San Diego, CA

Disclaimer: I have not yet visited San Francisco, which is so praised by any soul that ever walked its streets. Therefore, to me for now, San Diego is my favorite city in California, especially after I have been crudely disappointed by LA. It has an old European architecture, people are more relaxed, the beaches are nice and the harbors have restaurants or attractions that are used for promenade not only army and industry.

To this point life in this city was more as a vacation... and I had the chance to behave like a tourist. What did I learn from my expedition? San Diego is totally different, depending on what part of it you are.

I discovered Ocean Beach, the hippie neighborhood, which amazingly don't bother me at all! They are a little unwashed, but nicely colored, and enjoy all benefits of laid back life, have most of the time an animal companion, set up bone fires on the beach, play the guitar under the stars, eat health and love yoga... A! Yeah, there are also surfers... This neighborhood has the longest pier on the West Coast (601m). Also here you'll find Newport Ave – a strip full of bars, restaurants, antique stores and a typical Southern Cal atmosphere. Sunsets are spectacular every night.

Old Town is in fact the first settlement in the developing of San Diego, in 1850s. Today is some sort of village museum transformed into a touristy neighborhood, enriched with Mexican restaurants, old houses and wild wild west stores, where attendants are dressed like 150 years ago. Everything looks very authentic, Mexican music can be heard at every step and they say that the Mexican food here is the best that can be found out of Mexico.

After the (obviously!) Mexican lunch I took the Old Town Trolley which in my opinion is the best guided tour of San Diego. It takes you to the main attractions, you can get off at each stop, explore and when you finish, jump in the next trolley and continue the tour. The driver is also the tour guide who's telling stories to the passengers, the wind goes to your hair all day, and at night you're brought back from where you left. The tour goes from Old Town - the harbor - Seaport Village (one of my favorite places in SD) - Coronado island (where lays the historic Hotel del Coronado, and the beach is considered one of the most beautiful in US) - Gaslamp district (the old downtown, transformed into the epicenter of joy and fun) - Balboa Park.

Seaport Village is one of my favorite places in San Diego. It is actually a mix of restaurants and souvenirs stores in a park, where you can admire the ocean, walk on alleys, and take memorable pictures of the bay, the bridge, and the island.

Coronado is tied to the city through a magnificent long bridge (3,407m) that crosses the bay and shortens the trip to the other side. One half of the island (actually the peak of a peninsula) is the home of a residential neighborhood, and the other half the home of the American Navy. But what attracts the tourists there is the symbol of the island – Hotel del Coronado. At its inauguration in 1888 this was the largest hotel in world. Today, it is considered the oldest, still standing and functioning, totally wooden built hotel in all North America.

Gaslamp district is in downtown. I tested a few bars and restaurants, and all surpassed my expectations, in terms of design and ingeniousity, given the fact that we are in US. I already discovered my favorite place - Café Sevilla - a place with authentic tapas, flamenco shows and gypsy Spanish guitar. I recommended cheese fondue á la Spanish/Mexican mixed with mushrooms and garlic! Another nice place is Altitude - the bar set on top of the Marriott hotel, at the 22 floor, where you can see the spectacular lights of the city (something like MNAC, not La Motoare).

Balboa Park seems to be bigger than the Central Park in New York (1200 acres), only that the vegetation is affected by the local desert climate. It was planted in 1915 for the Panama - California exposition (something like the World Expo from Paris in 1900). The city got then the most important lifting in history and rose from the status of Mexican village to city, attraction and destination. The park hosts most of San Diego's museums, from aviation to art and sciences. The park has also botanical gardens, a theater and some sort of open air concert hall (the Spreckels Organ Pavilion) where every Sunday, rain or shine, at 2pm takes place a free classical concert. This Spreckels donated the impressive organ, with the highest tube in the world, to the city with the condition that the municipality to present one concert every week, on the day and time indicated by him.

San Diego Zoo is world renowned especially for it extensive research work, as well as the high standard conditions the animals live in. It was also established due to the Panama – California exposition. Soon after the exhibit ended, a series of animals were left behind, with no one to take care of them. This is when Dr. Harry Wegeforth decided to take care of these animals and keep them into one place. One thing led to another, and today the Zoo represents one of the most prestigious of its kind on a global level.

The Wild Animal Park is part of the San Diego Zoo as well, only that it is situated in the canyon of Escondido, 35 miles north of the city. It is home for many endangered animals from all continents. This is were I learned to beat my fear of free-ranged enclosures when it comes to wild animals - they seem to live in an open land with no fences, and look like they are able to walk free whenever they want, right before they could step out humans have built deep ditches which horrifies them and keeps them at a pleasant distance from visitors. Another attraction of the park is the night safari which from where I stand looks like camping at the zoo - you're still not allowed to interact with the animal, but you get to see them more active over the dark.

Sea World is the famous water park that attracts millions of visitors to the Mission Bay every year for its shows, marine life exhibits and educational programs developed there. Main attraction in the San Diego park is the Shamu – killer whales show which entertain visitors and splashes them on occasions. I learned is best to go there on a day with full sunny sky for the best experience. Along with the pretty Orcas, my favorites are also the Beluga whales.

La Jolla is the jewel of San Diego, found at 20 minutes north of the city. It gave me the impression I was back in Monaco, only that the stores don't have the glow of the European fashion. I spent a day on the beach there, where the highlight turned out to be the monk seals sun bathing on the shores, the seagulls and... pelicans, which seem to be typical on the West Cost!