Way back in March, Colin and I took a mini-vacation in Berkeley, California. One of my best friends from college, Yifan, was getting married and I was a bridesmaid, but as we were planning the trip, we realized we had a ton of friends in the Bay Area: Yifan and her now-husband, Colin's brother, Colin's college roommate, two couples from Michigan, and one of my friends from work. I had also never been to the Bay Area, so Yifan's wedding was the perfect time to plan a trip.
And what a jam-packed trip it was!! The first day was sunny and beautiful, and the entire city of Berkeley was blooming with flowers, so we met up with Colin's old roommate, Ben, who was hosting us, and his brother and walked through the city to the Berkeley campus. I got my first glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge from the campus! And I saw my first redwoods.
The real redwood experience, though, came the next day at Muir Woods. Colin and I had planned a big driving tour of the Bay Area and invited Ben and a mutual friend from Michigan, Kinsey, along. Our first stop was Muir Woods. Although the park was still peaceful and quiet when we got there (shortly after it opened for the day, and early enough that they weren't even charging admission yet), we decided to take one of the hiking trails off the main path. It was well worth it. The trail took us from the forest floor up to the canopy so we were able to see for ourselves how massive the trees are. They are huge!
After leaving Muir Woods, we drove on to a winery in Napa. Kinsey is a member at the winery, which means she gets free tastings for friends. We were happy to take her up on that! We tasted four wines and basked on the sunny terrace overlooking rolling hills of vineyards.
Midway into our first glass of wine, Kinsey (who also studies lizards and has worked with Colin in Greece) spotted a little lizard trying to sneak into our party. Naturally, Colin and Kinsey had to catch her. The day was off to a great start--hiking, tall trees, wine, sun, and now lizard catching!
To cap off our driving tour, we stopped at the Marin Headlands to get a better view of the Golden Gate Bridge. We were there shortly before sunset, and the view did not disappoint.
To make the day even better, we then drove over the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco. The traffic was terrible once we got into the city, but the views were incredible. After finally making it back to Berkeley, we ended the night with pizza and more wine at Kinsey's apartment.
The next day, Colin and I set off on our own to explore San Francisco. We took the train and bus to the Palace of Fine Arts at one end of the waterfront and gave ourselves a few hours to walk to the Ferry Building, where we were meeting another friend from Michigan, Patty.
The Palace of Fine Arts was one of my favorite places. It no longer has art exhibits, but the architecture was stunning and the surrounding park was unbelievably lush. If I lived in San Francisco, I'd be there all the time. This is just one little corner of the park:
The next stop on our walking tour was the beach, where we got an even better view of the bridge. As you can see from my jacket, it wasn't super warm, although it was perfectly sunny.
Our walk also took us through Ghirardelli Square, where we got a free chocolate as an appetizer to lunch, and then on to Pier 39, where we saw the sea lions. They were so loud and smelly! But fun. We had no idea if we'd see any (is there a season for sea lions in California?), so we were thrilled to find them just chilling on the pier.
When we made it to the Ferry Building, we met up with Patty for ice cream (appetizer to dinner). We then went to her neighborhood, the Mission, for dinner. She took us to see some really cool murals, which are one of the Mission's landmarks, and Dolores Park, which has great views of the city skyline. (San Francisco is so hilly that it seems like everywhere has great views of something.) We capped off the night with burritos for dinner and hot chocolate for dessert, because it was cold.
The next day, Saturday, we stuck around Berkeley and met up with my friend from work (Dave, my Olympics partner/running buddy). We got brunch at a cute cafe then walked up more hills to the Berkeley Rose Garden. The roses weren't in bloom yet, but the garden was still pretty and - again - the views were incredible.
Too soon, it was time to wrap up our sightseeing so I could get to Yifan's wedding rehearsal. Her venue was amazing! It was perched right at the top of the Berkeley hills with - you guessed it - a fantastic view. When the clouds parted, you could see the Golden Gate Bridge popping out in the distance. The wedding party helped with set-up and rehearsal, and then family and other friends came for the rehearsal dinner. Dinner was an incredible spread of Burmese food, which is apparently pretty popular in the Bay Area. And I was glad that Colin got to experience the beautiful views at the venue because ... the next day it rained.
