Crowds in front of the Kaufmann's clock 

A word in advance

The Superbowl victory for the Pittsburgh Steelers came after 26 years. While I barely understand American Football, the victory opened the door to a ticker-tape parade downtown - a unique look at Pittsburgh street life. This was Pittsburgh's first parade since 1992, when the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup back to back. This time round, the city spent around $1 million, and 250,000 fans braved icy 10mph winds, flurries and 10 below zero (centigrade) temperatures to cheer the Steelers. The 1 mile, 2 hour parade route started from Mellon Arena, home of the Penguins, and wound its way through Centre, Sixth, Fifth and Liberty Avenue before finishing at the Point State Park. The map of the route, and my position - the Fifth at Smithfield.

The parade

The parade opened with a contingent from the City of Pittsburgh 

The mounties were there to control the crowd, but slipped into the parade as delegates of Allegheny County 

The high school marching bands - Shot 1  

Shot 3 

Shot 2  

Shot 4 

Shot 5 

Shot 6 

The horns section 

Singing along 

The drums 

I cant believe this is happening to me ... 

Temporary tattoos everywhere 

Shot 1 

Shot 2 

Shot 3 

Shot 4 

Shot 5 

Shot 6 

Shot 7 

Shot 8 

Shot 9 

Shot 10 

The "Steelmark" of US Steel - with the three astroids standing for steel components coal, ore and scrap