This weekend, we had our first Cincinnati visitors: my parents. We might not have our furniture, but it was still great to show off our apartment and do some sight-seeing in our new city.
This is the view from our neighboring street, out to the Ohio River. As you can see, we are quite close to the river. Our street is also a dead end, facing the river, but there are trees and a house impeding the view. The view a couple streets over is much clearer.
We went downtown and saw Brian's work building (from the outside). Right next to it is fountain square (named such because of this fountain). It was really sunny, so the camera was having a little trouble capturing the blue sky. It is a beautiful fountain, even though it is turned off for the winter. The city had set up an ice-skating rink next to it, for December. I was impressed they could keep the ice frozen, since it was in the 50s and sunny yesterday afternoon.
We also visited the Freedom Center, a museum and learning center dedicated to the underground railroad. There are so many exhibits, we didn't have time to see them all. I learned a lot about slavery in the US, modern slavery, and the work of the underground railroad in Ohio. They even have a slave pen (a building used to store newly-purchased slaves), which was moved from a plantation in Kentucky to the museum, that you can go inside. I really liked this sculpture (the slave pen is the log cabin-like structure in the background).
After our time in the museum, I walked with my parents across one of the many bridges into Kentucky. We used the Ruebling Bridge, since it was next to the Freedom Center and has a nice walking lane. It is a beautiful bridge. Designed by the same person as the Brooklyn Bridge, it looks similar to the Brooklyn Bridge. While walking across, we saw several horse-drawn carriages also making the trip.
Ruebling Bridge, with Cincinnati downtown:
