This weekend, we traveled up to Northern California so my wife could visit a friend and her alma mater, the University of California, Berkeley. She's a proud graduate of this incredibly tough school, much tougher than the one I attended.
One of the first things I noticed was how beautiful the campus is. The scenery, with its stunning trees and landscapes, is amazing. I did see that in some areas, the weeds weren't as well maintained as at my university. However, Berkeley's campus really reflects the local scenery and vibe, whereas my school, despite being very well-groomed and maintained, didn't quite fit in with the surrounding area.
We didn't spend a lot of time on campus, maybe a couple of hours at most. We walked by some of the old buildings where my wife used to take classes and visited various landmarks and statues. One statue had an interesting bit of local lore: if you could push the ball off the top of it, you were guaranteed to get a 4.0 for the semester. As far as my wife knows, no one managed to push the ball off the statue, at least not while she was there.
We stopped at a super cute coffee shop before heading on to the campus. I didn't get many pictures because it was crowded, but the drinks were both pretty and delicious. We tried an orange blossom latte, which wasn't too sweet and had a nice hint of orange flavor. We also had a strawberry matcha latte with fresh strawberry sauce. It wasn't overwhelming and was the perfect refreshing drink for the warm day.
Once we finally made it to campus, we snapped a quick photo of the University of California sign and the Pomodoro Sphere created by Arnaldo Pomodoro. To me, it looked like a messed-up Death Star. I'm not really sure what the point of the statue is, but it's an interesting conversation piece at the front of the university. Unfortunately, it looks like it has been vandalized several times.
My favorite part of the campus was the trails that wind through it. They were fairly wide and surrounded by beautiful trees, vegetation, and a stream. Although the stream was pretty low, the running water was really soothing. There were squirrels everywhere, just chilling. While I don’t advocate feeding wild animals, you could sit among them if you wanted to. They mostly left us alone, and they were super cute.
The shade from the trees provided a nice reprieve from the hot, beating sun as well.
Once we got onto the campus, we first stopped by the Valley Life Sciences Building to check out the dinosaur bones on the first floor. The Tyrannosaurus Rex is definitely the centerpiece of the atrium. Whenever I’ve seen dinosaur fossils at other locations, there often wasn’t a T. Rex, so it was pretty cool to stand there and realize just how big they really are.
They also had a Pteranodon ingens, which looked like it was soaring above the Tyrannosaurus Rex on the circular staircase. Despite resembling a pterodactyl, this creature is neither a bird nor a dinosaur, although it is closely related to dinosaurs.
They also had fossils of a saber-toothed cat, with a domesticated cat skeleton placed directly beneath it to show the size difference. I have to admit, I would never want to encounter a saber-toothed cat in the wild—it was huge! Its teeth were enormous, and I might have died of fright if I ever ran into one.
After that, we headed towards Sather Tower, also known as the Campanile, on the UC Berkeley campus. This building is the third tallest clock and bell tower in the world and a significant part of the Berkeley experience. While I was there, it seemed to ring on the hour. Additionally, there are three times a day—7:15 a.m., 12:00 p.m., and 6:00 p.m.—when it almost felt like a campus concert from the Campanile.
At the top of the Campanile is the Carillon, a percussion instrument played via keyboard. At various times, students who have learned to play the Carillon get the opportunity to go up and perform. My wife actually had the chance to play this instrument when she was in school, and I think it’s such a cool and unique memory to have, since it’s not something many people get to experience. When played, the Carillon’s music can be heard all across campus.
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After leaving the Campanile, we wandered past a building that I noticed had no door handles. I asked my wife why, and she explained that this building, which used to be the administration building, had its handles removed because protesters used to enter and chain them shut. The handles were taken off to prevent this from happening. I didn’t spend too much time investigating, but I read somewhere that no building on campus has two door handles to prevent similar incidents across the campus.
After this, we wandered around campus until my wife’s friend got off work and could meet up with us. There are so many beautiful buildings with stunning architecture, though there are also a few that are pretty plain. I really enjoyed exploring the campus, especially since it wasn’t very busy at this time of year, with just a few students around for summer school.
As dinnertime approached, we headed to Cheeseboard, an iconic pizza place in Berkeley, California. They’re known for serving just one type of pizza each day, and that’s all they offer for the entire evening. We arrived about 20 minutes before they opened and were around 15 people back in line. By the time we got our food and sat down, the line had grown to around 60 or 70 people deep, and it stayed that long for the next three hours. The pizza was fantastic, but I couldn’t believe how long the line was the entire time Cheeseboard was open!
I really enjoyed my time at the University of California, Berkeley, and in Berkeley itself. Even though I didn’t get to spend a lot of time there, it was amazing to see a piece of my wife’s life that had such a big impact on her. It was quite different from my own university experience in West Texas, and I loved getting a glimpse into that part of her past.