Book Zoo and Fred's Fondue

[nibot]

It's hot in Berkeley and it's just wonderful. I'm amazed at how much my sense of a place relates to the temperature. Walking down Telegraph in the heat, I can't help but be reminded of Southern California, and even the weird exoticism of Hertzl Street in Rehovot in those hot Israeli nights.

On Sunday I wandered down Telegraph a little further than usual, in search of some new kind of lunch, and found not one but two new book stores, and a swiss restaurant. One of the places was the Book Zoo, a tiny place tucked into a sort of mall down Telegraph past the hat store. The proprietor had cause to remark "And sometimes even customers come in here!" when I wandered in.

He offered me some mint tea. I sat in the sole chair in the place, an upolstered armchair, and read Kurt Vonnegut. A few other Telegraph-avenue stragglers wandered by and each expressed amazement at their discovery.

Anyway, check out the Book Zoo if you get a chance. Tiny little place. They even rent books, and specialties include japanese literature in japanese.

Also in this enclave there is a swiss restaurant ("I didn't even know the Swiss had restaurants!") where for a flat fee you can get unliminted quantities of six fondues, champaign, and cheesecake. It's called Fondue Fred's.

Comments

[once-a-banana.livejournal.com]

Good lord, you obviously haven't lived anywhere in the U.S. other than somewhere out west where it's not humid. The sad truth is, everywhere east of the rockies, north and south, is stiflingly hot and humid for much of the summer. We're talking sweating like mad while sitting still in the shade when it's only 80 degrees. (Whereas around here, you can walk around in the sun when it's 90 and get rather hot but at least make it from building to building without drenching your clothes and smelling terrible afterwards.) In the southern states, everyone at least has air conditioning.... but try living on the top floor of a cheap south side Chicago 6-flat, and you'll marvel that you're still breathing as it stays 30 degrees warmer inside than outside, no matter what you do... and you pretty much decide that clothing is entirely useless and perhaps even dangerous. Wait, maybe this doesn't sound so bad after all... :)
But the sun! That's where the trouble is out here... poor pale-ass boys like me getting charred by the big mean yellow face...