Trip to San Diego 2019

By Hugo Belin

June 29, 2020

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

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 Modern

Downtown San Diego

After checking the downtown area for a bit is time to head out to 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

Visiting the Botanical Building and Lily Pond is a must if you’re in Balboa Park

Botanical Garden

Interior of Botanical Garden

Not animal trophy

Lily Pond

Balboa Park

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

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

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

More of La Jolla

Puesto La Jolla

Ellen Browning Scripps Park

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