Hello all! I am currently spending this lovely long weekend in the Berkeley area near San Francisco, CA with a friend, and it is WONDERFUL. I know there's the old saying, "The coldest winter I ever had was a summer in San Francisco," (Mark Twain), but this weekend has been everything on the contrary. It's 60 and sunny, and I absolutely love it. I left all the snow and cold in Chicago, and found myself a clear sky and a place where no coats are needed during the day.
Unfortunately, right now I do not have any pictures to post, so I will have to do so when I return home. However, I have already visited some wonderful places. Since I'm staying at a friend's in Berkeley, we saw the downtown areas which are both within walking distance and completely charming. They have a very Mediterranean feel about them, which may stem from the nature of the community, or simply the fact that it is all very walkable and all very unique. The buildings are 1-3 stories tall, the shops are all original stores from the area, which is so nice when the rest of us live in cookie-cutter, factory-produced, chain-store land. In fact, I even visited a cute little Italian cheese and meat shop, which reminded me of my family's own in Negrar, Italy, and a beautiful bakery that lay catty-corner from the italian grocery store. Also, I saw the rock park which is a cool 20-25 foot rock with stairs carved in, and when you climb to the top you can see the entire bay area, from Oakland to San Fran, and from the Golden Gate to the area with all the houseboats. It's gorgeous - and, yes, the fog really does exist everywhere!
In the afternoon we took the BART (their public "l" or train) into the city, and let me tell you, it is not on the cheap end. It is much like the Tube in London where you pay for how far you want to go and therefore have to put in your ticket at the beginning of the trip AND at the end to ensure that you paid correctly and didn't just sit on it for ages. It is not the cleanest train by any means, and the fact that everything is fabric based is a little creepy, but it definitely gets you right into the middle of the city. When we arrived we went to take the trolley to Lombard street, but the "touristy" stops are packed with people. The best thing to do is to go to the next trolley stop a few blocks away (there are no signs so it's best to ask the natives) and hop on there as you will not be forced to wait in a line. The cool thing, though, is that at Powell they still manually turn around the trolleys which was fun to watch!
The trolleys are great, if it's warm and you can sit on the part that is open and can see everything. If you're stuck on the inside of the trolley it's a little like sitting at the back end of a truck's exhaust...a little smelly and hard to breathe. The trolley, however, is also expensive, but a great alternative if you know where you're going and don't feel like paying for a cab or walking up block after block of 95% inclines. Our particular stop was Lombard street, which we walked down since we had no car, but watched the line of cars wind slowly in neutral down the coolest street I've seen in a while. Sadly it's currently too cold for flowers, but the brick street and it's accompanying neighborhood view is breathtaking. If you continue down Lombard street another block you run into Caffe Sapore, which is a cute café with drinks and food, and you can sit outside and just watch the foot traffic. I had an iced soy latte and cream of broccoli soup, which was vegan and good for that fact, but a little on the bland end.
Then it was off to the WHARF! Fisherman's wharf to be exact and to take pictures of Alcatraz and see the sea lions on pier 39, and let me tell you, they are a fun sight to see, even when there are only a handful. They're playful and loud and just make you enjoy being alive. Definitely recommended. Afterward, I also recommend walking back up to China town. Why? Well, it's definitely a fairly long walk, but it's not the worst, and you really get to see the nature of the city and the personality of all the different little sections along the way. My friends, who live here, were even surprised how much they loved the walk because they'd never done it before, but since I forced them to be tourists for the day, they found it rather refreshing. China town, itself, ultimately, is worth it.
China town was AMAZING!! It's busy and bustling, and the deals are incredible! We stopped into a tiny, little, whole-in-the-wall bakery for red-bean-paste, sesame coated dough balls. Sounds a little gross, tastes phenomenal! Then we stopped in some little stores and some really huge tourists stores along a street parallel to Stockholm (the name eludes me at the moment). Chinatown deals are incredible, first off, but if you want anything of value - cast-iron tea sets, chinese/japanese sushi plating sets - THIS is the place to be! Bought a few soup ladels and fine chop-sticks myself! Very excited!
Then we finally caved in and "cab"d it up to the Mission - or 18th and Valencia St. to be exact where we stopped for drinks in the Luna Park and then dinner at Ti Couz. Luna cafe had some great drinks and a very lively environment, but it lends itself towards the pricier end, and Ti Couz is a gorgeous whole-in-the-wall creperîe. Yum Yum!
And that, my friends, is the way to do the city in a day. Shop here and there on the way from neighborhood to neighborhood, and really see some great things and eat at some fine fooderies.
Today? Napa valley!
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