We woke up bright(ish) and early(ish) and made fairly short work of cycling four women through one bathroom. My hostess had the brilliant idea to stop in our old college town on the way back to the Bay Area and visit one of our old haunts.
Cafe Italia was a restaurant that pushed my college student budget so it wasn't a frequent destination but it was our restaurant of choice for bribery, rewards, and celebrations. As such, it's filled with happy memories of doodling on the paper tablecloths, laughing until our sides ached, and real cream sauce. This is where we ate when the hubby and one of my good friends (the blonde one in the blue jacket below) spent an entire evening helping me hang hoops from the ceiling for my installation in a sculpture class. There is where we ate after the move that nearly killed us all.
It was good to return and make more memories under the same roof. And it was good to see that some things never change.
After we ate, I said my goodbyes to one of my dear friends and piled back in the car with the remaining two.
We stopped by a farmer's market on the way back to Alameda and my friends stocked up on permissions and other produce.
Once we arrived back at Alameda, we decided to take a walk. Since Alameda is an island, the shore was not far at all.
We walked past a used book store where I found a book on introductory circuits sitting on the cart outside...
...and down to the docks.
I didn't notice that we could see both the ships and the city until it my hostess pointed it out to me.
We had some passersby take our photo at the same spot, though we block the city.
After our walk, my hostess and I said goodbye to our friend and puttered around town, picking up a few things. We still had come time to kill afterwards so we chatted and I borrowed her nailpolish collection to paint my nails for the first time in years.
Mission completed, we piled back in the car and she drove me into Berkeley and delivered me to my brother's apartment. We said our farewells and I went upstairs where I (briefly) met a current love interest of my brother's (it's more complicated than my dating life ever was) and was presented with chocolate and truffles.
I have an awesome brother. : )
My brother's girlfriend had left and we were in the process of figuring out dinner when a friend of my brother's called. An entire weekend's worth of work had disappeared off her computer and her thumbdrive simultaneously. Could he help? Of course he could. So she came over with the rebellious laptop and thumbdrive and he poked and prodded them for a bit while she and I chatted away. Eventually, he was letting some software install so we walked down the road to a local bar-b-que joint for dinner. At my brother's suggestion, I ordered a Frito Pie. Essentially, pulled pork over Fritos, topped with cheddar cheese, sour cream, and jalapenos. Pretty good although the Fritos were rather awkward to eat.
We continued our talking through dinner (which my brother's friend thoughtfully paid for as an apology for interrupting our visit), on the walk back to the apartment, and late enough that I barely managed to drag myself into bed before collapsing. At that point, the computer situation was looking hopeful, but was still unresolved, so I fell asleep to quiet conversations about file statuses and backups and timestamps.
To be continued...
Wow Cafe Italia! I havent thought about that place in years. I miss the Nugget market ( I wish I could find the sandwich equivalent).
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