And by layover, I mean a brief hiatus in Berkeley.

The WHY is a bit of a long story. It’s a little too personal to share here. But let’s just say I had the opportunity to live in a new place for about three weeks in June. I could get into the nitty gritty details about what that all entailed. But that’s not where I wanted to go with this blog post. Instead, I wanted to dedicate it to the beautiful city of Berkeley and its surrounding area.

What first struck me about Berkeley is the lovely small town feel that I grew up with. It’s a charming city with beautiful tree-lined streets, cute storefronts, and little bungalows. So far, I’ve only explored North Berkeley, the Berkeley Hills, and Tilden Regional Park. But they have not disappointed.

So how did this all start?

Well, I have a good friend who lives near Berkeley. So, one beautiful Saturday afternoon, we decided to go hiking in Tilden. We were freestyling our hike a bit and found ourselves following a path around Lake Anza. Which, by the way, is up there as one of my new favorite hikes.

It goes around this beautiful, fir tree-lined lake. But my favorite part was the terrain. The hiking trail was a little “off road”. And by that I mean you have to climb over boulders and duck under tree trunks to make your way around the lake. At one point, the narrow path is just above the water line of the lake, which makes for a nice point to stop and enjoy the view.

After our lovely afternoon hike, we had some time to kill, so we decided to grab a bite to eat at Mission Heirloom. If you find yourself in town, I definitely recommend checking it out. Especially if it’s a nice day because they have an awesome outdoor patio.

And last, but not least. One of my favorite things about this side of the Bay: All the flowers! It feels like everyone in Berkeley gets into gardening. Much more so than in San Francisco. So every twist and turn has beautiful flowers on every street. I mean, that white picket fence. Come on!

At the end of the day, I feel so grateful that I’ve been able to stay in such a charming area for a few weeks. It’s been incredibly refreshing and I now know what it means to “get away from it all.” Which was much-needed.

And the light, I tell you, it’s a little different over here. It’s kind of magical.

Oh, and I almost forgot! I have some fun upcoming adventures I can’t wait to share with you. Stay tuned!

Let’s go places,
Sarah

Have you been to Berkeley? Share your favorite spots with me in the comments section below.

All photos on this blog are mine. Feel free to share but please credit me with a link back to the blog. Much appreciated and thank you for your support!

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