All you need is...

... some hot socks and and a sobriety test.

By the way, one pack of socks is gone now but the test is still there. No coffee crawling today, only pizza and beer with the math crowd. I tried "Fat Tire" Ale today. I liked it.

Last Sundays Fest

I know that my blog partially deviates from the initial topic of coffee. But on the other hand, there are so many interesting things around in Berkeley that it would be sad to restrict attention only to one.

So today after spending big chunk of morning and some early afternoon working on my research stuff I decided that I must get out of the house. My initial intentions were to go to Shattuck Ave near the BART station and look what that region has to offer. It turns out I did not have to go that far.

On my way to Shattuck I had to cross Telegraph Ave. Well, it turns out that today it was closed for traffic from Bancroft Way till Dwight Way because of the Last Sundays Fest. What is a Last Sundays Fest? It is a lot of fun: people on the street selling all kinds of art, jewelry, food, clothing and little funny things. Like those clock made out of old vinil records and lazer discs:

Or those little sculptures made out of bolts, nuts, screws and nails. Pretty creative, isn't it?

Of course, a lot of funky jewelry. Too bad my metal allergy wouldn't allow me to get those peacock feathers earings:

Maybe I should buy some tie-dye shirt and some skinny pants. They seem to be in fashion here:

The band was playing:

There was body art too:

And rodeo:

Nobody could seat on that cow for too long. In fact, a lot of people had trouble getting on it :D
Of course, I could not go away without little souvenir :)

Lazy Sunday

It is great to wake up late on Sunday morning and have a cup of hot coffee on your own balcony. Life is good :)

Please, destroy your cell phone before entering.

I guess the people who live in this house love cats

... and hate cell phones...

Russkie Berezy

One of the things I love about Berkeley is that there are all kinds of trees and plants growing here. Not sure about proper English name for this tree but in Russian we call them Berezy. I did not see them anywhere else in US. They remind me of my home :)

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Not even sure what all of that means. And, honestly, don't want to know. Scary :P

Ashby

Today I decided to explore my neighborhood along the Ashby Ave which goes perpendicular to my regular path along College Ave. Well, it turns out that there is a hospital a few minutes away from my house. That explains all the sirens at night. Glad to know it is not because the place is so crime-ridden.

Also I was happy to discover the Wholefoods Market and Berkeley Bowl Market in the walking distance from my place. I guess I won't die from hunger here :)

Overall I really like the neighborhood I am living in. It has all kinds of restaurants, cafes, several grocery stores, couple of spas, several clothing stores, at least three wine stores and a belly dancing studio. Everything that a modern girl can possible desire :)

I had my morning coffee in this little place on the intersection of Ashby and College:

They lured me in with... um, donuts. Chocolate glazed donut and a cup of coffee for 2.03$ only. Sure, it is not very healthy, but who cares :)

Plus I could seat outside and watch the street:

Weird names

You can see a lot of strange things while walking around in Berkeley. For example, what does Rasputin have to do with music and video? From my Russian history course I don't remember him singing or dancing...

Or what Hindu deity Krishna has to do with copying? I am not even talking about "The original" on this sign.

Okay, okay, Shakespeare actually had something to do with books. Still, what a weird name for the store...

Office coffee

That's how I drink coffee in the office. No big choice here, regular or decaf only, but it's fresh, hot and free!

Foggy morning

Evil eyes

Berkeley is a queer place. For example, those evil eyes over the front door of one of the houses... So welcoming. I really hope I did not get cursed while taking this picture :P

Elmwood

Today was long and over caffeinated day and I thought that I skip the "crawling" part. But this cafe was right on my way and I could not resist checking it out: Elmwood on College Ave. The place looked more upscale and also was almost empty which I liked. They claim to use organic and local resources and donate part of the proceeds to charities. I had an iced coffee again, because it was another hot day in Berkeley.

Okay, so far I've been lazy and was going only to the places which are right under my nose. But I promise to become more adventurous and to explore. Maybe check out one of the campus coffee shops next? Got to know what do they feed to students!

Sack's

Sack's on the intersection of College Ave and Derby St had the appropriate decor:

I had an iced coffee, the only kind of coffee you should possibly have on such a sweltering hot day. There were college students inside with their laptops, mostly Macs (ha-ha, dominating college campuses nationwide, are they?), some people were reading books. Overall it seemed to be a nice quiet place to study with unobtrusive music on the background. The girl at the counter was nice and made a small talk. Honestly, I liked this place more than a previous one. Maybe the atmosphere was more relaxing or maybe iced coffee is way nicer on a hot day than a warm Caffe Latte :P

Envy me!

Ta-da. The view from my office... Well, almost from my office... Because my office window is actually going onto the parking lot. But I get to admire this view everyday while having lunch :)

Caffe Strada

Caffe Strada on the intersection of College and Bancroft. This is the place I pass everyday on my way to work. Their nice veranda catches eye and is great for people watching. And the first step away from the plan - on a whim I got myself a Caffe Latte. Nice coffee, nicer experience. I will be back :)

Bored in Berkeley

My second week as a postdoc at Berkeley is about to begin. While it's a great place to conduct any kind of research activity, my social life is, essentially, MIA. Well, I certainly hope that it will pick up. But for the time being... and being as addicted to coffee as I am... I decided to do a Coffee Crawl. That is to try as many little coffee shops in the area as possible. At each of the places I will ask for my favorite coffee (which is simple black, no cream, please ;) ) and, hopefully, can name the best place to have a cup of java in Berkeley by mid-December.
Okay, let the adventure begin :)