Walking. Gossip. Travel.

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  • Omaha – Tap House

    I’ve been surprised just how many craft beer bars and breweries there are in the Omaha area, but this burger restaurant was particularly well reviewed, so I decided to start here.

    It was an evidently popular restaurant for lunch as the tables were all full, but there was space at the bar. Unusually for a restaurant like this the staff didn’t seat customers, but there was a clear sign for diners that they needed to seat themselves so I didn’t stand there looking confused. After I sat down at the bar, the service was exceptional, engaging, conversational and welcoming.

    The beer list, with a delightful selection of dark beers.

    I went for the peanut butter porter, which is from Kinkaider Brewery, a local Nebraska brewery. It had a rich, creamy and smooth taste, a deep peanut butter flavour and soft after notes. Marvellous.

    This photo doesn’t quite do justice to the portion size. The drink is pint size and each of the onion rings (and there were eight) was the size of the glass. The onion rings were free of charge as I received a free starter for signing up to the restaurant’s mailing list, they were full slices of onion which were then battered. They had a decent crispy exterior and weren’t too greasy, although it was a much larger portion than I had anticipated.

    The fries were Cajun spiced, firm on the exterior and fluffy on the interior, with the spice adding some extra flavour. They were quite moreish, although after I had ploughed through the onion rings I was struggling to eat much more of anything.

    The burger is the brown sugar option, which has home made brown sugar, cinnamon bacon, smoked cheddar and beer braised onions. The burger itself was perhaps just a little drowned out by the strength of the other ingredients, but it was tender, cooked well done (there wasn’t a choice on how it was cooked) and was moist. The bacon was excellent with a rich flavour, the beer braised onions were soft and succulent and everything was at the appropriate hot temperature.

    I only realised later that pickles, lettuce, tomato and raw onions could be added for free on request, and I would have certainly had some pickles as that would have added some texture to the burger which it probably needed. However, the tastes were pleasant and it was all well presented.

    The dining environment was vibrant, clean and comfortable and the server I had seemed to be one of the friendliest in the restaurant as the others didn’t seem to be engaging with customers quite as much. Overall, I very much liked the Tap House and if it wasn’t lunch-time I might have tried a few more of the beers. Very lovely.

  • Amtrak California Zephyr (Chicago to Omaha)

    The Amtrak California Zephyr rail service runs daily from Chicago in Illinois to Oakland in California, a journey which takes just under 52 hours. It’s also one of the most beautiful rail routes in the world, although I was only travelling the Chicago to Omaha section which isn’t the most spectacular in terms of the scenery.

    I’ve taken Amtrak services from Chicago Union station before and I like how they call them from the Great Hall, it’s all very organised. Everyone is then escorted to the train and then seated on the appropriate part of the train for their destination. This has the advantage that the train crew will wake passengers up if necessary as they know where they’re getting off.

    It’s not a great photo, but it shows the amount of room between each row of seats. Even if the passenger in front reclines, the seat is nowhere near the passenger behind, so it’s all spacious and comfortable. There’s also power and large tray tables for those who want them. The service wasn’t particularly busy on my journey so the crew member told everyone they could take up both seats if they wanted.

    The crew, like with the majority of Amtrak services I’ve taken in the past, were friendly, helpful and didn’t take life too seriously. The announcements had a touch of humour to them and everything seemed organised, well managed and safe.

    There is a full service dining car on board, which I’ve never got round to eating in, I always go to the cafe bar. That’s primarily because I like the chicken noodle soup and Pepsi, it’s not classy, but it meets my basic requirements. And it’s cheap.

    There’s an observation car on the train for those who want to watch the scenery go by. I didn’t spend much time in here on this journey, but I have done before. The main reason why I usually spend so much time staring at the scenery is that many Amtrak trains don’t have wi-fi. I was delighted though to discover that the California Zephyr now has wi-fi (or at least this particular train does), so I managed to get numerous things done, ideal given that the journey time was nearly nine hours.

    Photos of the scenery. The bottom one is the Mississippi River, the fourth longest river in the world.

    The train arrived in Omaha and this is now my first visit to Nebraska. The train journey cost around £40 in coach, although there are rooms available for those who want more luxury. The train also arrived into Omaha on time, despite being around 20 minutes behind schedule at one point.

    It’s quicker to fly I know, but Amtrak make play that’s not just about arriving at the destination, it’s also about the journey. And there’s something about trains which I just prefer to flying, especially given how comfortable they are.

  • Philadelphia – Philadelphia Museum of Art (Francis I by Joos van Cleve)

    It seems a strange quirk of history that this important painting of King Francis I of France by Joos van Cleve has ended up in Philadelphia, with the painting of his wife now in Austria. His wife is Eleanor of Austria and Queen of France, who was once nearly married to King Henry VIII, but the English King decided to marry her aunt instead, Catherine of Aragon.

    It’s not known exactly why this painting, and that of King Francis I’s wife, was undertaken, but it’s possible it was to mark the marriage, which was his second. The painting ended up in the private collection of John G Johnson, a local lawyer who later gave all of his artworks to the museum. I’d be intrigued to know where the painting was held between when it was created in 1532 or 1533 and when Johnson purchased it, but I have no idea how I’d find that out.

