Giant Spider Attacks Pittsburgh!

Well . . . no, not really.

But it's what I thought when I saw this picture that Anne took on the descent
of the Duquesne Incline on Pittsburgh's Mt. Washington:

Two weeks ago, Anne and I drove to Pittsburgh, to pick up Alida
who was in the midst of a month-long research session at the University of Pittsburgh
We were all on our way to my niece Maggie's baby shower (twin boys!) near Detroit.

We took a tourist day in Pittsburgh; I showed the girls some old haunts of mine, from when Howard and I lived there 28 years ago, and the girls took a ride on the near-vertical Duquesne Incline, which has been bringing people up:

and down:

the Mt. Washington hillside since 1877.

In the same street cars, in use now for over 130 years.
Here's a picture from the Duquesne Incline web page of a car in use, going down the side of the hill.

Pittsburgh is surprisingly hilly; it's like San Francisco, but with snow to add to the driving fun.
You haven't lived till you've tried to drive on a cobblestone street in a Pittsburgh snowstorm.
On a 30-degree angle.

Anne videotaped some of the journey, with a bit of her own commentary,

and some silly shout-outs of "Spring Break Wooooo!!!" from her big sister.

Got a minute? Join my girls in their trip back down the cliff:

For some reason, they were alone on their descent. The ascending car had been quite full.
Hmm, perhaps someone heard Alida hollering "Spring Break Woooo?"

If you watched the video, did you notice the beautiful old woodwork of the car?
And those old bench seats.
I look at them and I imagine the many hundreds of different styles of skirts that have sat on those seats!

Thanks to Mary at Little Red House for hosting Mosaic Monday; if it weren't for her I never would have tried making collages in Picasa, and seeing how much fun they are! Visit her here -- Cass