Rick Steves - Cleveland Tour

© Stuart Pearl 2013 - Click on Image to Enlarge for Slideshow

If you've been to Europe or planned to backpack in those countries then you've heard of Rick Steves.  His travel segments are regularly broadcast on PBS and available on DVD.  For several decades he's written a very successful series of guidebooks under the heading of Europe Through the Back Door. 

Flying into Cleveland around 3 PM from Boston, Rick entertained more than 1000 people last Wednesday night at the Ohio Theater.  He was in the midst of a tour visiting twelve cities in twelve days.  

Speaking for nearly two hours, Rick provided tips on how to see Europe economically, with the least hassle, and in a way to avoid the typical "canned" tours.  His suggestions offer a different path with fewer crowds, and a more intimate feel to your trip.

I've watched a number of his taped travel segments on my local PBS Station WVIZ.  One difference I noticed about Rick's live performance compared to the produced shows is his warm sense of humor.   He blends story telling humor with a high energy delivery that shows his love for the topic.

"All those happy friendly tour guides that seem glad to be with me...I PAY them to be my friends for those shows."

He spends four months out of the year in Europe and is thoroughly comfortable every time he visits. Each taped 30 minute segment we see on PBS or DVD requires six days of filming. 

Rick prefers to book one-way flights to his destination cities as opposed to getting round trip tickets. It's much more interesting to take a bus or train to the next city and then fly out from that location. 

 

It's all about travelling light and being unencumbered.  Rick's travel bag measures 9" x 22" x 14" which makes it perfect for a carry on, and he limits it to a maximum of 20 pounds.  A well made flat money belt is also essential for peace and security.  It can be worn under your clothes out of easy reach while you keep just the money you'll need for that day in a pants pocket. 

 

"At least a couple of times a year I'll feel a small hand gently insert itself into one of my pockets.  This adds to the uniqueness of the cultural experience for that particular.  It's not that pickpockets target Americans.  We have all the cool stuff though: money, fancy cameras and watches, expensive phones...and if we look like helpless tourists hampered by heavy luggage, then we are targetted as the next victim."

 



Rick speaking in the Smith Studio at Ideastream after the show.

In his early years of European travel Rick visited many of the great museums and viewed their masterpieces.  He enjoyed it.  However it was only after he began taking some art appreciation courses that the great works took on a far greater meaning for him.

"Art is like a time tunnel.  It takes you back.....you learn much from it, understand who paid for it, and what their motivation was.  It is then that you have a much better understanding of the people of that country and their place in time."

Bridging Tremont

 

© Stuart Pearl 2012 - Click on Image to Enlarge for Slideshow
 

The Cleveland skyline can resemble a string of holiday ornaments even when viewed through a concrete paving machine.  Not long ago this spot was just a mound of fresh dirt.  By late October though traffic will be flowing across this new stretch of I-90 as it bisects Tremont.  This piece of construction equipment is one of many devices being used to build the new Westbound Innerbelt bridge.  
 

Looking East from the Tremont Bluffs on January 10 pier #4 reflects the setting sun on the West bank of the Cuyahoga.  Right behind it you can see pier #5 on the east bank.  It now holds the triangular "delta" steel which is connected to pier #6 behind it.  The delta structures will provide future support of the new roadbed.

This closeup of piers 5 and 6 show detail of the delta steel as it crosses over the Norfolk and Southern rail trestle.

This view shows pier #6 on 10/30/12 with the false ironwork still in place supporting the newly installed delta steel.  The current innerbelt bridge is on the right.

The west end of the bridge will be "landing" in the area previously occupied by Cleveland Cold Storage.  In this 9/7/12 photo you can see the early legs of pier #4 adjacent to the Cuyahoga.  The steel tower at the right marks the Norfolk and Southern RR bridge.

Part of Tremont Bluffs had to be regraded after the Cold Storage foundation was excavated.  Removal of that huge building changed the slope's geography.  It was now possible to create a gentler slope down to the Cuyahoga that would put less pressure on the river bulkheads as well as the bridge piers.

The top pictures shows red sheetpile driven into the earth, almost looking like the back of a pipe organ.  It helps to stabilize the earth around the current Innerbelt bridge.  Drainage was also affected and new sewer conduits were installed as part of the project.

Tremont Bluffs can be seen in the distance through the girders and piers of the current Innerbelt bridge.

Standing at Abbey Avenue you can easily see pier #4 sitting downslope in the foot of the old Cold Storage location.  In this January 2013 picture the pier's top cap forms are still in position.

The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church can be seen behind what will become the new I-90 roadway as it comes off the Westbound bridge.

This shot has nothing to do with the Innerbelt Bridge.  I simply post it as a reminder that a wonderful countryside surrounds Cleveland just over the next bridge.  You can see similar views at CVSR's Peninsula railroad station in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Ingenuity Fest 2012 - Squonq!

