A Silverlake Stair-Climb

When I lived in Berkeley, Leslie (a friend from law school) and I were neighbors and we used to take hikes together sometimes up in the hills above campus.  The Berkeley hills are spotted with secret staircases that wind between the houses and I used to love discovering a new staircase and a beautiful view.  Leslie lives in Silverlake now, and I went out to visit her on Saturday and we planned a staircase hike up in the Silverlake hills, just like in the old days.  It was a gorgeous, sunny walk with some really cool houses (and some random Moorish ones...unclear) and beautiful gardens along the way.

I loved all the cactus gardens!  Before moving down here, I never thought cacti could be so beautiful.  I'm now a cacti convert.

And the Azeleas!  The hedges were out of control.  It really was just like the Berkeley hills, where gardens are more like jungles and every surface is covered in climbing vines.

And the best part of a stair-climb is, of course, the view.

And then we came back to Leslie's apartment and had a glass of wine on her porch while we watched the sun sink behind the skyline.

And then there was the part where we made this cake from the Pioneer Woman (remember when I raved about her recipes?), and accidentally caused her oven to erupt in flames and her apartment to fill with smoke....In any case, the cake was delish!  Too bad the firemen didn't want to stay for a slice.  I can't imagine why not.