Dad in Cali

I'm chilling in my room and it seems way too empty.  Why's that?  Because Dad just left Berkeley after being here with me for two short amazing days.

Dad had to travel to Atlanta for business and decided to make a pit stop in North California to visit me first.  His plans where to arrive on Saturday late afternoon, be my date at my graduate program 1920's party, spend two entire days with me and leave to Atlanta on Monday evening.  The trip did not start quite as planned, since he lost his connection flight in Newark and consequently couldn't come to the party.  However, that was the only part of the trip that didn't go well.  I just wish he could have stayed here with me...

On Sunday, we started the day by walking around campus and getting to see a few of its most famous parts: Telegraph Ave; Sproul Plaza and its invisible monument to free speech; the campanile; the whisper bench; a few libraries; Haas School; Memorial Stadium; International House; and more.  Before leaving Berkeley, Dad had his first experience in ihouse's dining hall: the weekend brunch.  I think he liked it.  I used to like the brunches here too but, after a while, they get way to repetitive.  After that, we drove to two different outlets, did some shopping, and got to see very nice and diverse landscapes.  From herds of sheep to herds of cows, from farms with horses to agricultural lands, from flat areas to hills, and from vineyards to towns, we saw a lot.  We had lunch in the Oxbow Public Market in Downtown Napa and came back to Berkeley, where we went to 4th street before heading to ihouse again.

The evening was as good as the rest of day.  We did some food shopping in College Ave (drinks at Safeway, pizza at Zachary's and fruit tart at La Farine) and had dinner with the Villas-Boas family at their place.  It's impossible not to like going there, seeing how happy that family is, listening to the kids' jokes, and getting to enjoy a portuguese style meal, meaning a meal with no rushes.

Today was THE day!  We had breakfast in ihouse with some of my breakfast buddies, so that Dad could actually experience my daily life here.  After that, we drove North for a big adventure.  We went to Muir Woods National Monument, with the initial goal of going on a 1h/2h hike.  However, we missed the trail we wanted to take and ended up walking for three hours and a half.  We walked up, up, up and down, down, down the hill, on a muddy slippery ground.  We saw huge trees in a dense forest first and the bay under the sun later on.  The adventurous part of the hike included the sense of being totally lost, taking a non-active trail as a shortcut for a few minutes, and seeing a few animals (including a snake).  In the end, we were exhausted but kind of happy for having one more story to tell.  Haha.  We're sore already so I don't want to imagine how our body is going to be tomorrow.

At 1:30 pm, we were back on campus and had a grilled panini together before I headed to Davis Hall, for a class I could not miss.  Before 5 pm, we were back together and spent the last hours together organizing stuff and enjoying each other company.  How I wish I had Dad, Mom or Pedro here with me every week...

Thanks Dad for managing to come visit me.  It's good to show the people we love the most we are happy and safe.  Now, I'm happy to say that Mom, Dad, Mico and Pedro all can imagine correctly the descriptions I make when we talk through Skype, Whatsapp, Viber or e-mail.