After some communications problems with the woman at the Hertz office, we managed to ascertain that we did, in fact, have a rental waiting for us, and that they would pick us up at our B&B. That done, we put the finishing touches on our packing, breakfasted on scrambled eggs and bacon in the dining room, and wished our hosts farewell.
A small red Suburu awaited us at Hertz, along with adequate directions to get us out of Pittsburgh (on our first day of sunshine! This picture...
... snapped out of the car window from the highway as we left. We found our way easily to the Pennsylvania Turnpike and headed east for nearly an hour along this beautiful route...
... before reaching the southbound turn to our next destination...
We had heard much about this masterpiece of Frank Lloyd and had seen many pictures, but were unprepared for the spectacular beauty of the actual site. From the Visitor Center, we took the five-minutes walk down this lovely path...
... through glades of trees that were not yet in full color, but just beginning to turn...
... and arrived at the rear of the house...
... where Ellie posed for a picture as we waited for our tour to start. No pictures allowed, of course, of the interior. Perhaps a good thing, because I would have spent the entire time fussing with the camera instead of taking in the extraordinary detail of every aspect of this wonderful environment. (You'll find some excellent images here; and some details of the interior here.) I'd be hard put to find the words, in the short time I have, to describe the beauty, not only of the building itself but of every aspect of its construction, and the attention paid to each object that seems to find its necessary place within. I experienced, even with the considerable crowds of tourists like ourselves and the patter or the tour guides, that overwhelming sense of awe you get when confronted with one of the great creative achievements of our species. This alone would have made out whole trip worthwhile.
From Fallingwater, we drove back up to rejoin the highway that parallels the turnpike, stopping briefly at one of the many seasonal roadside stands to buy a couple of apples. It seems that Halloween is a big event in this part of the world. Pumpkins everywhere, along with scarecrows, ghosts and goblins decorating every yard. Ellie took this picture...
... and this one.
Hungry by this time, we asked the pumpkin lady for a good place to eat, and she directed us to a local pizza parlor (a family operation, she wanted us to know) where we would never otherwise have stopped, but where we enjoyed a good pizza and chatted with the charming family. (They had, we thought, enjoyed perhaps too many tasty products of their own ovens!) And on along the side road leading us eventually to Bedford, where we were booked in at our next B&B, the imposing Chancellor's House...
... adjacent to a lovely, quiet cemetery!
Once installed, we took a walk around the old town of Bedford, some of whose buildings date from the 18th century. Much history here, including some connection--a little tenuous, I thought--with one of the bygone Dukes of Bedford. Nice serendipity: I was brought up near Bedford (England); and Ellie on Bedford Drive (in Beverly Hills) and here we were in Bedford, Pennsylvania!
A very pleasant glass of wine with our charming and hospitable hosts, Steve and Lynn George, and much talk of art and architecture. Steve, we discovered, is a retired architect who taught at Carnegie Mellon, where Lynn taught in the Theater department. We were able to bring them the latest news of the Gates building, dedicated just the day before our visit there, yesterday. They recommended dinner at the very grand Bedford Springs Spa, where we opted for a quiet--and relatively inexpensive--bar meal over the fancy restaurant.
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1 comment:
I'd love to visit Falling Water.
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