It rained, rained, rained all Sunday afternoon, and it was cold. People were running around frantically trying to move chairs and tables inside before the guests came, trying to decide if the rain was going to stop long enough to hold the ceremony outside. In the end it worked out and was a lovely wedding, although the weather definitely didn't cooperate. Most importantly, though, it was fun! And Yifan married her perfect match.
And it reminded me of the importance of having a rain plan in place for my own wedding!
And what a jam-packed trip it was!! The first day was sunny and beautiful, and the entire city of Berkeley was blooming with flowers, so we met up with Colin's old roommate, Ben, who was hosting us, and his brother and walked through the city to the Berkeley campus. I got my first glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge from the campus! And I saw my first redwoods.
The real redwood experience, though, came the next day at Muir Woods. Colin and I had planned a big driving tour of the Bay Area and invited Ben and a mutual friend from Michigan, Kinsey, along. Our first stop was Muir Woods. Although the park was still peaceful and quiet when we got there (shortly after it opened for the day, and early enough that they weren't even charging admission yet), we decided to take one of the hiking trails off the main path. It was well worth it. The trail took us from the forest floor up to the canopy so we were able to see for ourselves how massive the trees are. They are huge!
After leaving Muir Woods, we drove on to a winery in Napa. Kinsey is a member at the winery, which means she gets free tastings for friends. We were happy to take her up on that! We tasted four wines and basked on the sunny terrace overlooking rolling hills of vineyards.
Midway into our first glass of wine, Kinsey (who also studies lizards and has worked with Colin in Greece) spotted a little lizard trying to sneak into our party. Naturally, Colin and Kinsey had to catch her. The day was off to a great start--hiking, tall trees, wine, sun, and now lizard catching!
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| No lizards were harmed in the making of this photo. |
To make the day even better, we then drove over the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco. The traffic was terrible once we got into the city, but the views were incredible. After finally making it back to Berkeley, we ended the night with pizza and more wine at Kinsey's apartment.
The next day, Colin and I set off on our own to explore San Francisco. We took the train and bus to the Palace of Fine Arts at one end of the waterfront and gave ourselves a few hours to walk to the Ferry Building, where we were meeting another friend from Michigan, Patty.
The Palace of Fine Arts was one of my favorite places. It no longer has art exhibits, but the architecture was stunning and the surrounding park was unbelievably lush. If I lived in San Francisco, I'd be there all the time. This is just one little corner of the park:
The next stop on our walking tour was the beach, where we got an even better view of the bridge. As you can see from my jacket, it wasn't super warm, although it was perfectly sunny.
Our walk also took us through Ghirardelli Square, where we got a free chocolate as an appetizer to lunch, and then on to Pier 39, where we saw the sea lions. They were so loud and smelly! But fun. We had no idea if we'd see any (is there a season for sea lions in California?), so we were thrilled to find them just chilling on the pier.
When we made it to the Ferry Building, we met up with Patty for ice cream (appetizer to dinner). We then went to her neighborhood, the Mission, for dinner. She took us to see some really cool murals, which are one of the Mission's landmarks, and Dolores Park, which has great views of the city skyline. (San Francisco is so hilly that it seems like everywhere has great views of something.) We capped off the night with burritos for dinner and hot chocolate for dessert, because it was cold.
The next day, Saturday, we stuck around Berkeley and met up with my friend from work (Dave, my Olympics partner/running buddy). We got brunch at a cute cafe then walked up more hills to the Berkeley Rose Garden. The roses weren't in bloom yet, but the garden was still pretty and - again - the views were incredible.
Too soon, it was time to wrap up our sightseeing so I could get to Yifan's wedding rehearsal. Her venue was amazing! It was perched right at the top of the Berkeley hills with - you guessed it - a fantastic view. When the clouds parted, you could see the Golden Gate Bridge popping out in the distance. The wedding party helped with set-up and rehearsal, and then family and other friends came for the rehearsal dinner. Dinner was an incredible spread of Burmese food, which is apparently pretty popular in the Bay Area. And I was glad that Colin got to experience the beautiful views at the venue because ... the next day it rained.
It rained, rained, rained all Sunday afternoon, and it was cold. People were running around frantically trying to move chairs and tables inside before the guests came, trying to decide if the rain was going to stop long enough to hold the ceremony outside. In the end it worked out and was a lovely wedding, although the weather definitely didn't cooperate. Most importantly, though, it was fun! And Yifan married her perfect match.
And it reminded me of the importance of having a rain plan in place for my own wedding!
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