Blooming Berkeley

Succulents abound in Berkeley

   

    We went to Berkeley in May to attend Franky's graduate school graduation and, as a side note, to celebrate Darr's birthday which was the same weekend.  

   During the flight I realized I was reading the wrong book for book club. I was reading The Master by Colm Toibin (about Henry James) and I was supposed to be reading The Magician by Colm Toibin (about Thomas Mann). All you have to do in Berkeley is swing a cat to find a bookstore, and literally steps from the BART station I walked into Pegasus. and got the The Magician. I also went to the famous Moes Books, and I wanted to go to Sleepy Cat Bookstore, but true to the name, they weren't open when I went. I needed new reading glasses, and oddly I found that none of the bookstores, although catering to readers, sold readers.

    Don’t stay at The Graduate. We did, I made the rookie mistake of believing what I saw on Hotels.com. The lobby smells bad, the rooms are old and small with minimal amenities, the coffee “service” was an electric kettle and two small brown envelopes of instant. The housecleaning was inadequate, the staff ill equipped. Plus it was a mile uphill walk from the BART station. It redeemed itself slightly with the adjoining Henry’s Bar and Grill which had a good breakfast. I stayed there so that you don’t have to. 

The Graduate lobby, lined with National Geographics

     

The Sports Basement in the restored Berkeley Iceland

    Darr and I dashed into The Sports Basement in the morning, and then headed into the city lured by ads for the Monet and Venice exhibit at the DeYoung Museum. We did not realize that the destination was perhaps the farthest point from Berkeley. But we made it there with a combination of BART and buses and the kindness of strangers. 

Franky explaining ferns

 Wild mustard; hemlock behind Franky

With Nila, Tvisi, Peter, Franky and Darr post-nature walk

     Franky leads nature walks featuring edible plants on weekends, and we joined him in a group of twelve to forage the Fire Trails in Strawberry Canyon. Who knew there was so much toxic poison hemlock in the forest, and it's deceptively pretty.  No wonder Shakespeare writes hemlock into three of his tragedies.  You can pretty much grab a handful and go poison somebody. 

Pincushion Protea

        We learned about yarrow, wild mustard, dandelions, miners' grass, and thistles. Despite nibbling on many leaves, we were hungry after the nature walk and had to scarf down tacos and burritos at Cancun Sabor where someone else had done the foraging. 

Angel's Trumpet

    Berkeley is only about 10 square miles but has more than 300 restaurants featuring food from Taiwan to Tibet to Thailand. After we checked into the hotel we were airline-tired-hangry and stumbled into Mezzo, they make super-sized sandwiches on super fresh bread, served with the best minestrone soup I have ever eaten. We had great Thai at Racha Cafe; ramen at Ippudo; a French breakfast at La Note; Cheese Board pizza; coffee and pastries at Mey Cafe and Bakery; deep dish pizza at Zachary's Chicago Pizza, and yummy gnocci at Belotti Bottega.   It seemed sinful to have ice cream after any of these meals, but that didn't stop us, and we sinned at Lexie's Frozen Custard, and again at Miharu. Darr's birthday was that weekend and we celebrated at Gather, joined by our niece Stephanie and her sons, one of whom just graduated from San Diego State. 

    Nila works for the Mayor of Berkeley Adina Ishii whom I got to meet and then toured City Hall. My first job was in Tucson's City Hall, so it was fun to and see Nila in my old stomping grounds, local government. 

Nila and Franky

Graduation with Franky's mentor Brad, Franky, Darr, Peter, Nila

     Franky’s graduation was a joyous event, he was awarded his master's degree in education by Alder Graduate School of Education, at the Pioneer Amphitheater at Cal State East Bay. 

   

    I like Berkeley, the flats, the hills, the history, the hipness, the vegetation, the students, the weather, the bay, the bookstores, the food, and the coffee shops. Most of all I like seeing my loved ones, the great brother and sister teams of Peter and Franky, Nila, and Tvisi all growing and thriving like native succulents. 

Another weird succulent