Pizza and The A's

We visit Guy and Jeanine, Wookie and Moxie in Piedmont. We are treated with a wonderful dinner including perhaps the best pizza I have ever had. It turns out that the chef - Roger, and married to Umi and Guy/Jeanine's adopted daughter - cooks otherwise for Pizzaiolo. Pizzaiolo was started by ex-Chez Penise and is one of the hot new East Bay restaurants where Christian and I went last week before the Fiest concert. Beforehand, Roger flips the dough for the kids who love it. The adults talk about various stuff - Guy owns a big chunk of the Oakland A's so I am keen to know when the baseball team will move to Fremont (or San Jose). He is also advising the Democratic Party on security and other issues and the stories always fascinating. Before dinner we drink Chardonnay while the kids splash about in the pool and play with the pups. Madeleine tells Jeanine she too will have a dog "when I am a teenager", which is about right I think.

Sonnet and I have a free hour to walk around Berkeley and do some chores &c. We go to Andronico's which has the most amazing produce - the fruit & veg section explodes colour and there are 15 varieties of tomatoes. This rivals even France I think (Andronico's used to be the Berkeley Co-op BTW which was an experiment in communal purchasing and community). From there we go to stand-by's Black Oak Books, pass Chez Penise and end up at the original Pete's Coffee on Walnut Square (Eitan hovers over me as I write - he wants to watch Cristiano Ronaldo Top Ten Goals on Youtube. He also corrects my spelling of "Critiano Ronaldo). A real Berkeley stroll complete with mid-day coffee drinkers, a few hippie/derelects, elderly Berkley-ites and everybody enjoying the sunshine. A good vibe day.