Differently from my previous return trip to the US last July, this time I did not have any change of plan and I left on September 12 as scheduled.

As I wrote in one previous post, I had already made arrangements for the new accommodation before going back to Italy, in August: my recent experience suggested that I should be cautious, but this time I was pretty confident that I would have no bad surprises. And fortunately that was the case: my cottage was there, just waiting for me! My new accommodation is really nice: basically it is a studio located in the garden of the main house. Thus, I can couple the advantages of living alone with the possibility of asking for help to the landlord, should I have some necessity. By the way, Sidney, the landlord, is really a kind and easygoing person, and I am sure that I will get along well with her.

By the way, one room in the main house is rented to an Italian girl, Silvia, who indeed is indirectly the “reason” why I am here: it was her who wrote on the “Italians in Berkeley” group on facebook that Sidney was looking for a new tenant for her cottage. Even if the price was quite above my budget (although absolutely honest both considering the apartment per se and the East Bay cost of living), the solution appeared perfect, so I did not lose time and I immediately wrote to Sidney: I really had the vital goal of finding a good accommodation for the last months in the States. Literally four hours before taking the plane, I came to give a look at the house and… well, now I am here 🙂

I attach the photos of the announcement, plus a couple of additional pictures taken by me (which already show a bit of mess: just ignore it! 🙂 )

The house is located in a very nice and quiet neighborhood, just next to Berkeley’s hills and not far from the Campus. I am quite close to my previous apartments, indeed. More precisely, my new neighborhood is called Claremont, while the previous one was Elmwood (which is precisely “below” Claremont).

Here you can find some photos: the house is a bit hidden by vegetation, but never mind!

 

Just above the house there is a viewpoint from which San Francisco’s skyline can be seen. Unfortuantely I have not been able to take a good picture up to now, but as soon as I manage to do that – especially if I get one day with no haze 🙂 – I will add the photo!

So, apparently this time everything is fine: it was really important for me to find a proper accommodation with no further hitches for the last months here in California!