Berkley Delights

Today I made the journey from Walnut Creek to Berkley. These are two different places. One has striking hills in the distance and is full of medium to high end shopping opportunities that are frequented by people who dress to shop... similar to the way people use to dress to fly.

I am dressed to fly out tonight, but my outfit is more of the pajamas, meets yoga clothes, home made print screened t-shirt flavour. This is not the look of Walnut Creek. That said, Kate showed me this lovely way of walking from her house through crisp fall leaves past the towns name sake creek to the BART station. We were in the minority as pedestrians - she taught me about being an agressive pedestrian, a good skill for my Boston leg of this trip - but probably had the nicest journey. There are lots of cars here... lots and lots.

and Berkley... well is Berkley. There are books about it, some myth, and lots of cultural reference. I recently read a book whose author I believe now lives there. It is a great book. It is even greater than The Botany of Desire, which is one of my favourite (and highly quoteable) books.

The Omnivore's Dilemma has a nicer cover in the States, but really who cares with content like this. It makes you think about food. Its made me start to say a silent grace before meals. I makes me taste the sunlight in my food. It really makes me happy to be eating grass feed NZ meat, and that corn syrup is nearly impossible to find in the grocery store, even if American ex-pats sometimes complain about making pecan pie in NZ.

This book also references a well-referenced icon in Berkley: Chez Panisse. My friend Kate seemed to also have heard of this mecca of local, sustainable, yummy food. We both were keen to experience it. She even took a vacation day to make it happen! She arranged a booking and we made are way there today for lunch.

We started with mozzarella with grilled persimons and a baked riotta salad. We each savoured half our dish, then switched. Soon came our mains - veal for her and a lovely chicken dish with olive tempanade. Another switch half way through....

Finally yummy desserts and perfect coffee. The pear tart had a lovely flakey crust that was brushed with something lovely to make it sweet and extra crispy. Everything was lovely and subtle and perfect. It was normal portions - not crazy huge American ones nor the tell tale tiny portions you find in upscale fancy restaurants. Have I said the word perfect yet?

We were very happy after an hour and half of food and conversation....

Then we wandered Berkley some. In the local alternative food and drug store there were some great finger puppets. Buddha, Marx, Frieda, Dali, Plato and F Scott Fitzgerald were all tossed together. They had magnets in their heads making them clump together in funny conversational pairings:)
We also played with beads....

And I was brave and popped into a comic store. I couldn't find any of my favorites, but the fact that I popped in demonstates some of the effects of partnering with Traveler! I also was impressed with the mail box....
Seeing the US postal vans was a nostalgic experience as well. I don't know why but postal related things always invoke a postive feeling - no matter how often I have bad waiting in line experiences.

All and all, a simple lovely day.

More NZ video..

And here is another NZ video that pops to mind that was running when we first arrived in NZ. It something right out of my father's mental math dialouges:

Do do do do do do do!

This is the tune that has been stuck in my head since I boarded my flight to the States. Since I am up at 5 am for no real reason, I thought I'd share:

San Fransico Afternoon of sightseeing and

San Fransico was my first impressions of the States after a year with little exposure outside of the occasional Daily Show on youtube. My first images were of this dim, neon hallway, followed by non-smiling customs agents with Bush photos on the walls, and finally lots of tired people collecting baggage. A nice, but mumbling, custom agent gave me directions and pulled me out of line. I just stood there for awhile, and finally assumed that I was free to go, so I left.

At first, everything seemed so large and loud. People seemed so tired, distracted, or bored. I was missing the smiling faces I saw at the surf club.

But then things start to change... I got to visit a dear high school friend in Walnut Creek.

Better yet, the next day Kate and I ventured out into San Fransisco for a lovely day of exploring on foot. As the day progressed, we had more and more little adventures and moments of quiet reflection.

The main challenge for me was to try to remember how the cars drive here in America. I kept trying to remember to look right then left, except of course on one ways... then again I could just look at these helpful signs that reminded me about how its wise to look both ways!

I had lovely lemoncello poppyseed gelato...
And this lovely cathedral where the Telegraph parrots flew by
San Fransisco houses
And water views peeking through around them:

Classic images too.
And this lovely church was preparing for Vetern's Day services,
inside the AIDS quilt was posted.

Then we watched people building the Christmas Tree branch by branch
Next door, a Bollywood film was being filmed. The actor was bouncing around to the music played from speakers, until the filming paused and she walked just like the rest of us.
Then we met up with several more friends who lead us expertly to a wonderful burrito place.
and then to a great ice cream shop where I had something called a Sam Sundae, which consists of rich chocolate ice cream with Bergamont Olive oil and fancy salt sprinkled on top with whipped cream on the side. It was really lovely.

Here is the yummy concotion
But while I was eating, a stolen car crashed into this parked car, stripping the wheels from its rims, shattering the glass, and semi wrapping around the pole. The car in motion stopped, a group of girls jumped out and ran off leaving the car running...
But after all that excitement all there was left to do was drive through the Parsido to the Golden Gate Bridge.

All in all, a simple, memorable day welcoming back to America with all its loud, colourful energy.

San Fransico Murals

I also really loved the street art in San Fransico...

and though this isn't exactly art, I was happy to see people stating their opinions.

Departures

I found myself struggling a bit with leaving Wellington. As much as I look forward to seeing my friends and family in the States, Wellington has truly become my second home. I had lots of time to think as I waiting in the Wellington and then Auckland airport. There are lots of things I've come to love about the Wellington airport:

The fact that you often can walk to your plane...

Loved ones can see you off at the gate...
The control tower has houses between it and the runway...
and that I got fly out of Wellington enveloped by flowers...
but I was a bit sad to watch Wellington disappear from sight.
Auckland airport is really lovely as airports go. There is a viewing deck where you can check out the views, lots of shopping, and other things that I appreciated.

I loved my walk between the terminals, complete with Poutakawa trees starting to bloom.

These trees should be in bloom by the time I return to Wellington.

There are also lovely views...
and even the international jet way afford you a view!
And then New Zealand disappeared behind me into the sunset. Even if only for a month, it is so strange to be leaving.