"nature lives here too"

this day was spent discovering and rediscovering berkeley, both inside and outside. s, m, and m were in town, and although we'd hoped for a bright and sunny afternoon, i don't think the cloudy skies did much to cloud our spirits.

the facts (and you're in for a visual treat as well, dear reader, because i abandoned willingly my cherished false standards and shot abundantly with my phone camera): we started our afternoon with coffee and cake at masse's, the best bakery in town - as my erstwhile favorite professor at berkeley used to think (although he is no longer my favorite, and this may no longer be his). the opera cake was fantastic (no, not the one in the first picture below - to the extreme bottom left in the second), and we had a lovely time. yes, i'll just go ahead and speak for everyone here ;).

we then drove to campus, parked at telegraph & college, and entered via the art corner. i was surprised to hear s so appreciative of what i always see as chaos on campus, as we walked through the music patch on to the natural sciences'. campus is lush green these days 'tis true, and the sound of the strawberry creek is also exquisitely charming, especially in that moment one finds to say "can you hear the water flowing in the background? that's the creek."

our path was somewhat circuitous and led us through stanley hall, pimentel, hearst-memorial, evans (where we found the 'bike' below), the n.l. spots, the campanile (the second shot below) and the benches (the ones i have oft spent a precious moment on, those that my undergraduate class financed but i was then ignorant of), south hall (and the bear, of course), wheeler, (and i'm going to say) etc. s loved the news corner and had to be pulled away from reading all the news there :). he also pointed out that the free speech movement was something to be proud of berkeley for, and i am grateful that he did - i had not known its significance. gosh. no, i cannot list the great detail we explored campus in today, and had i not been in such delightfully exploratory and inquisitive company, i would be a lesser person in this moment.



the photo booth that i've written about earlier may be seen in the photos below. the pictures i picked left quite an impression. i wonder if you can read. the first says, "i've always spoken my mind. here, it is heard and answered." the second says, "at berkeley, if you can't find it, you just make it." the third says, "nature lives here too - the path, the flowers, the trees, the creek." all of these resonate with my sense of belonging for this mecca of learning.




we turned back as the clock struck 6 and the campanile bells rang for the next 15 minutes (they play for 15 minutes three times a day). the sun was about to set, we had walked through most of campus, the bells had rung - it was time to go home. here are some of the captures from our retreat (evans isn't quite that ugly, is it?):




after our campus tour, we serendipitously discovered the berkeley hills. it was a most pleasant detour, and we discovered sights i will tell you nothing about, so that you must visit me to get a glimpse on your own :). a poor picture is provided below in order to tempt you. you must give in, really.


after going all the way up and coming all the way down, we finally ended up at the school of religion that i had wanted us to see before our detour. i remembered sunsets as being especially beautiful from there, but apparently i was wrong, for the sunset wasn't even visible from here. either that or the trees have grown since, to prevent that old, pristine view. i think this part of berkeley is most charming and princeton-ish, though the real princetonian may please pitch in if she deems otherwise. here are some more final captures, taken by the setting sun:



after this, we drove through gourmet ghetto, decided we couldn't decide on a place, and resorted to zachary's for the bay area's best chicago-style pizza. you know, as an undergrad, i was really given to being the frog in the well - people would tell me that the bay area's best thai place, best japanese place, best chaat place, best pizza place, (the list is endless, honestly) all existed in berkeley, and i blindly believed. i am tempted to grant that these places are good, and perhaps indeed the best, but in berkeley :). to say more could only aim to mislead. and i wonder if anyone's even been to every restaurant in the bay area. if even of one cuisine alone. it's equivalent, in sentiment, to saying that berkeley is the best university in the bay area. and even that some might wish to contest.

pizza was great, and as with cheeseboard, pizza isn't quite the sole point of eating at zachary's. for instance, one gets to shop at pegasus next door while one waits. and this reminds me, my newly purchased books await my attention. i shall humbly oblige, while i leave you to ponder over when your next visit to berkeley might be. adios!