Pittsburgh

My nephew had his First Communion this past weekend so I got to visit with family in Pittsburgh. Besides playing Wii with nieces and nephews I also got to see St. Paul Cathedral, which is beautiful. If you ever go to Catholic Churches and wonder where all the great high altars are - they are all in this Cathedral. The only site with some pictures I have found is here. I saw a bit of the nearby Heinz Chapel - there was a wedding going on but I managed to walk down the side aisle and glance at the stunning 73 foot tall stained glass windows. Like the Heinz Chapel, the Cathedral of Learning is part of the University of Pittsburgh. I toured several of the Nationality Rooms in this building. These are museum like rooms that are used as classrooms - you peek through peepholes to ensure there are no classes being held and then go in to examine the artifacts.

It wasn't all high culture though, I also sat in a bar and discussed Ben Roethlisberger with locals and watched someone who bit into a ghost pepper on a dare and then proceeded to freak out. Good times.