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Trip to San Diego 2019

A short trip to visit for first time San Diego in 2019. Discovered some interesting places that I documented here

A simple, short trip to San Diego. A good opportunity to get to know another nice place from US. Off we go early on Saturday we got a chance to catch the late morning in San Diego, first walk: downtown San Diego, close to Gaslamp Quarter. Doing an initial assessment of the surroundings

Downtown First View
Downtown First View

My initial thought about the city was ‘new meets old’, I had this idea reinforced throughout the trip… new buildings next to old ones over and over. Wild west meets modern California and for the good it seems

Old meets new
Old meets new
Old meets Modern
Old meets Modern (1)
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Downtown San Diego
Downtown San Diego (1)
Downtown San Diego (2)
Downtown San Diego (3)
Downtown San Diego (4)
Downtown San Diego (5)
Downtown San Diego (6)
Downtown San Diego (7)
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After checking the downtown area for a bit is time to head out to Balboa Park

Balboa Park
Balboa Park

Once in Balboa Park we got to experience what it was once Spain’s land. The architecture tells it all, yet there’s more to say that only Spaniard influence, a California feeling I cannot describe

Spanish influence, yet California
Spanish influence, yet California (1)
Spanish influence, yet California (2)
Spanish influence, yet California (3)
Spanish influence, yet California (4)
Spanish influence, yet California (5)
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Spanish influence, yet California (8)
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Visiting the Botanical Building and Lily Pond is a must if you’re in Balboa Park

Botanical Garden
Botanical Garden
Interior of Botanical Garden
Interior of Botanical Garden
Not animal trophy
Not animal trophy
Lily Pond
Lily Pond
Balboa Park
Balboa Park (1)
Balboa Park (2)
Balboa Park (3)
Balboa Park (4)
Balboa Park (5)
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Balboa Park (7)
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Balboa Park (13)
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Another point of interest was the Spanish Village Art Center. A good place for getting souvenirs and themed art. Another example of the remaining influence set by Spaniards in the form of lively colors everywhere. They also had cat paintings! 😻

Spanish Village
Spanish Village (1)
Spanish Village (2)
Spanish Village (3)
Spanish Village (4)
Spanish Village (5)
Spanish Village (6)
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Next day we tried the Hop-On-Hop-Off Trolley Tours. Highly recommended, you can get to know several interesting places without worrying about driving or finding parking. Specially when you don’t plan to stay for a long time in either of those. Starting with Old Town San Diego, then the Unconditional Surrender Statue, a stop in Gaslamp Quarter, another one in Coronado Beach, and finally Little Italy

Hop-On-Hop-Off Tour
Hop-On-Hop-Off Tour (1)
Hop-On-Hop-Off Tour (2)
Hop-On-Hop-Off Tour (3)
Hop-On-Hop-Off Tour (4)
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Next day, La Jolla! The top photo of this post is in La Jolla, such a beautiful place, relaxed, yet not abandoning the city vibe. We got to try this super cool restaurant Puesto La Jolla; you gotta try it out! Vegetarian options were just on point 👌🏻

La Jolla
La Jolla (1)
La Jolla (2)
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More of La Jolla
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Puesto La Jolla
Puesto La Jolla
Ellen Browning Scripps Park
Ellen Browning Scripps Park
They get really close!
They get really close!

Next stop was Cabrillo National Monument, nice view point. Check. Historic Site. Check. A lighthouse. Check! Also a must this place shows the might and ambition of the Spaniards who reached this far as the first country that reached the west coast for first time. From this place you can see Coronado Beach, the Naval Air Station, and even the coast of Tijuana at the very end, see the pictures below

Cabrillo National Monument
Cabrillo National Monument (1)
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Cabrillo Viewpoint
Cabrillo Viewpoint
View to the Pacific
View to the Pacific
Rocky Beach
Rocky Beach

Cabrillo Beach Photos

We also visited Coronado Beach but it was so relaxing that I decided to chill out instead of taking tons of pictures 😉

There are so many things to do, and more that I couldn’t include here like the amazingly vegan restaurants! Definitively on the list to visit again!

Some more pictures of this beautiful place:

More of San Diego
More of San Diego (1)
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Pictures on a map in a viz:

Interactive Tableau embed will return in a future update. See my Tableau Public profile.

Pictures of San SanDiego