California Dreamin'

I don't normally write blogs about our visits to California since most of my time is spent doing everyday kinds of things with my parents, family and friends.  I'm not a tourist.  HOWEVER, there are plenty of very interesting and beautiful things to see and do in the area.

Miles and I visited my brother and sister-in-law for the weekend in Aptos and we stopped in  Santa Cruz, a coastal city that has a very proud surfing history which dates back to the 1880's.

Proud surfer

 Info stations in the shape of waves

Dusk
Those teeny black specks on the right are surfers

There's also a beach boardwalk which boasts that it's California's oldest surviving amusement park dating from 1907.

It's very quiet (but still partially open) in Dec., and Miles and I strolled the boardwalk.  Going to the Santa Cruz boardwalk is one of my fondest childhood memories and the scene of Miles' and my 2nd date way back in 1981.  Hasn't changed much (and neither have we).

Surfboard bench

Miles' favorite:  chocolate dipped frozen banana with nuts

San Mateo has some very pretty nature areas.  One of our favorites is Sawyer Camp Trail which runs about 6 miles along the Crystal Springs Reservoir.

Crystal Springs Reservoir

The trail is usually very crowded on weekends with bike riders, walkers, joggers, etc.  Lucky us!  When we went on a late Sat. afternoon, we saw very few people and only pretty views and deer.

California mule deer


Burned out tree that looks like an owl

Sun-bleached trees

Pampas grass

Miles on the trail

Miles and I met up with good friends Marcos and Maxine Eisenberg in Oakland.  Marcos and I have know each other since before we were born--our parents have been friends since the mid 1940's.  We took a trip down memory lane and had ice cream at Fenton's Creamery, an Oakland landmark since the 1920's.  The last time Miles and I were there was sometime in the mid-70's when we were students at U.C. Berkeley.  (We never went there together since we didn't meet until 1980).  And it is still terrific! Fenton's original creation of toasted almond ice cream...ah...

Marcos and me outside Fenton's Creamery

Max, Marcos and me enjoying our homemade ice cream

Marcos then took us on a tour around Oakland and we saw beautiful public art.   We were particularly impressed with these statues of humanitarian figures.
Remember Them by Mario Chioda, 2011




Oakland A's mural painted by Oakland-based street artists, 2017

Our last stop on the "tour" was to Lake Merritt in Oakland.

Drumming group along the lake

East end of Lake Merritt at dusk




















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PARIS!!!

Image
We really are the luckiest people in the world!  The sabbaticals take us to so many wonderful places and even though we were in Paris a mere 3 years ago, we are loving it all over again. Our apt. is conveniently located in the north Marais near Place de la Republique where all the Paris demonstrations are held.  Our building is quite old, but the small and cozy one-bedroom apartment, is newly renovated.  The neighborhood is in the process of gentrifying with many new galleries and restaurants. Place de la Republique Miles is teaching the same course he gave at ETH.  He'll go to the Ecole des Mines (engineering school established in 1793) near Luxembourg Gardens on Thursdays.  Otherwise, he'll work at the apartment and take breaks in the afternoons to wander around Paris with me!   Miles at Ecole des Mines entrance     The Medici fountain and reflecting pool with Poseidon standing guard in the Luxembourg Gardens (...
Read more

Eureka!

Image
Our dear friends Marcel and Jessa once again invited us to join them on another adventure.  We went to prospect for gold, just like the '49ers in California! There are no active mines here at the moment but there is a small amount of gold being prospected in the rivers and streams around Switzerland.  We drove to a site in the Lucerne canton called Doppleschwand where we met our guide, Damian.    Damian (left), 2 other prospectors, Jessa, Marcel and me Equipped with wading boots, shovels and gold mining pans, we walked to the stream and learned how to placer mine.  This is a technique where you fill your pan with a shovel full of sand and rocks and then swirl the pan, first extracting the rocks.  You keep dipping the pan with water, shake and swirl over and over, extracting pebbles until you have just a fine layer of sand at the bottom of the pan.  Then very carefully you look for tiny (and I mean TINY) specks of gold th...
Read more

Art, Architecture and a French Recipe

Image
It is really an understatement to say Paris is all about art.  There are too many museums to count, neighborhoods with varied architecture, galleries, public art dotted around the city...the list goes on and on. Miles and I had the opportunity to visit my friend Ilaria Tonti who works in a small boutique that sells hand-made rugs.  She invited us to the opening of an artist's newest handmade rug (seen below). Another artist's hand-made tapestry at the gallery There are many free museums around Paris, too, like Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Panels made in 1935 for 1st class lounge of an ocean liner Metal desk from the 1930s A bronze bas-relief by Matisse On the centenary of Rodin's death, Nov. 17, 2017, the Rodin Museum was free of charge, so of course we had to return (we go there every time we visit Paris). Sleeping Woman Clay model for Sleeping Woman Marble version of "The Kiss"... ...
Read more