Berkeley...

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are all really well!

We headed to Berkeley today on the Bart train, this took about 15mins
(after I got up late - Rob would like me to inform everyone! lol). When we
got to Berkeley we headed straight for Cafe Milano (recommended by my
sister - she spent the summer in Berkeley doing a summer course last
year!). I had a coffee and read the New York Times. Rob had a foccacia
turkey sandwich and a lemonade! The cafe was sooooo nice. Except possibly
the crying couple next to us (we think they may have been breaking up).
The cafe has an amazing beamed ceiling and a roof that opens up. It made
me want to go back to Uni! lol!

After that we headed to have a look around the student store, I love
American universities cause they really do have their name on every
possible type of merchandise you can think of! Really EVERYTHING you can
think of!

We had a wander through Sather Gate and were asked to vote for someone for
some kind of student union post, they had loads of political protests
going on etc. We walked up past Bacon hall to the Sather Tower and went up
that! The view from the top was fantastic, you get a complete view over
the campus, the weather was fantastic and the sky was really clear so that
was really cool (if not a tad chilly!). Its actually a students job to
push the buttons in the elevator! Such a cool job! lol!

After that we wandered down to the university library (Doe library) and
had a look around that! The morrison reading room looked AMAZING!!! It was
newer than the UL at Cam but still very impressive. I didn´t realise the
undergrown stacks were an addition.

From there we wandered down past the free speech movement cafe. We read
the newspapers that they print up really big everyday from several
countries. We read the Guardian!!! Was soooo nice to see it! lol! Love the
naomi campbell T5 incident! lol!

From there we wandered down past the Living Sciences buildings and through
the trees and out onto the road that leads onto the Bart station. The
campus was filled with beautiful blossom trees, it was sooooooo pretty!
Very very green! People were just sunbathing and playing frizbee!

I grabbed a burrito at the place on the street then we headed back through
the otherside of Campus so we could go and see Jen´s accommodation. We
ended up walking past the music buildings and came out right by Cafe
Strada. We walked past a really nice fountain... very nice sculpture in
it! We grabbed a drink there and then went to find Jen´s accommodation! It
was sooooo nice (from the outside - didn´t get to go inside!), the unit
was really really nice. Would be nice to sit in the centre and do some
work there!

From there we headed back up to Bancroft and had a look in American
Apparel, Rob and I disagreed on whether a top was for a man or woman! lol!
We then headed into the collegiate shop (another one) and had a look
around, Then to urban outfitters! Which always seems to place itself next
to college campuses in the US... there was one next to Yale as well! lol!

Owww we also had a look in the avant-card card shop, which was soooo cute!
It had a bumper sticker for American´s that said ´I love my country... but
I think we should start seeing other people´ - LOVED THAT!!!!!!

After that we headed back down to try and find an internet cafe! We
literally have not seen one internet cafe in San Francisco AT ALL. There
are WIFi zones EVERYWHERE but no internet cafes at all... I don´t
understand this we are right next to SILLICON VALLEY!!!! We have computers
in the hostel (obviously otherwise you wouldn´t be getting this e-mail!
lol!) but the PC is in a box locked up. I have run out of room on my
camera and desperately need to upload my photos!!! I found an internet
point but the software meant I only had access to the internet and not the
´my computer´ facility!!!

Anyways, I was really really impressed with Berkeley, it was a really
really nice campus! Would be a really nice place to study!

Jen- I couldn´t find the drink you were talking about... can we get it in
San Fran???

After that we got the Bart train back to the city. We headed for an
Italian restaurant at Columbus and Union called L´Osteria. We shared sweet
red peppers with garlic and parsley. For main I had a ham and artichoke
pizza and Rob had bolognese. The pizza was good but it didn´t beat
Tomosso´s!!! For dessert we had bittersweet chocolate mousse, which was
lovely! We also had procecco... this never fails to remind me of Noah!!!
lol!

We´ve now headed back to the hostel! Tomorrow is internet cafe day (I
think I´ve found one) and more importantly ALCATRAZ!!! Or as Eddie puts it
AAAAALLLLLCCCCAAATTTRRRAZZZZZ! lol! Love it!!!

Lots of Love,

Sarah xxx