I Live for Little Moments like That

Although many Penn Staters are born to hate Pitt, Oakland happens to be one of my favorite parts of town.  Located right in between Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh, Oakland reminds me a little bit of State College, even though they're completely different, but it is busy and full of college students. Although I know little about CMU, my knowledge about Pitt is pretty high. 

The Cathedral of Learning

My favorite part of Pitt's campus is the Cathedral of Learning. I guess I don't know the 'real' Cathedral, since I'm not a Pitt student, but the parts that I do know are beautiful. The largest part of the first floor is the "commons room," where students go to study, but part of the first floor is also a large tourist attraction: the Nationality Rooms. I've visited the rooms more times than I can remember, and they're all beautiful. Some of my favorites include the German, the Irish, and the French room.  All together there are 27 rooms, each representing a different culture that had an influence on Pittsburgh's growth. Pittsburgh, as it exists now, could not exist without the help of these cultures, and the nationality rooms are a way to show how thankful the current residents are because of these immigrants' help. The nationality rooms were a common field trip during my elementary school years, all the way up until my senior year of high school.

The stairs of the Cathedral

Oakland is not just the University of Pittsburgh and other universities, it has museums and hospitals, as well as shopping, restaurants, and obviously tons of students. The area has two city designated historic districts, the residential area of Schenley Farms and the predominantly institutional Oakland Civic Center.

The part I'm most familiar with is North Oakland; it's also the area I spend the most time. Right near the Cathedral of Learning is a street called South Craig Street. It's full of restaurants and cool shops that you can't really find anywhere else. I've spent many a late night in Oakland eating at Lulu's Noodles and Razzy Fresh.

Places in Oakland are actually open past dinnertime on weeknights, unlike most of the places by my house. So when we want to grab a late dinner, we automatically drive down to Lulu's. As one can tell by the name, it's a noodle shop and the food is really cheap. Dinner is probably around eight bucks, which is a price you can't beat. Plus the food is delicious.

Even though you'll be completely full by the time you're done there, there's always room for Razzy Fresh, a frozen yogurt place a block away. There are TONS of flavors and toppings there. Luckily, you get to make your dessert yourself and can pick and choose as much as you want-- just be careful, the price is based on weight.

Goodbyes the day before I left for college at the Carnegie Museum

I spent way to many late summer nights stuffing my face with the delicious places mentioned above. After taking our normal seats across the street on the steps of a cute little apartment building we talked about everything. We cried about break ups, went on double dates, said our goodbyes on the stairs of the Carnegie Museum, and talked about our scary future that was fast approaching. This summer will be different; same places, different topics. We won't be scared of college, and we'll have become pros at goodbyes at this point. Lulu's and Razzy will just be another reminder of what high school was, and what college is becoming. The places are the same, but the people have changed. But even though all of my friends, including myself, have become different people, it's nice to know that our order at Lulu's and favorite flavors are Razzy are still the same.