The Great Allegheny Pathway led us to Pittsburgh. And suddenly we were in a big city again. Which felt very curious after having been in quite rural and remote areas for the better part of the trip. Actually ever since leaving New York City.
Sure, we had ridden our bikes through a number of suburbs, but this was still very different. Gone were the open fields, being replaced by graffiti and concrete.
Our first point of action was to find a Whole Foods store. We had been surviving on what the smaller shops and gas stations had to offer us (pasta and beans and peanut butter jelly sandwiches mostly) and were craving for something fresh like a big bowl of salad.
The evening was growing cooler, but we were more than happy to be dining next to our bikes, feeling rejuvenated by all the vitamins on the plates ahead of us.
While eating, a young couple came up to us, asked about our trip and invited us over to stay at their place. They would be more than happy to have us stay for the night.
This time, however, we had to decline the offer, since we already made arrangements with Anna, who was going to accommodate us during our stay in Pittsburgh.
And about an hour later we made it to Anna’s place. She was sharing a small house with a few other people, but they were all somewhere else. Which gave us plenty of room to make use of.
We carried in our bikes as well as all our stuff and were shown our bedroom. All while chatting with Anna, who turned out to be a really cool character. An activist, a florist, a welder and an architect. And she was just underwhelmed enough for a Finn to be comfortable around.
As we arrived somewhat late, and Anna had an early morning ahead of her we quite soon had to say our goodbyes. But only after giving her our small card that we hand out about us and our trip.
The next time we saw Anna was at eight in the morning. At this point three hours late for work. She had been looking at our blog and Instagram account for way too long.
Sorry about that, Anna. We had a lovely time staying with you!