Summer @ CMU Newsletter: Issue IV

Welcome to the FINAL issue of the Summer Studies E-newsletter! It is hard to believe the summer sessions are coming to a close. Thank you for joining us this summer Tartans!

Athletics Department: Group X Classes

The athletics department offers FREE Group X classes for all CMU undergraduate/graduate students, faculty, and staff! All you have to do is present your valid CMU ID to the desk attendant and they will check you in for the class. Then take the receipt to the class and present it to the instructor. It's really that easy! For a list of Group X classes offered this summer, please visit the Athletics Department’s website.

Below are the Recreational Facility Summer Hours:

neighborhood spotlight

Shadyside & Mt. Washington

Shadyside

Most students at Carnegie Mellon know Shadyside as a vague neighborhood north of Fifth Avenue where that one off-campus friend lives. However, Shadyside doesn't have to be an enigma at all! Its close proximity to our campus makes it an ideal place to spend an afternoon during the summer.

There's a district cultural and economy richness to Shadyside that students can experience on Walnut Street. it's certainly a dynamic place, home to many familiar chain restaurants and shops, like the local Apple Store and Banana Republic. At the same time, independent shops also dot the street. If a friend or family member is visiting you in Pittsburgh, you may want to take them to Walnut Street's Kards Unlimited, which sells affordable souvenirs. Particularly popular is their wide selection of postcards of diverse landmarks throughout the Greater Pittsburgh Area. Each one costs just cents each, and there are charming vintage ones that will make perfect encapsulations of memories you made in Pittsburgh.

One of the more unusual areas of Shadyside is Roslyn Place, which makes for a quirky tourist attraction. While the street is unremarkably residential, the road itself is unusual for the 25,000 wooden blocks that compose it. While wooden streets were widespread in the 19th century, they are completely obsolete and exist in only a few, obscure places, including right across Fifth Avenue in Shadyside! You may want to visit the area if you are a history bluff looking to go back in time to experience historical infrastructure.

Mt. Washington

Pittsburgh is blessed with one of the most stunning natural settings of a city in the country. A trip up Mt.  Washington rewards you with a sublime view of downtown Pittsburgh blithely sitting at the natural confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers. Of course, many of use already know this as the default billion-dollar panorama of Pittsburgh often used in promotional media.

Beyond the acclaimed Duquesne and Monongahela Inclines, and the Mt. Washington viewing platforms, the neighborhood offers more niche yet equally excellent spots to visit this summer.

On the 16 Southern Avenue is Kasvar, an Uzbek restaurant that serves up dishes from this lesser-known corner of the globe. While we are all familiar with popular Asian cuisines from Vietnam, China, Japan and Korea, Central Asian cuisines offers us a unique glimpse at rich foods that often pass under the radar. Perhaps a good starter would be the manti, which are dumpings filled with a variety of meats and vegetables. They are reminiscent of pierogis, which any Pittsburgher should be familiar with!

Thank you for joining us this summer! On behalf of the Summer Studies team we hope you have a fun and relaxing rest of your summer, Tartans!