CALIFORNIA, Day 3, June 23, 2011

Hello, friends and relatives! Greetings from Sylvia, your faithful reporter from Mountain View, California, June 23, 2011.  Another glorious summer day in the Bay area!  We started off having breakfast on Maureen's patio--blueberry pancakes and some of Maureen's incredible homemade applesauce.  A strong coffee, and we were off to our adventures for the day.  We got started at about 10:00 and traveled north to cross from the west side of San Francisco Bay to the east side, to the university town of Berkeley.  Crossing the San Mateo Bridge, we traveled northward to Berkeley, with a population of about 103,000 people.  The town is named for the English philosopher-theologian George Berkeley, and is dominated by the University of California, one of America's most famous and infamous institutions.  Its grand and eclectic buildings and 30,000 students give off an amazing energy.  The very name of Berkeley conjures up images of dissent, and it remains a solidly left-wing enclave.  Sproul Plaza, in front of the school's entranceway, is where the Free Speech Movement began, and, as some historians would argue, the experience known as the Sixties.  Among the sites of the almost-daily pitched battles of the 60s and early 70s, part of the broad campus revolt against the Vietnam War, is the now-quiet People's Park.  Today, the campus prides itself on its high academic rankings and Nobel Laureate-laden faculty.  We strolled through much of the campus, took the elevator to the top of the Campanile and viewed foggy San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and San Francisco Bay.  Students were out in force, and the town had a very lively feel to it.  Take away the university and the students, and it would be a sad shadow of a town.  However, as it is, it is a lively place with lots of great bookstores, funky restaurants, bars, tattoo parlors, and what not, including our restaurant venue of the day, the world-famous Chez Panisse.

Chez Panisse is considered the first and still the best of the California cuisine restaurants, overseen by legendary chef Alice Waters.  Dinner is served at two sittings, but we did not eat in the restaurant, but upstairs in the Cafe, which is open for lunch and dinner and is comparatively inexpensive.  However, reservations are required for both the restaurant and the cafe.  Maureen had Ranch skirt steak with buttermilk-fried onion rings, snap peas, and raisin sauce, and I had the hand-cut pasta with wild mushrooms, peas, and Parmesan.  The food was divine--the flavors very subtle and yet memorable.  Decor was Arts and Crafts in style, and I took quite a number of pictures of both food and decor, which I am anxious to share with all of you once I return.

After touring and eating, we had dessert at Scream Sorbet, an establishment run by Nate Kurz, a childhood friend of Randy Fromme.  Maureen had a marvelous olallieberry sorbet, very deep red in color, and I had a dip of hazelnut chocolate.  Scrumptious!  Afterwards, we drove up into the Oakland Hills and went to visit Magan Patel, the husband of Maureen's sister Marilyn Patel, who is a federal district court judge in San Francisco.  The view from their living room is of the Golden Gate bridge and Bay Bridge and San Francisco in the background, although today, fog and smog hid all three somewhat, and we were able to discern only outlines.  The Patels have two dogs, a husky and a lab, and while we had a glass of Sonoma white wine, we chatted and played with the dogs.  Afterwards, we drove further up into the Oakland hills to see some more of the beautiful houses hanging off the side of the mountain, and stopped by an incredible produce store, picking up several different kinds of fruit for dinner here at home.  And now, after dinner, we are leaving for a "foot massage" that involves Chinese reflexology, but really involves a full body massage.  I am so ready for this one!  More tomorrow.  Meanwhile, take care, and let me hear from you when the spirit moves you.  As ever, Sylvia