Pittsburgh

I went to Pittsburgh last week for a very short trip and I almost forgot my coat!!! The airport shuttle had to circle back to the parking lot so I could get it out of my car. That would have made for a miserable trip considering I think 50 degrees is winter. So at the airport, United was offering $200 vouchers for two volunteers to take a later flight. In about 30 minutes, they increased that to $300 plus lunch. Then about 10 minutes after their scheduled boarding time, it was $500! I wish I could have volunteered, but as I was traveling for work, it wouldn't be feasible.

Anyway, by the time I got there, I was starving! I ended up getting dinner at Crystal in downtown since it was recommended on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (I love Guy Fieri!). My co-workers and I started off with their Combo Platter app and it was fresh and tasty. I especially liked their hummus since it tasted different with the cumin flavor. The feta was a bit strong for me.

For my entree, I ordered the Felafel Platter with a side of fries. Their felafel was amazing! It wasn't mushy and had a "meaty" texture to it. It wasn't greasy either. We all agreed their fries were amazing.

After all that food, we had to do some walking around town because we ate too much. We decided to walk down Penn Ave and explore some of the downtown area.

I secretly had a plan to look for a candy shop even though we were pretty full. I love buying local sweets and coffee while traveling! We came across Sinful Sweets which is a chocolate shop. I got their black and white bark with dried fruit as well as a peanut butter melt away. The bark was amazing!

Downtown Pittsburgh looked so fun to run but I didn't bring warm enough clothes or my GPS watch. Plus, I didn't want to get lost while on a work trip. Doesn't it look like a fun route?

Dinner the next day was at Lidia's, which was recommended to us by the hotel. We wanted something Italian and this place did not disappoint! The bread basket had these amazing parmesan sticks, I couldn't get enough. I ordered the fish of the day which was rainbow trout over grains. It was pretty darn good. I polished off my plate.

For dessert, i ordered their Biscotti plate. The ice cream came with espresso poured over in affogato fashion. The cookies included anise biscotti, chocolate crinkle cookies (very fudgy), peanut butter cookie, ginger cookie, pistachio cookie, and some kind of chocolate thins (which was a bit bitter). I could've easily finished, but I had self control and so I left 1.5 cookies on the plate.

Afterward, I made my way back to Penn Ave. by myself only find that the street was closed! Apparently, they were filming a Russell Crowe and Amande Seyfried movie! However, seeing as I only had less than an hour to make it to Sinful Sweets, I didn't even bother to try and see what was going on. I went down a back alley to get my chocolate fix. Yeah, it's that important. I got the dark chocolate with dried mango and pineapple bark, peanut butter bark, more of the black and white bark with dried fruits, champagne truffle, blueberry truffle, and ice cream malt balls. Yes, I ate most of it. I saved most of the mango and pineapple bark for my mom (she loves mango anything!). I must say, their dark chocolate is one of the smoothest dark chocolates I've had (my mom agreed). You gotta try it!