caerphilly.

Caerphilly is a twenty minute train ride north of the center of Cardiff. It is a small town and features a castle begun in 1268. In addition, the guidebook noted that the town is noted for Caerphilly Cheese, a mild relative of cheddar cheese. As I love cheese, especially cheddar, Caerphilly was an appealing destination to satiate my interest in castles and cheese.

So one morning, I went down to the Central Cardiff station, purchased an open, round-trip ticket to Caerphilly for just a few pounds and enjoyed the short train ride through the Welsh country-side. Cardiff is very flat, but Caerphilly and the surrounding area are quite hilly. The castle wasn’t visible from the train station, so I started walking in what seemed the most promising direction: downhill on the main commercial street. After a short walk, the road made a bend and the shops stopped on one side, leaving a wide view over a green park to the castle and the valley and hills beyond.

A Welshman once told me that the only real castles are those in ruins. Ones like Cardiff Castle that have been fixed-up, renovated, or refurbished in any way are not real. I thought that he would have approved of Caerphilly Castle.

When I finished exploring every corner of the castle, I returned to the town looking for cheese and lunch. There were no signs of Caerphilly Cheese anywhere. There were lots of tourist-y areas and signs directing the way to tourist-like attractions, but none mentioned cheese. Wikipedia claims that there is a cheese sculpture somewhere in town, but I didn’t see it. I ended up choosing a quaint little diner (of the early 20th century style, not the 1950s/60s style we think of in the US) as the place to eat my lunch in the hopes that perhaps they used Caerphilly Cheese on their sandwiches, but they did not.

Feeling let down in my hunt for cheese, I returned to Cardiff shortly after my lunch. Caerphilly’s castle was well worth the trip, but I was beginning to believe that Caerphilly Cheese was a myth.

….

Seven months later, my family and I were visiting New York City for Christmas. On our last day, we made the requisite visit to Zabar’s. I had been particularly looking forward to this stop on our trip as the last time I was in Zabar’s I was a kid who knew that there was something special about the shop, but didn’t understand why as I thought the height of culinary perfection was Kraft Mac’N’Cheese.

The first thing that caught my eye on entering Zabar’s was the cheese display. I quickly went over and scanned the names of all the various cheeses, looking for the exotic one that I was going to take home to try. Most had names that sounded familiar. On my second look through, my heart stopped. There on the shelf right in front of me was Caerphilly Cheese!!

I was shocked. I had gone to Caerphilly to get their cheese and been disappointed. Now, months later on the other side of the ocean, in a small store in NYC, I’d found it. Needless to say, I purchased a brick. It was a nice cheese, almost like a cross between a mozzarella and a mild cheddar: smooth, almost creamy, with a slight hint of the cheddar kick.

Sandwich Shops

Posted on January 5, 2013 by Carolyn Ristau

While in London last spring, I discovered a sandwich shop chain that I fell absolutely in love with: Pret a Manger. I ended up eating lunch most days at one of their many locations around the city. The food was great. They had sandwiches on small baguettes, in wraps, and between two “normal” square slices of bread (which have been cut into triangles, as everyone knows triangle sandwiches taste better). The flavors of sandwiches included ham and cheese, egg salad, and brie, tomato and basil. The ingredients were fresh and real–meaning ham of the bone, not sliced deli ham, and arugula instead of shredded, nondescript “lettuce.” And then the sides to go with the sandwich were interesting, exciting, and tasty. The chip flavors I remember were “cheddar and red onion” and “sea salt and apple cider vinegar.” Both delicious! I was also attracted to the Pret sodas (I normally skip the soda options at restaurants). I enjoyed the Grape & Elderflower, Apple, and Ginger Beer sodas.

Pret was the first place I had lunch in London and from the first bite, I couldn’t wait to come back and try another flavor of their sandwiches, chips, and drinks. On my third day in London, I was ready for lunch, but could not find a Pret anywhere near where I was, so I went to another sandwich chain that I had been seeing around. The style of this other place, the name of which I forget, was similar to Pret, but the taste was no comparison. After trying this other place, I made sure that I was near a Pret at lunchtime for the remainder of my trip.

Besides the taste, I also enjoyed the convenience of the chain. All the sandwiches are premade, so all you have to do is grab-and-go. You don’t have a clerk staring you down while you decide what flavor you want today and you don’t have to wait for it to be made once you’ve made the decision. All of which suits my personality better.

I cannot think of a sandwich shop in the US that has premade sandwiches. It seems to me that one of the things the Subways, Quiznos, and the others are after with the don’t make it until it’s order deal is to prove that their food is fresh. Blimpie’s for example doesn’t even slice the meat and cheese until you’ve put your order in. Despite being premade, the sandwiches at Pret always tasted fresh and satisfying because they were made with solid food such as dense, but small bread, and chunks of chicken meat. The chain’s website explains the secret: “Pret opened in London in 1986. College friends, Sinclair and Julian, made proper sandwiches avoiding the obscure chemicals, additives and preservatives common to so much of the ‘prepared’ and ‘fast’ food on the market today….They created the sort of food they craved but couldn’t find anywhere else.” “Our partners drop off the very best ingredients to our shops everyday. We don’t mind that good, natural food goes off quickly. We don’t keep our sandwiches, baguettes and wraps overnight.”

One of my biggest disappointments on returning home was that I might never get another Pret sandwich (unless they’re still there the next time I’m in London) and instead the only options for buying sandwiches out would be places like Subway and Quiznos. It was quite devastating. Like the partners who started the Pret chain, I was going to be craving fresh, “proper” food, but unable to find it anywhere….

But then, I went to New York City for Christmas. Walking around the first night there, I was thrilled to spot not one, but two Prets. Needless to say, I went there every opportunity I got. The options were somewhat different, particularly the chips–there were only boring, regular American flavors and styles to choose from (though they still weren’t national brands like Lays)–but the food was still good. The egg salad wrap was melt-in-your-mouth delicious. The roast beef, arugula, mustard-mayo and chicken, bacon, mayo baguettes were also yummy. They also had the Pret Ginger Beer Soda, which tasted as yummy as the Ginger Beer I had in London, both Pret and non-Pret. I’ve found Ginger Beer in Pittsburgh, but it’s just not the same.

It turns out that Pret a Manger has set up locations in New York, Boston, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. As Chicago is one of the next US Cities I hope to visit, I know I will be getting another Pret sandwich soon. I wonder though, if the large, diverse populations of these cities are necessary for a place like Pret a Manger to be successful. Is it possible for a truly fresh sandwich shop to succeed (and set up multiple branches) in a smaller, less diverse city like Pittsburgh?

urbantraipsing

A site of urban exploration. Text and photos by Carolyn Ristau.

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