Berkeley

When we first arrived, we wanted lunch, so we scouted some restaurants. Most were closed because it was the last day of Spring Break, but we found a place - Rose Pizzeria - that had a beautiful back patio off of University Boulevard. We drank Italian lemonade and ate a delicious brick oven pizza. Then drove up the hill to the Berkeley campus.

We drank Italian lemonade and ate a delicious brick oven pizza.

Berkeley's campus was beautiful, and it smelled like pine needles or dry spruce. It had a romantic feel, like an old citadel of knowledge from ancient world - especially with all the overgrowth that was covering the classical buildings.

The campus is on a hillside, and we hiked up higher and higher, getting a view of the entire bay and San Francisco in the distance. After taking a break at a coffee house, and calling Bob to check in, we drove up to the top of Grizzly Peak on Bob's suggestion. The view was spectacular.

Stanford

Stanford felt like a beautiful monestary for the world's smartest monks. While walking up to the main buildings and quads, we were caught in a sea of bicycles as students pedaled past on their way to class. Everyone was quiet, either in thought, or quietly chatting with a friend.

The architecture was a beautiful Spanish romanesque(?) with long arcades with columns and rounded arches, carvings everywhere on a sort of pinkish sandstone. When the sun appeared, the plazas were lit up like a movie.

Stanford felt like a beautiful monestary for the intelligencia.

We had to check our map repeatedly as we lost ourselves in the many different walkways, gardens and plazas. Eventually we found the large Engineering quad which had incredible modern buildings that echoed the original ones, using arcades. We could see on most of the second stories there were large balconies with pergolas and blooming wisteria where engineers would probably take breaks from lab work.

We grabbed coffee and overheard some grad student discussions. Then moved on, walking north until we hit the resevoir, or track. Not sure what it was, but it was open field with views of the hills of Palo Alto.

After lunch, we were able to chat with a Senior at the Visitors Center. She told us about life on campus - which all sounded very nice. Diverse, smart people who are very kind and collaborative. Each pursuing unique passions - like one man studying how to weave grasses(!).

We then drove into Palo Alto and grabbed an ice cream. Its has a very pretty downtown with stores and restaurants, and so many flowering trees and gardens and beautiful homes

‍

The Palace of Fine Arts

After visiting Stanford, we drove north up the San Francisco peninsula. When we got to the northern tip, we stopped to walk the grounds of the Palace of Fine Arts and stare up at its massive columns and domes. It was windy, but the sun was out and there were people picnicking on the grass.

Afterward, we drove over the Golden Gate bridge and on to Heather and Bob's house. When we arrived, Heather was home. We had a wonderful reunion, catching up for hours and making dinner together. Bob got home around 7, and we all sat and talked for hours more. The next morning, Charlie and I got up at 6 and headed to the airport and home.