Tourist in My Own Town
By strangestraycat
Description: It's my last semester at UC Berkeley, and while I do feel I "know" the Bay Area pretty well, there's a lot I've yet to do, like go to Alcatraz, go up the Campanile (the bell tower that is the focal point of my campus), walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, and take a Black Panther tour in Oakland. It's not my last chance, but it's my easiest, and I hope that in the process I can help some people who want to travel on a budget (or not) to this unique part of California. For most entries, my tips and information will be included within the text unless that method becomes too cumbersome. I will add photos as time permits. |
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The Simple Pleasures
February 21st 2007, Berkeley, USA
While the Bay Area is expensive, it's amazing how many simple things are so cheap (or free) and pleasurable here on the sunnier side of the bay. I'm currently sitting in Gelateria Naia on campus-a local (I believe) chain that has the best gelato this side of the Atlantic that I've found so far. While it's unusual for campus food to ever be good, much less one of the best in any category, Gelateria Naia defies this depressing fact. They make a decent espresso, let you sample to your heart's content and have over 20 flavors of chocolate alone. For a more comprehensive selection (although the one on campus is pretty good), the other Naia downtown on Shattuck is the place to go, and has (drumroll)... BLACK SESAME gelato, one of their only savory flavors, and surely a gift from above. I recommend doing what I did this weekend: combine a cup of black sesame gelato with a walk down the Addison Street Poetry Walk, where my American Poetry professor (and former US Poet Laureate) Robert Hass has selected poetry to be placed on plaques in the ground. Of course, this is another absolutely free activity, the poetry is all quality, and all of it, in some way or another, is relevant to the Bay Area (for more information on how it was selected and the backstory behind the project, see the book, The Addison Street Anthology, ed. Robert Hass). This, combined with the general walk through the city and a good view of the numerous Berkeley characters, is in my opinion, a perfectly simple, perfectly Berkeley day.
Activities
| Name: |
Poetry Walk/Gelato-eating |
| Rating: |
Highly Recommended |
| Fun: |
Fantastic |
| Value: |
Great Value |
| Stamina: |
Moderate |
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