and now for something a little lighter

I've been in the Bay Area for about a week now, and let me just say there are some major advantages to living in a large urban area. I thought moving from a small Oregon town of 12,000 to a mid-size Virginia town of about 120,000 was a step up. Oh, I know there are trade-offs and I really do enjoy small town life. But we went to Berkeley Bowl today and I was in heaven.

Of course, dear readers, you know my love for food, so the fact that I fell in love with this amazing market should be no surprise. Over 8,000 square feet of the total 44,000 is devoted exclusively to produce. And this produce section is like none I have ever experienced. They had everything, including the most esoteric item on my list: Sunflower Sprouts. I feel like I could have spent hours roaming the aisles. Oh the meals I could produce! And that was just the produce section, which, incidentally, was flanked by the bulk foods -- including two different types of quinoa and quinoa flakes! There's a whole world of food out there that is calling my name!

Unfortunately my uncle was in his weekly shopping mode so we sped through the rest of the store, but I did get a glimpse of the seafood, meat, and cheese counters (fabulous!) as well as the olive bar and deli. I would have liked to look at the wine section, but that wasn't on our list. (Although it's always on my list!)

The other thing I really like about the Bay Area, and Charlottesville has these to an extent, is the specialty shops: butchers, cheese shops, fish mongers. How sheltered, how devoid of excitement the grocery store in my little Oregon town seems now!