Week One in Oakland
I'm just finishing up my first week in lovely Oakland and loving it so far. I'm living right next to downtown in a neighborhood called Lake Merritt. For Minneapolitans, think a cross between Lake Calhoun and Loring Park. It's a fabulous neighborhood and I'm sort of right in between Vietnamese and Mexican sections, which means being surrounded by great food. 
I borrowed an old bike from one of my co-workers, so I've been spending a lot of time exploring the East Bay by bike. Oakland is great and has a ton of cool neighborhoods. I've especially enjoyed hanging out around the Grand-Lake area, which has a spectacular farmer's market on Saturdays (mmm. nectarines...). I got to an A's-Twins game last week, courtesy of my roommate/landlord's amazing box seat. The Coliseum is definitely one of the crappier stadiums I've visited, but in sort of a lovable way. I spent a day in SF (reminded me of Manhattan. lots of reasons I should like it, but too many yuppies and tourists) and Berkeley (which has great bookstores and a beautiful campus).
More on all this later, but I wanted to get up a short update.
1 comments:
Make sure you hit up the Cheeseboard in Berkeley. It is in the Gourmet Ghetto, on the corner of Shattuck and Vine (right across the street from the famous Chez Panisse). It was one of the first collectives in the nation, I believe (I could be totally wrong about that). The people there know more about cheese than anyone I have come across on the West coast. Not to mention, their baked goods are amazing, and make sure you go in the evening to get a slice of pizza and listen to some jazz music. If you want to see Berkeley North Side culture in action, it is happening at the Cheeseboard on summer evenings. http://cheeseboardcollective.coop/History/CheesePizzaHistory.html
OH! and Check out Pyramid Brewery in Berkeley also. Gosh, I have many many other good Oakland and Berkeley foodie tips for you. Oakland is awesome...make sure you check out the Temescal district too. I am curious as to your urban planning opinions on that particular area of Oakland...well, all of Oakland actually. It is an interesting place.
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