Madagascar Palm update #3

There you have it - four flowers, although the first is one the way out. It's quite remarkable the way this thing blooms - repeatedly, after a decade of inactivity.

San Jose station

Some nice photos by Mrs. of the San Jose train station, which goes by the funny name "Diridon". Whatever you call the place, you gotta love those windows. This is the station where I famously liked the architecture but not the coffee.

Emeryville

A nice photo taken by Mrs. at the Emeryville station. If you like, the "E" in the photo can stand for Emeryville. It gets overlooked, but Emeryville is where the headquarters of Peet's Coffee is located (whereas their original coffee house is in Berkeley). 

University of California

The University of California was created in 1868 and its first president was Massachusetts-born, Yale-educated Henry Durant. The school moved to its present location in Berkeley in 1873. After serving as the university's first president, Durant went on to be the Mayor of Oakland until his death in 1875.

The Graduate - Berkeley

More scenes from the Graduate Hotel in Berkeley. This place actually has quite a colorful history. When we stayed here is was called the Hotel Durant and was part of the Joie de Vie chain. When you dig deeper you learn that the 1928-built hotel was named after Henry Durant, the founder of the University of California, and that his namesake pub was the site of hostage incident in 1990.

Henry's revisited

Now part of the Graduate Hotel chain, but still going by its old name. Revisited by Mrs, who famously had a headache in one of those circular window alcoves while we had the most interesting garbanzo beans of our lives - the chick peas in the pods.

chewy ice cream?

The way it looks in Berkeley, CA.