Social Events

Socials are scheduled for Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings and their cost is included as part of the registration package. The Tuesday social is in conjunction with the poster session at the Foothill Dorms. The Thursday social, "Plants, People and Wines of the World" will be held at the University's botanical gardens; we ask participants to bring a bottle or two of wine from their country in order to make it a truly international wine-tasting event. A final dinner party will be held Friday night at the Faculty club on the Berkeley campus. This old wooden building will add a quaint homey atmosphere to the party and the menu, which includes Pacific salmon or prime rib of beef with California wine, will ensure a good time for all.

There will be a display of photographs of current and historical mycorrhizal researchers from around the world. These will eventually be incorporated onto the ICOM web page. If you have photos to contribute please send them to:

Local Interest

Berkeley is an eclectic city located on the east side of San Francisco Bay. It contains a wealth of good restaurants, small cafes, bookstores, brew pubs and street merchants. Telegraph Avenue is famous for its 1960's atmosphere and the Berkeley marina, located about a mile and a half from campus, provides the longest fishing pier on San Francisco Bay.

Downtown San Francisco is a 25 minute train ride away from the UC Berkeley campus. Chinatown, Fishermen's Wharf, Golden Gate Park and the Cliff house are a few of the many well known tourist attractions. The city also contains a wealth of museums, shops, restaurants and scenic walks.

The University of California at Berkeley is a large and beautifully landscaped campus with many serene wooded groves and meandering creeks. The East Bay Hills rise to over 300 m behind the campus and offer panoramic views of San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. The University's Botanical Garden is located in Strawberry Canyon within walking distance of the campus; the collection contains plants from around the world.

Marin County, a half hour drive from Berkeley, offers beautiful beaches on the Pacific Ocean, redwood forests, mountain vistas, great bird watching and miles of hiking trails all reached within an hour's drive of Berkeley. Many of our mid-conference field trips will be in these areas. Slightly further to the north is California's best known wine country, the Napa and Sonoma valleys.

Within a three to five hour's drive are the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite National Park, the Monterey Peninsula, Big Sur, Redwood State and National Parks, and many other famous California sights.

Weather

The close proximity of the Pacific Ocean creates a very mild and predictable summer climate in Berkeley. A typical August day starts off cool and overcast, becomes sunny and warm by mid-day, and returns to cool and overcast by night. Rain is extremely rare. A light jacket or sweater is often useful at the end of the day. If you are going on the excursions to the coast be prepared for cool weather. The coast is usually foggy and windy at this time of year. If you are going on the wine country tour expect very hot dry weather in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys. Trips to the Sierras will also involve extremes of hot days and cold nights.
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ICOM 1
Last updated: Friday March 22 1996