The Solano Stroll is  this weekend. It’s an incredible event…. attracting 100,000 people or more every year.Wonderful Ambience, great food, pleasant music in the background. Music, neighborhood groups, food, performers and more!

It’s a delightful, mile long block party on Solano Avenue between The Alameda and San Pablo Avenue

One of my very first YouTube videos of the parade and party is here.

Here’s the neighborhood info, lots of photos, and the Solano Stroll Web Site.

Sweet 2 Bedroom for sale – $600,000

Open Sunday 12 + 19 Sep 2010 2:00 to 4:30 pm

1803 Cedar Street in North Berkeley – Conveniently Located!

Don’t miss this sweet 1912 cottage amid a gardeners’ paradise!

Landscaped front and back; multilevel decks; an updated kitchen with generous storage; electrical upgrades; copper piping; tankless hot water heater; dual paned windows; newer paint; gleaming hardwood and fir floors.

Conveniently located almost equidistant from North Berkeley BART, Gioia Pizza on Hopkins Street, and Peet’s Flagship store on Walnut and Vine.

#1 – Kensington Circle Farmer’s Market

Runs every Sunday 10 am to 2 pm – Oakview Avenue at Kensington’s Colusa Circle

I was there a few weeks ago and ran into lots of friends and clients.  It’s right off Kensington Circle, in Berkeley – Albany – Kensington – El Cerrito’s equivalent of Four Corners!

Why?

If you walk around a block or two, you end up if two counties (Alameda and Contra Costa) and four cities – Berkeley, Albany, Kensington & El Cerrito.

Here’s the map and photos I took on my “walk around the block”

#2 – Visit 525 Neilson Street

Lots of photos and info at 525neilson.com – here’s a sneak preview!  We’ll be open Sunday 29 Aug 2010 2:00 to 4:30 pm – Stop by and say hello.

Berkeley's Thousand Oaks Neighborhood - Open House - 525 Neilson Street

Terrific two bedroom in great Thousand Oaks neighborhood, on one the prettiest treelined streets in North Berkeley!

Ideally located near Kensington’s Colusa Circle shops, grocery, Kensington Pub and Post Meridian bistro; a few blocks to Thousand Oaks Solano Avenue shops, movies, bookstore & restaurant … and easy access to and El Cerrito Plaza shops; restaurants, theater and BART

Recent updates in kitchen and bath; stone counters; newer stainless appliances and microwave are included in sale;

Gleaming hardwood floors in main living areas and bedrooms; tile and Marmoleum in bath and kitchen;

Interior arches add architectural interest; built-ins; great kitchen/utility room storage;

Sliding glass doors in both bedrooms lead to charming back garden and patio;

On demand water heating;

Garage and workbench

Per public records: Interior: 1,184 sf; Lot Size: 3,440; built 1924

Photo portfolio and neighborhood information at http://525neilson.com/

Take a stroll around the block and visit Berkeley, Albany, Kensington & El Cerrito … and travel between Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.  Want to see what I saw? Click on my flickr site to see my photo walk photos

Carol and I have seen goats, turkeys, deer, possums, raccoons, chickens (two coops just on Yosemite Road) and even peacocks in our travels around the Berkeley Hills, Claremont, Kensington and our Thousand Oaks Neighborhood.

Want to see the goat cross the road?  Just click on the photo to view the video!

We saw this cute guy in the Berkeley Hills crossing Shasta Road, just above the intersection with Tamalpais.  Tamalpais Road connects twice with Shasta, this was near the lower intersection where Shasta, Tamalpais and Rose all come together, just east of the Berkeley Rose Garden and west of Buena Vista Way and Maybeck Twin Drive.

Carol and I love to shop locally, and one of our favorite things to do is to go to the movies.  We saw two great movies recently.

Exit Through The Gift Shop at the Oaks Theater in the Thousand Oaks Neighborhood.  I kept on wondering if Exit Through The Gift Shop was a spoof like Spinal Tap … and it wasn’t.  It’s a real movie by Banksy Films, and everyone who has seen it has loved it.  I was talking to another photographer on my Mission District World Wide Photo Walk last week, and he pointed out that the movie transcended all ages and backgrounds.

City Island at the Elmwood in the Elmwood Neighborhood. I’d recommend it even if I hadn’t grown up in The Bronx, loved to visit City Island with my mom, and it didn’t have a cameo shot of The Bronx High School of Science.

Oaks in Thousand Oaks, Elmwood in Elmwood – that’s what I mean by neighborhood theaters!

