Sunday, March 18
The Boyfriend and I walked to Indian Rock to watch the sun rise. This didn’t work out quite as planned, for two reasons.
First, the fabulous views of San Francisco Bay and the city skyline are toward the west. As you probably learned in childhood, the sun rises in the east. The rock does offer a good easterly view of the neighborhood—lovely houses and gardens—but the hills blocked any view of the actual sunrise.
Second, the fog that flowed in yesterday evening stuck around for the morning.
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After breakfast (see the Day 1—Food post for details), we decided to visit the Takara saké (rice wine) production facility. We had about an hour before Takara opened, so we meandered along a short stretch of Berkeley’s San Pablo Ave. to pass the time.
We arrived at Takara Sake USA Inc. (708 Addison St., Berkeley) shortly after it opened. (If you’ve ever had warm saké, you’ll recognize the aroma as soon as you open Takara’s doors.) “Takara” means “treasure from the rice paddy.” Takara produces the Sho Chiku Bai brand. The first character in Takara’s logo is “sho,” a pine tree, symbolilzing health. Next, “chiku,” bamboo, signifying prosperity. Last, “bai,” the plum, representing beauty.
We wandered through the saké museum, watched a short video about saké making and Takara’s history, and then indulged in a free saké tasting. Well, “free” is misleading. While Takara doesn’t charge visitors to sample the saké, TB and I both dropped quite a chunk of change to order saké and have it shipped to our homes.
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Thanks to my friends Christy and Les for the saké book they gave me a few months ago. I’ve read the section on the history of saké and how it’s made and I’ve skimmed the parts on specific brands and where to taste and buy saké. And, I must confess, I forgot to bring the book with me. Fortunately, the video we watched had useful information, and the tasting room staff are knowledgeable and helpful.
While it seems like we didn’t “accomplish” much today, we spent a lot of time walking—always a great way to see a city or neighborhood.
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