Berkeley

Sandwiches from CREAM

Clock tower at UCB

Part of the produce section at the Berkeley Bowl

View from the Hills on a hazy day

     Berkeley has so much diversity, I can't even begin to name it all - but I'll try.  It's a big city with a BART station, business men and an incredible variety of restaurants.  It's a college town where hipsters and hippies meet and rigorous academics spill into tie-dye t-shirts and religious pot smoking.  It's a family town with bike lanes, shady streets and adorable single-family bungalows - and the biggest co-op grocery store I've ever seen!  In it's proximity to San Francisco, Berkeley is urban, with big city amenities such as great public transportation and vibrant culture.  But Berkeley is also rural - deer and squirrels galavant in the hills, quiet jogging trails loop around the lake in the wilderness of Tilden Regional Park and cyclists whoosh under canopied trees.

     As I stood on the deck of the classy 70's cabin where we were staying with our friends in the Berkeley Hills, I saw blue jays and hummingbirds in the pines and conifers, a deer darting underneath us, and curious squirrels getting a peek at us. But just lifting my gaze from the forest scene below, I could see over the trees to the city spilling out into the Bay, the Bay Bridge connecting to the outline of cityscape, and the Golden Gate Bridge hiding in the haze. It was amazing - and a perfect example of the dichotomy that is Berkeley.

     After a day in San Francisco, we got off the BART station in downtown Berkeley, popping out of the subterranean on Shattuck Avenue, one of the many enclaves of Berkeley. We wandered up and down, looking at fun shops and interesting restaurants. Feeling a tad hungry ourselves, we stopped in at a liquor store advertising sandwiches, burritos and curry. Something for everyone; how could we resist?  For a couple bucks we ordered steaming fresh Indian food from the Mexican man at the counter, who recommended the spinach and potato curry. As we sat on the little stools at the counter eating our steaming Aloo Saag and listening to Mariachi, I thought I had never been anywhere quite like this cornucopia of authenticity. 

     I was surprised and excited at all the different enclaves we saw in Berkeley. Driving into town from the Hills, we passed through a cute area I later found out was called the Gourmet Ghetto. This is the area where a pizza restaurant called the Cheeseboard Collective makes only one type of fresh vegetarian pizza for the day, and the line usually runs out the door, but daily live music makes the wait enjoyable. The original Peets Coffee is located in this "ghetto", as well as the legendary Chez Panisse, founded by Alice Waters, creator of the "slow food" movement.
     University of California, Berkeley is known throughout the world for it's prestige, but what you won't know unless you go is that it's beautiful as well. Any trip to Berkeley should incorporate a walk around the grounds, which include old brick buildings, big leafy trees, quiet sidewalks, amazing architecture, and the learning/doing/active vibe found on any great campus. The university streams out onto Telegraph Avenue, the college kids' downtown area. Thrift stores, street vendors, cheap ethnic food and hand blown bongs galore! Telegraph is laid back but exciting, a little gritty and a feast for the senses.
    As we walked along, I kept noticing people eating delicious looking ice cream sandwiches, sparking an instant craving. When we ran into a line that was out the building and around the corner, I looked up at the sign to see what the hullabaloo was about,  and in big letters was C.R.E.A.M. - Cookies Rule Everything Around Me.  "Get in Line!" I yelled, as I grabbed my husband and squeezed into place. I didn't care that ice cream usually makes me sick, this looked like something we couldn't miss. The line moved fairly quickly, and once inside I saw that you could have your choice of a variety of vegan or regular cookies and a variety of soy or regular ice cream. I got cherry chocolate chip soy ice cream on a double chocolate chip cookie - it was divine! (Although the ice cream was soy, the cookies were intense and I still suffered slightly afterwards).
     After our $2 treats, we regrettably ran into some guy who was deciding to put a still-living-but-almost-roadkill rat out of it's misery with some iron tool, preaching his humanity while girls screamed and I turned right out of there as I heard the clang - enough Telegraph Ave for one stomach!
     We walked around Shattuck some more, which is just one street over from Telegraph, and then made our way to  College Avenue (parallel to Telegraph on the other side) to find a pizza place my aunt had recommended. Once again we were astounded when we entered a whole new downtown area, bustling with activity, and even more shops and restaurants to explore. We finally found Zachary's Pizza, in Rockridge - the area of College Ave bordering Oakland. There's another area of College Ave closer to the University called Elmwood, but we unfortunately didn't get a chance to walk around there. We successfully ordered a pizza in the loud busy joint, but still feeling the CREAM bombs, we opted for thin crust even though Chicago style is their specialty. Zachary's definition of thin crust is most people's definition of soft and chewy, but it was warm and spectacular. We headed back up to the house on the hill, sharing our pizza with friends and watching the glorious sunset over the forest and city beneath us. That was our last night in Berkeley, and the end to a fantastic weekend in the Bay Area. I didn't feel like I had nearly enough time in this interesting, cute and eclectic town - next time I can't wait to check out the many places we passed by or heard of, (or wrote about!) but didn't get to visit. What's one of your favorite things about Berkeley?