 
© Stuart Pearl 2012 - Click on Image to Enlarge for Slideshow

Know the right places in Cleveland and you’ll always find interesting events to see.  One of my favorites is the annual Ingenuity Festival. 

 

The first Ingenuity Fest was held in 2004.  It's been intentionally moved to different sites throughout downtown in subsequent years.  There has been a motive to these moves.

A main goal of the festival has always been to focus attention on buildings or areas of the city that were either ignored by people, or not very well known.  Who knew we had a subway level on the Detroit-Superior Bridge?  Some did but many ended up enjoying the 2010 and 2011 festivals held at that location.  The bridge even sported a giant waterfall.

 

 

A similar strategy was used for the 2012 festival.  This year's event was held in two large shipping warehouses at docks 30 and 32 on Cleveland’s lakefront.  It brought public attention to prime lakefront property that has recently fallen into disuse.

 

These warehouses contain 120,000 square feet of exhibit space as well as protection from the weather.  They are easily accessible, being a short walk from Browns stadium and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

 

The huge warehouses made it possible to showcase a number of performance, muscial and craft activities.  Just outside the dock area set a different mood with Squonk Opera and other attractions.  The festival always attempts to create a mashup of art, technology and performance.  Frequently the audience participates in the displays and activities. 

An icon of the event was Squonk Opera’s  “Go Roadshow” musical truck.  This vehicle sported a blimp, spinning grand piano, calliope, trumpet horns and rotors.  I didn’t have a chance to hear the performance but it was a fascinating spectacle to view against the setting sun on Lake Erie.

 

 

Events like this are a magnet for "fair food" and stir fry was on the menu.  This man was the fastest cook I've seen, dumping huge bags of vegetables into a giant wok.

 

A number of local artists used the large venue for mural sized efforts.  Work from the Rust Belt Monster Collective was one example.

 

 

 

 

The stonework of Giancarlo Callichia was one of the featured warehouse exhibits.  Other artists were also on display in the impromptu gallery spaces.

Wood sculptured dinosausr occupied an area of the exhibit floor.

One of the more fascinating installations was created by Anthony Castronovo.  He is an artist and educator "whose works blur the line between sculpture, ecology, engineering, and robotics."  

From his website he states  "I am interested in our human relationship to nature. I have explored this interest in many different ways including performance events, drawings, and sculptures." 

For Ingenuity Fest he created sculpture representing a plant / human  /machine hybrid.  It was pretty dark so you couldn't see the aluminum base very well.  However the red, green and blue glowing cast glass flowers attracted a lot of attention.  His blog shows more detail of these sculptures.

Photo of the photographer, by Don Nikolai

The Squonk blimp was pretty deflated by the end of the evening.  The dark coastline made for some nice imagery though of the Rock Hall on our walk back to the parking lot.


 

Clevelands Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - Northcoast Harbor

Innerbelt Chronicles: Tremont Bluff & Heavy Metal

© Stuart Pearl 2012 - Click on Image to Enlarge for Slideshow
 

Out of site, out of mind.  It's easy to forget that the massive bulk of Cleveland Cold Storage sat in this spot for nearly a century before being demolished last year.  Unfortunately it was in the way of the new westbound Innerbelt Bridge. 

Looking East in this 9/21/11 photo you can see the twin towers of the Norfolk & Southern RR bridge on the left.  The current Innerbelt bridge is to the right.
 

July 1, 2011

July 12, 2011

July 12, 2011




By 7/29/2011 much of Cold Storage had been cleared away.  Only the deep foundation remained.  This had to be fully removed as part of the hillside stabilization efforts for the new westbound bridge. 

A portion of the Tremont bluff near this bend of the Cuyahoga has moved towards the river over the past decades.  It was this geologic pressure that pushed on the old bridge piers which necessitated some repair work. 



Nov. 21, 2011

Once all of the Cold Storage foundation was removed, the area was further excavated and graded. The new much gentler slope will not put the same kind of pressure on the new bridge piers as was the problem with the existing structure. 



Nov. 24, 2011

June 22, 2012

Aug. 1, 2012

Sept. 7, 2012







 

A variety of heavy equipment is used on a construction project of this nature.  Above are the protrusions of a Sheep's Head roller.  These are typically used to compact roadbeds and other ground surfaces requiring heavy compression.



This particular Sheep's Head Roller was on the West bank of the Cuyahoga not too far from the University Inn. 

 

This oil painting of a Sheeps Head roller was made by my father Moses Pearl in the early 1960's.  Interstate I-271 was under construction at the time.  As it passed through Mayfield Heights Moses painted and sketched earth moving equipment on several occasions.  He too was fascinated by their power to change the landscape forever.  



Can you see the iron worker in this photo?  He is walking near components that will become part of the structural steel connecting Piers 5 and 6.

 

8/15/2012 - About a mile east of the Tremont bluff work continues with the Ontario St. on-ramp. The concrete piers for the on-ramp have been completed and structural steel has been added. The ramp piers start out at a lower level from the bridge since they must rise up from Ontario to merge with the I-90 traffic.