Contra Costa Times

The stereotype of UC Berkeley has nothing to do with quiet.

It has to do with the noise of Sproul Plaza on a sun-soaked afternoon: people leafleting, a hip-hop club boombox beating out tunes, students protesting something or other, "What do we want? (You name it.) When do we want it? Now!!!!"

But the campus has plenty of hushed, contemplative spots open to the public, each perfect for a day of doing nothing. And that's the recommendation: that readers schedule an afternoon to wander around one of the nation's best public universities.

There is a cluster of imposing redwood trees near Faculty Glade between Morrison and Stephens halls. A bench beckons near the water -- one of the three forks of Strawberry Creek on campus. Across the glade, order a buffet lunch at The Faculty Club. UC Berkeley architect Bernard Maybeck designed the Great Hall in Craftsman style, and people dine under the watchful eye of a big stuffed moose head. On cold days, there's a fire in the hearth.

Everyone who has set foot on UC Berkeley's campus has either seen or heard The Campanile, which towers over the campus and produces thrice daily concerts with its 61-bell carillon. But a surprising number of people -- even students -- have never taken the short elevator ride to the top to see the 360-degree view of the San Francisco Bay area. When the bells aren't ringing, it's quiet up that high -- and inspiring, with a distant vista of the Golden Gate Bridge.

"You can see why they picked this spot to build the UC," Cal spokeswoman Marie Felde said. "It looks through the gate to the rest of the world."

Not much farther up the hill is the Hearst Memorial Mining Building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The building it's worth stopping by to see the green metal framework, a sort of exposed skeleton, as well as the vaulted ceiling's round, skylight domes. The entire thing now sits on base isolators, which allow it to move separately from the earth in the event of an earthquake. So it's not only quiet, it's safe.

It's not just the utter stillness of the Morrison Library, located inside the Doe Library, that makes it a shoo-in for hiding out with a good book. It's the leather chairs, oil paintings, Persian rugs, wood-paneled walls, muted lamps and Malby's Terrestrial Globe circa 1869 in the back. A whole bookshelf of Lonely Planet Guides suggests dreaming up a trip to Bolivia or Tuscany.

Outside the doors, a bronze sculpture of Mark Twain sitting on a bench with his arm draped across the back, begs people to sit down and look as if they're his old friends.

Upon entering campus, Karen Silberg of Ithaca, N.Y., and a friend immediately were drawn to the Eucalyptus Grove west of the new Valley Life Sciences Building and began snapping pictures.

"These trees look so unique," she said. And, of course, they smell so good. A fallen tree, trimmed of its branches, serves as a very long bench where people can sit and hear the wind in the trees mixed with only the faint sound of cars passing by on Oxford Street.

Ishi Court, a hidden courtyard inside Dwinelle Hall was named after an American Indian brought to live at the UC Berkeley Museum of Anthropology in the early 20th century.

"I have been known to come here and take a nap," said Felde.

In the UC Berkeley Art Museum tables in some exhibit rooms invite people to sit down and read. Upstairs there are works by Mark Rothko, Joan Miro, Jackson Pollock and Philip Guston. One exhibit, called "The Garden," is a collection of eastern and western art that "emerge from historical Buddhist traditions or simply lend themselves to meditative reflection," according to the museum.

If the doors to the Hearst Greek Theatre on the eastern edge of the main campus are open, you can climb the stairs to the grassy field above the concrete amphitheater -- which regularly features commencements and appearances by famous folks from Bob Dylan to Janet Reno. Catch views of the Bay up there as the acoustics carry a whisper on stage to the far reaches of the theater. Caterina Fuster and Maximiliano Lopez of Chile made it a stop on their visit to California.

"We hear about the theater and we want to know it," Fuster said. "It was so quiet."

The Botanical Garden requires a short drive up Stadium Rim Way and Centennial Drive. Past the "Africa Area" and the "New World Desert" section is a sign for Asia. A small path leads down to a Japanese pool teeming with California newts and featuring a small waterfall.

Directly across the street is Mather Grove, filled with coast redwoods planted in the 1930s. It has a small wood amphitheater that is sometimes used for story telling. It's a great place for a walk.