The Greek Theater and Berkeley

The Greek Theater, love this venue.  We saw Train last weekend and it was fabulous.  I will definitely keep my out out for future concerts at this location.

 

My recommendations if your going to the Greek:

• Wear flats, don't drink too much or don't sit on the cement benches.  Their are no hand rails and these benches are pretty steep.  You may  also have to walk a bit (depending on your luck for parking) so comfy shoes work best.
• Bring a seat cushion if your sitting on the cement benches.  It made a world of difference. 
• Sit on the cement benches (1st 10 rows or go to the very top) vs the grass or metal chairs up front  If you sit in the middle it's a long way down to the bathroom, it's dark and steep.  The metal chairs looked very crowded.
• Layer your clothes just in case the fog rolls in.  When we went I didn't have to put my jacket on but I had it in case it did get cold
• A small flashlight or a bright cell phone would be good to shine it on the steps as you walk down the benches.
• Binoculars are recommended if you like to see the band up close.  There are no large screens unless the band brings there own.

As for Berkeley....I use to love going but I wasn't as much of a fan this trip.  There were lots of tweens on the streets early which was a bit much but they did clear out as it got later.  There also wasn't alot of places open early on Shattuck as I expected and not much to look at.  Maybe the young crowds deterred me.  Here is what we did however.  We drove over to Shattuck around 4pm and since there is metered parking for 90 minutes we parked, hit a bar, reparked, walked around and hit another bar.  It didn't make sense to park in a garage because the bars we wanted to hit were further from the Greek.  Parking by the bars and then reparking worked out perfect because after 5pm parking on the street by the Greek is free parking so we saved $20 on a garage and parked right across from where we had dinner.

• Thalassa:  This was the first bar we hit.  It was pretty early so there wasn't a lot of people but this place is also huge so the people there were scattered all about.  They had a decent sized bar, a loungy area, a hanger like pool area and even some outdoor seating.  Unfortunately the smokers were outside.  It was quite eclectic with lots to look at.  Look for the address (2367 Shattuck) or you may miss it because there wasn't a sign out front.
• Beckett's:  This was my favorite bar, a cozy Irish pub on 2271 Shattuck Ave.  Their happy hour offered $3.50 beers which worked out well since my drink was not a well drink, so it was $6.50.  Their calamari was very good, lightly battered tender rings.  This may be my newest #1 favorite calamari.
• Henry's:  We ate dinner at Henry's on 2600 Durant Ave.  I am usually  not a fan of restaurants in hotels but Henry's was an exception.  It was a casual nice sports bar with rich wood decor.  We had the "Angry" mac and cheese, sambal olek with tomato, scallions and bacon.  I'm a mac and cheese fanatic and I want it to be a specific way so I wasn't sure if I would like t his spicy version but boy was I wrong.  "Sambal Olek" is now on my grocery list I must try and make it.  We also split the Warm pressed Cuban sandwich of cumin-garlic roasted pork, smoked ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and American mustard.  YEA, Cuban.  They were both great and I would go back here again.
• Top Dog:  After the concert we had to stop by for a late night snack at the Top Dog.  We had heard they served great dogs and for $3 a dog it was well worth a try.  We had the apple sausage which was OK and the special mango pepper sausage which was very good.