A Little About Me 

If you are looking for a formal introduction, then look no further. I am Alexander Ray, the author of this blog. I am 22 years old and have lived in Pennsylvania all my life. Specifically, I was raised in a small town called Scottdale, which is about an hour away from the hugely-popular city of Pittsburgh. 

Consequently, you might not be surprised to find out that Pittsburgh is a place I have been to countless times throughout my life. My family and I always used to visit the Carnegie Science and Art museums when I was much younger. I have also been to a lot of Pittsburgh Pirates baseball games at PNC Park stadium. 

It has only been within the last six-or-so years of my life, however, that I have truly begun to discover just how rich in culture and history Pittsburgh, and southwestern Pennsylvania as a whole, is. One especially memorable instance of this occurred when I was a junior in high school. I was in my school's Spanish Club, and we went on a field trip to the Oakland campus of the University of Pittsburgh. That is where we spent about three hours taking a comprehensive tour of the famous Cathedral of Learning: dubbed "Cathy" for short. Each of the main classrooms there were themed after different countries, and it was utterly fascinating since each room felt so culturally authentic and immersive.

My good friend Ryan has also contributed to my appreciation for the city of Pittsburgh. Last year, over winter break, we went to Heinz Hall to see a live orchestra performance of Handel's "The Messiah," and it was incredible. What tops that, in my opinion, is what we did this past year when we went to the Benedum theater (which is just next to Heinz Hall, conveniently) to see a live ballet of "The Nutcracker" by Petyr Tchaikovsky. We went to a local pizza  bar called "Top Brick Oven" for dinner afterwards. That was a great experience as well since we actually got seats at the bar in front of the brick fire oven where they cook the pizzas. Besides offering an extensive assortment of pizzas, there was also a wine list on their menu, too, which added to the Italian atmosphere of the place. 

In short, I have just begun to dip my toes into the various cultural phenomena that encompass the place I have known as "home" for  two decades. I am really hoping that my travels over the next few months will help immensely to widen my appreciation for southwestern Pennsylvania, and, if I'm lucky enough, I will convince the readers of this blog how amazing this often overlooked stretch of American land can be.