The Voice of East Bay Living

One of my favorite escapes is visiting the Japanese Tea House located in the main Piedmont Park on Highland Avenue in central Piedmont. This beautiful and serene dwelling is surrounded by huge redwoods, camellias, azaleas and rhododendrons. There are benches facing the tea house where you can relax in private contemplation. It's almost always empty of people, except for an occasional dog walker or runner. The original tea house was built in 1907 and was at the time, the largest tea house in the United States. It was a replica of the fifteenth century Silver Pavilion in Kyoto. Besides the tea house, there was a koi pond, a moon bridge,and Japanese style gardens. The original was torn down in 1920. In 1976, it was replaced by a tea house belonging to a prominent Piedmont family which was moved to its present site in the park. Across the lawn sits the Mediterranean style Piedmont Community Hall. This lovely building, with its chandeliers and glistening hardwood floors, is of

Would you like to go on a fun day time event? Berkeley pathwanderers organizes wonderful neighborhood walks with a guided tour and explanation of buildings , parks, and historical information. I just went on a really fun walk last Saturday morning. The expedition took us to the diverse neighborhood of Temescal . This Oakland neighborhood was named after a creek that still runs under the ground. It's name came from the Aztec word for sweat lodge, temescalli. This neighborhood has been predominantly Italian but in the last decade it has become more and more trendy with young families moving in to its affordable bungalows. You can still visit the Temescal Library which was founded in 1918 by Andrew Carnegie or visit Studio One which was built in 1894. A great lunch spot is the Genoa Deli which was given the best East Bay deli award in 2009 by the East Bay Express. Today I opted for chicken salad at Bake Sale Bettys on the corner of 51st and Telegraph ( refer to my blog post

After being closed for over two years for a $58 million renovation, the museum opened its doors last week to an excited crowd of fans. The original museum was built 41 years ago -a terraced and walled concrete structure that became an instant national landmark. Some of the new features include a re-grouping of the permanent collection, visitor feedback stations where people can record their own life in California, do self - portraits , vote on what is or is not real art, a new gourmet cafe, an additional 5,600 ft. of airy high ceiling galleries and many more upcoming exhibits. Judith Glass, a former art docent at the museum was thrilled to see pieces of the permanent collection that now had room to be displayed. She also thought that there were a alot of new magical spaces. Go to http://museumca.org/