When I first moved to Berkeley, there were many more local theaters – some large like the UC in Downtown Berkeley (Rocky Horror Picture Show!), others small such as the two Northside Theaters on Euclid (Where I first saw Casablanca), two tiny ones on the 2nd floor of Telegraph Avenue (just south of Dwight), and the Fine Arts on Shattuck & Haste.

Those will be part of my “that used to be … ” blog posts.

I was showing homes in the Berkeley Hills this morning, and took a stroll up Rose Walk, one of Berkeley’s magical places.  I first discovered it in the late 70′s when I lived at 2833 Buena Vista Way.

Here’s the link to the Berkeley Path Wanderer’s Association web page about Rose Walk

Rose Walk was designed by Bernard Maybeck, and buildings were designed by Henry Gutterson.  It’s right next to Codornices Park and the Rose Garden.  There’s a terrific concrete slide in the park; a tunnel under Euclid Avenue takes you to the tennis courts and Rose Garden.

Rose Walk – It goes from Euclid on the west to Rose Street on the east. The lovely “Renaissance Revival stairway” is just to the east and south of the crosswalk on Euclid.

The Berkeley Rose Garden is a traditional place to watch the sunset, and since todays’ the Summer Solstice I thought you’d be interested seeing where the sun rose and set on the longest day.

Rose Walk is at the blue circle bottom right corner.  The large trapezoidal structure is (was?) a reservoir. Codornices Park is north of the reservoir; you can clearly see the Rose Garden Amphitheater and Tennis Courts; The Tennis Courts were a WPA (or analogous) project.

Close up view. The hemispherical landing is filled with people at sunset.

And here’s how the sun rises and sets on the Summer Solstice!

Sunset over Marin.

And the Winter Solstice in Sydney Australia.  The sun sets at 4:54 PM for our friends down under.

And why I love looking at photos of the beautiful Sydney Harbor!

When I first got my iPad about a month ago, I spent hours searching the maps – places we’ve been too (atop the Sydney Harbor Bridge, a hotel next to the Pantheon in Rome) and also our wonderful neighborhoods of Berkeley.

What delighted me was the insights that satellite maps give about our neighborhoods.

Here are two examples.

This map shows the Thousand Oaks Elementary School on Colusa Avenue, just north of Solano.  The trees to the left of the circle, where the Blackberry Creek was daylighted.  What I didn’t realize till I looked at the map is that the beige walkway likely shows the path of the creek as it travels from Colusa Avenue to the daylighted section.  If you’re familiar with the area, that section of the school is actually a bridge – which literally and figuratively bridges the creek.  How cool is that?

North Berkeley - Lovely Tree Lined Mariposa Street

This map shows Marin Circle at the top left.  What I was intrigued with was the band of green connecting the top right corner with the center bottom.

Greenery usually indicates creeks.

In this case, is shows the magnificent trees along Mariposa Avenue – one of Berkeley’s special streets.  Grand homes, grand trees, and a delightful Halloween Festival every year.

You can see why we love living in Berkeley!

Berkeley Homes Dot Com Logo in Chalk

Saturday 5 Jun 2010

Thousand Oaks Spring Carnival – Noon to 4:00 PM

The Thousand Oaks Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is sponsoring the Spring Carnival Today

840 Colusa Avenue – Just north of Solano Avenue

North Shattuck Association – 10 AM to 5 PM

Eat Chocolate, Make Art – right up my alley – literally and figuratively – our office is in the heart of North Shattuck – Shattuck and Vine is where it’s at

My favorite? The chalk artwork and chocolate samplings.

The Chocolate & Chalk Art Festival web site has all the details you need.

Sunday 6 Jun 2010 – Noon to 6:00 PM

Temescal Street Fair – Telegraph Avenue between 45th and 51st Streets

Green Zone, Taste of Temescal, Circus Arts & More

Here’s the Temescal Street Fair Schedule
Saturday & Sunday 12 – 13 Jun 2010 – 1o AM to 6 PM

Live Oak Park has the Live Oak Park Fair

Artists, crafts, quilts, baskets, food & Drink

Live Oak Park Fair Website

The wonderful Himalayan Fair is at North Berkeley’s Live Oak Park this weekend.

Dates & Times – Saturday 29 May (today 10:00 am to 7:00 pm), Sunday 30 May 10:00 am to 5:30 pm

There’s wonderful music, dance, food, and crafts.

Visit the Himalayan Fair Website for more information