chocolate-flavored bluespink

090207 (Sat.)



May invited us to an Ethiopian restaurent ABAY. It was my first time tasting African traditional food. Throughout the meal, there were no utensils. All we needed was our hands. If you are interested in ABAY and Ethiopian cuisine, check their website. 

想都沒想過我會來這裡吃衣索比亞的食物，ABAY這家店在匹茲堡還滿有名的，點一次餐可以選四種主菜，然後用一種叫做injera的餅皮，抓著食物來吃，injera質地很像鬆餅，彈性像海綿，我只能說真的很有趣！至於味道如何，可能還是要親自嚐過才會曉得，不過可以想像衣索比亞食物都比較重口味。


(吃太多漢堡薯條可樂冰淇淋就變成這個圓臉，小朋友不要學。)

We had a wonderful night for Boléro, a concert performed by Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at Heinz Hall. The whole building and decorations are magnificent. I think most people have heared this famous orchestral piece by Ravel because the melody is quite familiar. But it was far more pleasant when the orchestra was right in front of me. Actually, there were two more pieces tonight: Ludwig van Beethoven/Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93 and Édouard Lalo/Symphony Espagnole for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 21. One interesting thing I found was that the orchestra memebers tuned their instruments on the stage before the performance in spite of the presence of audience. That was rare in Taiwan. But Mickey said PSO performances weekly at Heinz Hall, so the stage is just like thier home. =) Well, that makes sense.



Downtown Pittsburgh的藝文區有許多表演廳，一到週末夜晚就變的很熱鬧，我們選了一場主打「波麗露」的音樂會，由匹茲堡當地的管絃樂團主演，音樂廳內部以巴洛克時代富麗堂皇的風格裝飾。讓我驚訝的是儘管觀眾陸陸續續進場，樂手們都直接在台上調音，我記得以前我們都會躲到後台去耶，不過這裡的人好像也都習以為常。音樂會曲目還包括貝多芬的第八號交響曲、拉羅的西班牙交響曲(小提琴及交響樂團)，最後壓軸的是拉威爾的波麗露，以前雖然有聽過，但是現場聽更有張力，同樣的旋律從不同的樂器演奏出來，層層相疊的音樂層次，一直到最後強而有力的收尾，整個人都起雞皮疙瘩了。最辛苦的莫過於小鼓了，從頭到尾都打著同樣的節奏，卻又表達出細膩的音樂性和各種高低起伏，最後全場都起立鼓掌。這裡好像沒有猛喊「安可」的習慣(在台灣有時候都只是為了喊而喊)， 起立鼓掌很久就是最大的讚美了吧。



After the concert, we went to Mt. Washington for the fantastic night view of Pittsburgh downtown. It was incredible!!

聽說匹茲堡的夜景在美國也是滿有名的，Mt Washington給我的感覺有點像是陽明山，也有一些高級餐廳和獨幢別墅，不用開很久的山路就能找到享受夜景的好地方，可以遠離吵雜的市區。看著河流交會處燈火通明，這裡隱含著匹茲堡發展的歷史痕跡。