麻豆村

Hi! My name is Esha, I am a fourth-year in the College of Fine Arts studying architecture! On campus I am a part of a dance team and also love going on walks, hikes and being outdoors. One of my favorite getaways inside the city of Pittsburgh is the North Shore. It is only around a 15 minute drive away, and even the car ride there is amazing. You go through a bunch of buildings and then all of a sudden you hit the highway, pass a bridge and the view opens up to the beautiful rivers.

Just a couple weeks ago, I went down with my friend. We picked up take-out from a place near my apartment and headed down to North Shore at 6 p.m. We went to this spot called 鈥楽hore Thing.鈥� It鈥檚 a public intervention which has newly built seating on the river. We sat down, ate and talked till the sun set. Seeing the color change over the water with the bridge and city lights was so beautiful.

As it continued to get dark, we noticed that one of the bridges on the river had particularly more lights and people. We decided to investigate and headed up. It turned out to be Oktoberfest. The bridge was packed with food stalls, vendors, and a ferris wheel with live music. It was so cool. I got in line to get a 10鈥� long pretzel. My friend and I then sat on the side of the bridge over the water eating our pretzel and just staring out into the distance. It literally felt like a movie.

I鈥檝e been at this bridge before for festivals like Picklesburgh in the summer, which is super cool if you are a pickle fan like me. It鈥檚 a day just to celebrate pickles and you can find every type of pickle food possible. My friends and I got ten different things that day and shared them all. I had pickle pierogies, jalape帽o pickle grilled cheese, pickle pizza, and then some more obscure options like pickle ice cream and pickle iced tea. Everything was surprisingly so good (though I might be biased because of how much I love pickles). There鈥檚 even a massive inflatable pickle on the bridge, which is just really fun to see.

Every time I visit the North Shore, there鈥檚 something new happening: a concert, a festival or just a quiet sunset on the water. It鈥檚 one of those places that reminds me why I love being in Pittsburgh. It's full of small surprises, good food and moments that make the city feel like home.