We are fine in Pittsburgh, aka da 'Burgh.

Sorry not to post in such a long time. We are in Pittsburgh, and have been very busy with family here. I will just do a check in and post summing up thoughts re. Europe. We will be home in Oakland, Ca. in a couple of days, and yes, will see about getting some photos on the site. There is much I can say about Pittsburgh, my home town. It's a beautiful city, really - the hills are wooded, the rivers are recovering since the steel mills closed several decades ago. We have kayaked in the Allegheny River on other trips and seen egrets and herons there. The feeling is very central/eastern European - German, Polish, Russian - a great place to get perogies and sauerkraut. There are also quite a few people from Italian and Irish backgrounds, and a large African American population. Many houses are brick, with porches and awnings. It is a more picturesque place than many people think! We have, again, been busy with family and haven't visited our favorite stomping grounds on this trip, but I will mention a few. The Carnegie Institute is a fine natural history museum with a world class dinosaur exhibit. The National Aviary specializes in conserving wild birds from around the world, and has captive release programs (where endangered birds are raised there and released in their own habitats.) The Andy Warhol museum is a trip (yes, he is from da 'Burgh!), and we like the interactive history exhibit. This is a great walking city, lots of nice neighborhoods to wander through. We did get out to a German lunch with my cousin Betsy the other day, and will meet other relatives for some Italian food shortly. I could say much more, but wanted to let everybody know we are well. We will check in sometime after we get home in a couple of days, and will get some photos up. See yinz. Ps, "Yinz" is Pittsburgh-ese for the plural form of "You."