Special thanks to contributors and Berkeley lovers:
Melanie Wasserman
Lauren Baker
Laura Pertl
Jay Kurtzman

Sonoma - Tastings and Tents

Become your own vintner

Saturday afternoon at Raymond Burr

Lake Sonoma

Although I've seen Sonoma on wine labels before, I didn't know much about the region except that it was somewhere by Napa. When we went up to the bay area this last weekend, our friends wanted to take us wine tasting in Sonoma. Although I've always wondered what Napa was like, they assured us Sonoma was quieter, cheaper and just as delicious, if not more so, than it's acclaimed neighbor. So we headed out from Berkeley on a clear Saturday morning, only to slam into traffic somewhere north of the Richmond Bridge. We inched our way up through Santa Rosa and smoothly sailed into Dry Creek Valley. The scenery became stunning - rolling green hills, hot blue skies and leafy vineyards on all sides. Our first stop was at Francis Ford Coppola's vineyard right off the highway. Yes, the man who directed Apocalypse Now loves to make wine - and the tasting room looks like a tiny museum dedicated to that iconic film. Tastings were $5 or $10, depending on which menu you selected, and the 

The pool and Grill at Francis Ford Coppola

View from main balcony at Ferrari

wine was good. However, what set this vineyard apart from anything else I've seen (besides the museum factor) was that Coppola apparently wanted his vineyard to be a family retreat of sorts. Besides vineyards and movie paraphernalia, Coppola boasts a large pool with a lifeguard, cabanas available for daily rental, poolside bar and grill and live music on the weekends. This "family friendly vineyard" is where membership doesn't just include good deals on wine, but a family fun park pass as well. An interesting concept, but a little much for us, and we hit the road to explore more vineyards and search for a campsite. We planned on camping at Lake Sonoma, a gorgeous man-made lake just north of all the vineyards we were driving through. We finally found Liberty Glen campgrounds on the south end of the lake, where we staked a claim on a site and ate a quick lunch.  Heading back down into the vineyards, we couldn't resist stopping at the fancy-looking Ferrari winery.

This is more like it! Tasting room at David Coffaro

The Ferrari family owns a casino in Las Vegas, and the huge grounds and mansions of this winery seemed to attribute that fact. Here the wine was fine, (tastings: $5 - $15) but walking around the estate was quite an experience. Although Ferrari was fun to see, we hightailed it out of there in search of something less showy.

We found a few more great little wineries before heading back to our campsite. First was David Coffaro, hidden somewhere along Dry Creek Road, with the office and barrel room doubling as the tasting room. As we casually enjoyed our sips, we even met David Coffaro when he hurried into the room in his work clothes, said hello to us while grabbing a gardening tool, and hurried out again.

Liberty Glen Campgrounds

We also enjoyed Preston winery, which had the most amazing olive oil from olives grown and pressed on the property and delicious home-made sourdough bread for sale, along with great wine. Raymond Burr vineyard was tucked away off a tiny road, with beautiful views and a picnic area where they often host events and summer barbeque's. Tastings were free and the attendants very friendly.
We made it back to the campground with plenty of daylight left to enjoy the summer evening and explore the beautiful grounds. The campground sits on top of a hill overlooking the lake, and has a few loops of campsites, which serve as great jogging or walking paths. Ten dollars a night and rarely full, most of the sites consist of a table, fire pit and tent spot, with leafy trees and great views. We thought there would be no running water and maybe a port-o-john, but about half the spouts were working and there were also some primitive toilets.
After the chill and fog of the bay, camping under the full moon in the warm night was a welcome treat.   As soon as we somewhat successfully brewed some crude coffee in the morning, we headed back down the mountain, slowly making our way back to the highway via the meandering and scenic back lanes. We encountered countless bikers out for a morning ride, and I have to admit I was extremely envious of their beautiful rolling ride. If I'm ever in that area again, I'm bringing my bike!

On our way back to Berkeley, we stopped at a little town called Healdsburge, located right off the 101.  This European-like village has a green grassy park as the town square, shops and restaurants on every side, and shady streets which make strolling enjoyable. After perusing the main streets, we found a French bakery and cafe with the most amazing baked goods selection, and delicious breakfasts. It was cute and bright, and completely crowded on a Sunday morning. While I could have easily stayed a few more days in this adorable town I had never heard of before, we walked back to the car and continued our journey onwards. After a wonderful and relaxing weekend - complete with camping off the beaten path, sampling delicious wines from friendly vineyards, and french fare in a cute square - I can't wait to come back. Sonoma may be the road less traveled, but isn't that exactly what makes it more enjoyable?