    Regardless of where it has been, I thought it was historically interesting, although the museum has a rather more crafted and elegant description of the painting:

    “Francis is strongly illuminated from the right so that his body casts a strong shadow behind him, securely locating his form in space. Similarly, his hands are modeled with exquisite attention to the way that light falls across them and to their location in front of Francis’s body. This heightened spatial illusionism is challenged by the ornate elements of the king’s richly decorated and bejeweled costume, which is painted almost like a flat enameled surface. Unlike Francis’s elaborate costume of state, Joos did not idealize his face and even emphasized its more homely aspects. Indeed, his large, coarse features and sly expression contrast with the formality of his dress and betray the man behind the head of state.”

  • Pittsburgh – External Power Points

    It could be said that I’m just easily pleased (and that wouldn’t be untrue), but I have never seen a public park have external power points for people to charge their phones and devices up. It seems a marvellous idea to me as although I wasn’t in need of charge, it could be useful and what better place than a well presented public park?

  • Pittsburgh – Love Locks

    I’ve never really been a fan of the love lock phenomenon which has bestowed so many padlocks onto bridges and other structures across the world. Although I’m not very romantic, so that is probably why, but chucking a key into a river and leaving a padlock on a bridge doesn’t seem to be the height of romantic sophistication to me. But, each to their own.

    There were a few love locks on the bridges in Pittsburgh. However, I’ve never seen before a cycling helmet attached to a bike lock which is then placed on the bridge, in this case Hot Metal Bridge (a wonderful name for any structure). I thought for a while someone was storing it there, although that seemed unlikely, but there are numerous other rather more traditional locks in the area.

    If nothing else, it’s different.

  • Philadelphia – Philadelphia Museum of Art (Virgin and Child by Lorenzo Costa)

    This is an oil painting by Lorenzo Costa from around 1490, called Virgin and Child. I pondered about this as I couldn’t work out at the time why it seemed familiar. I have now resolved the issue, this was issued as a Christmas stamp in the United States in 2001 and they printed 800 million of them.

  • Philadelphia – Eastern State Penitentiary (Punishment Area – Cellblock 13)

    This doesn’t look as frightening as I’m sure that it once did, but it was the toughest area of the prison and was used as a punishment block. It was also known as ‘the Hole’ and ‘Klondike’ and there were ten cells which were mostly without light. Although the walls between the cells are no longer present, it’s possible to see where they were once located.

    This appears to be the only cell which remains standing with its walls intact, with the area being closed down in 1959 due to concerns about the conditions here. It was then used for storage until 1970 and then fell into disrepair. It’s said that this is one of the areas of the prison where hauntings are noted…..

  • Philadelphia – Eastern State Penitentiary (Appearance in Films)

    The impressive backdrop of Eastern State Penitentiary has appeared in numerous films. I didn’t know this, but the above sign in the prison noted that the below films have sections filmed there:

    (i) 12 Monkeys

    (ii) Transformers 2 : Revenge of the Fallen

    (iii) Return to Paradise

    (iv) Outside the Wall

    The last film is perhaps one of the most interesting (not that I’ve actually seen the film) as it was filmed when the prison was still in use.

  • Philadelphia – Mütter Museum

    I don’t have any internal photos from this museum as they’re not allowed due to the content of what is displayed. The museum, which term themselves as “disturbingly informative”, has medical related exhibits and is run by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

    The museum, which isn’t that large in physical size, was busy as it was Easter week and many parents thought that the content was appropriate for their children. On the no photographs policy, this was well enforced and there was a threat that anyone who tried would be asked to leave, and I didn’t see anyone try. Which was disappointing, I like watching things like that.

    The museum was founded in the 1860s following the sizeable donations of medical specimens and apparatus by Dr. Thomas Dent Mutter, after whom the museum is named. It opened in its original location in 1863 and moved to a larger site in 1909 and it remains there today.

    The museum was relatively cramped, primarily due to the number of visitors, and it was difficult to see some items. There was an interesting exhibition on the American Civil War and how injured troops were helped at the time on the battlefield. There wasn’t much opportunity for anaesthetic and there were many amputations which had to take place in the field. There are also some bullets on display which had been extracted from numerous unfortunate soldiers.

    I wasn’t entirely engaged with the main part of the collection, it seemed to be made a little sensational, especially with how proud the museum is of calling itself “disturbing”. I’m not entirely sure that medical oddities should ever be disturbing, they’re just different.

    On display there were a large number of skulls, wax training models for medical students, a lady who was made of ‘soap’ (a burial found in the city in 1875 where certain chemical reactions had taken place), slices from Albert Einstein’s brain and a number of foetuses which hadn’t made it through to birth.

    The above photo (which is from the museum, I didn’t breach the no photography rule) shows one of the wet specimens the museum has. They have 1,300 wet specimens in their collection, and interestingly they’re still adding to this, a reminder that this is an active scientific resource as well as a museum.

    To be fair to the museum, they also say that they exist to “appreciate the mysteries and beauty of the human body while understanding the history of diagnosis and treatment of disease”, which does feel rather more positive. I gained admission with my Philadelphia Pass, but otherwise museum entry is $18.

  • Philadelphia – Philadelphia Museum of Art (Mahabalipooram by Edward Lear)

    This artwok was Painted by Edward Lear, the English artist known for his literary nonsense (there are some politicians know for the same reason). This ancient temple site is on the Bay of Bengal in the Indian province of Madras and Lear visited here between 1873 and 1875. The above painting was created in 1881 when the artist was living in France.

    The painting was acquired for the museum using the John Howard McFadden jr. fund