Day 22 - Pittsburgh, P.A. We woke up this morning in Lindsay's Mum and Dad's house. Everyone had left for work or school and Nick and Lindsay where still asleep on the lounge floor. Jesse, Lindsay's sister who is in high school (secondary school), starts her school day at 7:30am! A very early start but then she finishes at 2:30pm. We had bagels (a first) for breakfast and set off with Nick and Lindsay and Nick's father Dave, for an action packed tour of Pittsburgh. Unless you have been to Pittsburgh, you probably have no idea what this place is like. It is exceedingly hilly and the city is cossed by two rivers which are hugely wide. The Thames is a tiddly thing in comparison. There are many bridges that cross these rivers and some of them have great cliffs up their banks or near their banks. It looks very eastern european. The winding roads and hilly terrain are almost alpine in nature. We went up one of these cliffs in a funicular or cable operated rail car. Rather like the one they have in Hastings, except it was much longer. Then we saw a great fountain display that danced with music. The boys got soaking wet. This cooled them down significantly as this was the hottest day we had encountered this year. The temperature was in the 90 degree range and the humidity was extreme. We visited the railway station that has now been turned into a restaurant. We can report that the architecture of this building was superior to Grand Central Station in New York. Stupendous. We then went to Nick's university, saw his accommodation and visited the campus. To do this we had to travel through the Carnegie Museum (where Nick worked) and we saw some amazing exhibits. The university building itself was quite extraordinary. The building which was built in the great depression (I think this was around 1929/1930) is designed like a cathedral and is know as the cathedral of learning. It looks like a very tall Guildford catherdral (I think it has 40 or so stories) and inside on the ground floor it is just like the inside of a church but without any of the religious icons. We then went to the Pittsburgh Zoo. Great place with elephants, giraffe and gorillas. Can't see them in London zoo. Their aquarium was also very good. Perhaps even better (but not so extensive) as the Chicago one. The exhibits were all well labeled and well lit. Chicago aquarium is almost pitch black inside. Today we also had our best lunch since we arrived in North America. A really great sandwich and soup. In the evening we were entertained at Nick's parent's house and enjoyed a great pizza and salad and very good company. We really feel like we are one of the family. Thank you for making us so welcome.