Further Adventures From Steel City

other things invented in pittsburgh, the jeep and the big mac. talking of burgers on nbs they were broadcasting the zagat restaurant guide to fast food and out of all the chains guess who swept the board including winning best overall and best burger? yes – wendys. it truly is amazing. i knew it. today i went to a diner chain called park called eat and park which was famously launched in pittsburgh. you’d think it would be park n eat, not the other way round but there you go. i had a shredded bbq pork burger. it was pretty good. it came with onion rings inside it! shredded pork is awesome anyhow. i first came across it on top of some nachos and I thought it was tuna initially. its like totally melt in the mouth.

they also have the worlds first university building skyscraper here. it was first built in the 30s and theres only one taller in the world, at moscow university, so the idea of sky high education didnt really take off. still its quite impressive as its done in a gothic style and is called the cathedral of learning. still whats really neat (how on earth did i survive before i started peppering my education with words such as cute and neat? on one level i am discusted with myself) is that each immigrant group has furnished a classroom inside in the national style. furnished perhaps is an understament, architects and imported craftsman were involved. for example the english classroom is panneled in oak in the tudor gothic style with a stone fireplace, stained glass and furniture from the houses of parliment. if you want to go on a tour, they give you a key and you go round the building which really is like a cathedral inside with vaults and heavy wood doors. its like being in gormenghast (or harry potter perhaps for the less literary of you). they are still constructing more of these international rooms. with the recent ones its all got a bit competitive and gone over the top but the early ones are quite charming.