San Francisco - on a Dime and in a Dash

Boudin Bakery

Coit Tower

Dim Sum

Walking Through the City

Lucky Grocery

Whether going to San Francisco for the first time or thousandth time, an almost palpable current of excitement zaps every visitor who comes to this bustling, crowded and beautiful city. Although I haven't been back in a while, I have visited San Francisco numerous times, and seen the usual. In years past I've had clam chowder bowls and watched the seals at Pier 39, shopped all day at Union Square, lunched on top of Macy's, drank Irish coffee's at the wharf, walked across the Golden Gate bridge, sampled expensive Chinese teas, meandered through Haight and Ashbury, biked through Golden Gate Park, found the Full House neighborhood, eaten chocolate at Ghiradelli square, hiked around Presidio Park, taken a trolley, toured Alcatraz, run along Ocean Beach and gone down Lombard Street. There wasn't anything particular to cross off my list this time - so we just went for the fun of it :)

We were staying with good friends in Berkeley for the weekend, but they both had to work on Friday - so we hitched a ride with our friend's roommate across the Bay Bridge and got dropped off around Pier 1 for our own adventure. We walked past Pier 39 to Boudin, San Francisco's original sourdough company. Although this cafe and factory is pretty touristy, the bread was warm, crispy and sour - and perfect with our coffees on the cold summer morning.
 From there we saw Coit tower, and decided to head up there since neither of us ever had. It's a great walk through the neighborhoods, and the path up to the tower feels like a walk in the woods. The view from the tiny park in front of the tower was great - it was probably even better from the top, but we didn't want to wait in line for an hour or pay the fee, so we read the historic plaques and laid in the sun.
After a small rest on the grass, we walked through Chinatown - one of my favorite spots. I saw a little Dim Sum restaurant that looked inviting and we went in for a lunch/ snack of the glorious rice dumplings full of meat and/or veggies, and sesame rolls - deep fried dough with sweet beans on the inside and sesame seeds on the outside. Apparently these rolls are usually eaten during Chinese New Year, but you can get them almost anywhere in Chinatown. A plate of these amazing treats, plus a sweet milk tea with boba set us back almost $5 - delicious and cheap! We continued ambling through the streets and poking into Delightful, Super and Happy shops - the best was a tiny (I mean Lucky) grocery store full of questionably edible foods I had never seen before, as well as cheap ripe fruit. Although the mysterious food looked interesting, we loaded up on a big bag of plump cherries instead, and for $2 had snacking material for the rest of the afternoon.
We walked up and down and all over, eventually landing in Union Square. I was excited to go into the big shops and look around - I even had gift cards. But a husband obediently dragging around after me with a doleful expression quickly put a damper on my perusing mood, as I felt my shopping was slowly and selfishly taking the life out of him. So we got out of there and into the hectic streets filled with painters, artisans, bums and tourists.
We found our way to the BART station, bought tickets back to Berkeley and went down into the cool tunnels to await our ride home. As we plopped into the cushioned seats of the Bay Area Rapid Transit, I reflected on the gloriousness of traipsing around an exciting city all day, and letting the public transportation take you home. The best thing about cities is being able to walk around ALL day and never be bored. And no road rage or traffic for us while we chatted about our favorite activities and finally gave our feet a rest. Au revoir City by the Bay!

Los Rios

San Juan Capistrano reminds me a lot of my beloved alma mater town of San Luis Obispo - both are tucked away in the hills, blue skies overhead no matter what the coast is doing, and a big beautiful Mission to give life and history to the community.
Saturday was my sister's birthday, and I met up with my mom and two sisters to explore the Los Rios district of San Juan Capistrano for a girls morning outing. Los Rios is a historic street on the other side of the train tracks from the main downtown area. One you cross over the tracks to the shady lane, there are numerous shops and little restaurants, a park and even a petting zoo! And best of all, Los Rios Tea House, which was the perfect destination for four girls on a summer day. Although we didn't have floppy hats or English accents, everything about the 100-year-old Tea House was picture perfect. A rambling old wooden house turned into a restaurant and venue, with flowers and plants hanging and blooming everywhere, and even a bath tub with a sporadic shower-head that serves as a quirky fountain - all made for a perfect ambiance. They serve a regular menu as well as a tea menu, and of course an extensive list of teas. The huge pot of loose leaf English Breakfast and currant scones with cream and jam were just about as authentic as you can get on this side of the pond. My mom and sisters tried some more interesting varieties of tea that were absolutely delicious as well, but I always love English Breakfast. We could have spent the rest of the day tinkering about the adorable little shops and exploring the rest of the predominantly pedestrian street, but duties (aka a birthday party) called, and we weren't able to explore or shop to our hearts content. However, the weather was perfect, the tea was great (although don't expect small prices on victorian tea menus!) and we had a perfect morning. However, since we didn't even get to the actual downtown part of Camino Capistrano, the park, or the Mission, next time we'll allot ourselves the whole day!