The title of this posting is not a theological discussion point, but that is where our day started, so that is where the posting starts (this being my blog and not some clever film like Memento). We dropped into the Basilica, which was the first catholic cathedral in the States (a good or a bad thing, depending on your point of religious views, I suppose) and has recently been beautifully restored.
As well as the dome, which Latrobe designed to be lit from above by a series of skylights, the crypt is pretty fantastic and there is some incredibly complex brickwork down there, often with three interwoven arches at the same point, and some very interesting inverted arches, whose function I don't quite get. I am sure someone who knows engineering could fill me in.
After tea and the rest of the pumpkin roll, we went for a walk round the harbour to run up an appetite for dinner. We found a great new fountain,which has a whole network of jets coming up out of the ground, firing very unpredictably, and just begging you to try and run across. Did Daddy resist the urge? Of course not. And did he remain dry? No - although to be fair only one leg got wet and he didn't slip over and end up in hospital, so in a lot of ways it was the best possible outcome!
We poked our heads into the Science Center and it turned out that entry was free as part of the FreeFall program, so we had a play in the hands-on area. Mummy took great delight in using her knowledge of the laws of physics to obliterate a seven-year-old girl in the tug of war. By the time four chidren were pulling on the lever-disadvantaged rope across from her, it was starting to feel rather too much like a pastiche on american racial politics, so we moved to another exhibit.
To top off the day, we had a feast at Cinghiale, the Italian restaurant in the ground floor of our building. This was Mel and my second trip there, and it didn't disappoint. Yum, and yum.
