Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Glimpses Of Our U.S.Trip! The University Of Berkeley, California!

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I had already started writing about this trip and am continuing now! This post is about the University of California, Berkeley! There are so many things to write about this place...maybe later! First, the Clock tower!

Sather Tower (Bell & Clock Tower), sort of a symbol for UC Berkeley! The booming sound of the bells are lovely!

One more picture of the Clock tower.
The Carillon, an instrument, which the students play at 12pm and 6 pm everyday. Evening sunlight is reflecting here...The room is closed and I took this picture through the glass.

I saw these huge bells on the 7th floor, I think and it is not easy to stand nearby when it starts ringing I was told. (Link) By the time I reached this place, the music and the ringing of the bells were over:(
Hear the music now.  I heard it from outside and it was over when I reached the lift to reach the tower! Pleasing music! I got a clip from 'you tube'. Thank you, children! It is awesome!



 One more link of the Carillon music!

We visited this campus 2-3 times when we were there at Berkeley.  Every time we visited, I used to notice this tall tower.  I went inside once and saw the famous musical instrument.  The students play the organ twice a day, once at 12 pm and then at 6 pm.  No, once more in the early morning, it seems! I missed it by a few minutes but still went up and viewed the surrounding areas through the top floor (7th floor) of this tower.  We have to climb a few steps to reach the top after going by the lift upto the 7th floor, if I remember correctly. Some interesting details of the tower:

It was completed in 1914 and first opened to the public in 1917. The tower stands 307 feet (93.6 m) tall, making it the third tallest bell and clock-tower in the world. It was designed by John Galen Howard, founder of the College of Environmental Design and it marks a secondary axis in his original Beaux-Arts   campus plan. Since then, it has been a major point of orientation in almost every campus master plan. The tower has seven floors, with an observation deck on the eighth floor. Some floors are used to store fossils.
For more details, read the wiki link here.

Very old type of machine for the clock which is still going strong!

I was fascinated by this clock tower and so more details for you!
View from the tower!
I think I will write about the very old sculpture of the Football players which attracted our attention, as soon as we entered the University.  This post is about the view of the parent.  Everything was new for us! Children who are studying here are very lucky! My son and now my grand niece are among them!

More than 100 year old sculpture which is called 'Football players'
The Wiki says: "The Football Players" was created in the mid-1890s by Douglas Tilden, a prominent artist with many connections to Berkeley. Tilden was deaf and, as a child, came to live at the California School for the Deaf, which used to be located on the grounds where the Clark Kerr Campus stands today.

One more attraction here was the famous Berkeley University squirrels! We went inside the campus and were waiting for my grand niece.  Suddenly I heard some sound from behind us...we were sitting on a tree trunk.  We turned around and saw one man making sounds with his lips and talking to someone in a false voice or say, like we talk to our children! We saw that nobody was there.  Then he asked us to turn around...we did so reluctantly and then we saw them...the squirrels! They were climbing up his body and were perching on his shoulders and taking something from his fingers! As you know we are hard core animal lovers.  When I saw him for the first time, I told my husband that he is talking like Robin Williams  who is a very good mimic (my favourite).  He gave us some almond bars and asked us to feed them.  The bars were organic, he said.  I decided then and there that I would bring the bars next time and feed them and did so later.  He loved his squirrel babies, I could see! He must be doing this everyday, I felt.  

Now, to the squirrels:




Husband is feeding the famous Berkeley squirrel! This one was sitting on his lap and eating, later! They are used to humans, I am sure!

The height of enjoyment on that day was, my grand niece's thayir saadam (curd rice) which we had missed during our trip!


She had prepared the curd rice not only with curd but with lots of love, we could feel/taste it!
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15 comments :

SG said...

Thanks for sharing these beautiful photos. We used to live 2 miles from UC Berkeley.

Sandhya said...

SG: Great! I liked the place. Visited Tilden Park too...but it was very dry. Thanks for the first comment, SG!

Destination Infinity said...

The tower looks good and the bells are huge. I guess the squirrels are larger there, than here. I can also go and study there sometime, but they should not ask me to write or pass any exams :P

Destination Infinity

Wini said...

haha maami! :D The thair saadham was a little more undercooked than I would have liked it to be, but I guess I was trying to hurry up to meet you! :)

I think of you and maama everytime I see these squirrels do something. They have started to follow some people on campus and it is hilarious to watch!

Please come again for my graduation! :D

Zephyr said...

I just love your travel posts, Sandhya. They are so full of exuberance and genuine joy at even the smallest thing, as in the case of the squirrel and thayir saadam :)

The clock tower is awesome, no wonder you loved it.

Sandhya said...

DESTINATION INFINITY: The squirrels are bigger in size without the three stripes on their backs! Lord Rama didn't bless them with the stripes!

So many branches for studying anything and everything are there. You can study at any age, D.I.


Wini: I still remember the taste, Ashwini! I keep reading about the squirrels which are visible in my fb page too! They are very friendly.


ZEPHYR: Thank you, Zephyr! I am honoured!

Sharada said...

Excellent writing mami, I am familiar with most of these Things through Ashwini and Skype..thanks to Ashwini.. I have heard the music of that bell...I am sure that the Thair Saatham at that time would have been like Amrutham for you both.:)enjoyed reading.

Bikramjit Singh Mann said...

beautiful pics.. enjoyed the ride with you :)

thank you so much ..


Bikram's

Onkar said...

Beautiful photographs and nice account

Locomente said...

Thanks for sharing these beautiful pics.. And loved the descriptions... Pic of curd rice was perfect to be the last one!

Sandhya said...

Sharada: I know! Everything over there will be very familiar to you when you visit Ashwini in the campus next year! Yes, the thayir saadam was devamrutham...We never expected to finish off so much at one go, but we did! The boxes were quite huge!


BIKRAMJIT SINGH MANN: Thank you, Bikram!


ONKAR: Thank you, Onkar!


LOCO MENTE: You are right! The thayir saadam was the best memory for us. That is why I included it in my post! Thank you!


Rama Ananth said...

Beautiful pictures and written so well giving us so many little, little details. I am sure there are many more things you would like to share with us through your posts. Good old tair sadam must hae been wonderful in such a surrounding.

Joseph Pulikotil said...

Hello,

Lovely photos and very informative post. I was fascinated by the squirrels. They are adorable. I hope they won't bite.

Best wishes

Jeevan said...

Stunning clock tower and amazing the mechanism still in use. I also enjoyed the instrument played and it looks like older time piano/keyboard. Interesting to note about the Berkeley squirrels... never know they are famous ones. Nice photos and i love the feeding squirrel

Sandhya said...

sm: Thank you, sm!


RAMA ANANTH: Yes, so many interesting anecdotes are there at the places we visited in the U.S. Yes, thayir saadam was very good after having breads and cheeses most of the time!


JOSEPH PULIKOTIL: Thank you, Joseph! Berkeley squirrels are famous for mingling with humans, I was told. They were very friendly with us and never seemed to touch us with their teeth!!!


JEEVAN: I have got some more photos of the clock's machines! It was interesting! The sound of the instrument was very pleasant. Happy to know that you enjoyed this post along with the information about squirrels. They are a bit larger than our squirrels and no 3 Rama's fingerprints (3 stripes) on their backs!

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