The Place That Changed My Life

I've talked about a lot of beautiful places in Pittsburgh. Sports, food, shopping, and most importantly memories. But, I've saved the best for last. It may not be the place that everyone finds interesting or everyone visits. To me, it's the place that helped me develop my passion, the place that makes me excited, the place that I'll spend hundreds of dollars to go to just for a few hours: the Cultural District.

http://www.trustarts.org/about/explore/

The Cultural District features six different theatres, a performing arts school, galleries and probably anything else you can think of dealing with "culture." Pittsburgh also has tons of major arts organizations, including: ballet companies, dance companies, opera groups, theatre troupes, and other production companies.

I don't remember the first show I saw there. Or even the second, but somewhere during the countless hours spent at the Benedum Center and Heinz Hall, I fell in love. Fell in love with the stage, with acting, with singing, the technical aspect-- I fell in love with it all.

http://www.ksanti.net/free-reed/essays/fiddler.html

Nothing in Pittsburgh has shaped my life more than those two places. You walk into those two places, and you're transformed to another time. No building built today looks like the Benedum Center and Heinz Hall. The lights, the gold, the detail. It's all so beautiful.

Each year I anxiously await the announcement of the new shows visiting and immediately decide on the ones that I want to see. Shows are expensive, but nothing makes me feel quite like being in that audience.  Every dollar that has been put in to those tickets, every cent spent on t-shirts and original soundtracks has been worth it.

Everyone has that one thing that they are passionate about. If you don't, go find it in your city. If I haven't proved it here, it's going to be a pretty hard thing to understand.  Cities, no matter how big or how small, can provide you with amazing experiences.  Experiences that you'll look back on and cherish, things you'll be telling your children about, things that you'll want them to experience.

http://www.tripadvisor.com

So go look for that adventure. Find that dump that turns out to have the best pizza, the cheap milkshake shop, the great shopping area. Then maybe you can love your city as much as I do.