a day of mexican food and colour, beach decadence and beautiful weather once again proved why san diego is such an amazing place to spend summer!
the city from the san diego-coronado bridge.
starting the day with two golden friendly faces, we woke early and left the house. we decided to see more of the city, and decided a hop-on hop-off trolley car was probably a good way to see it all. it stopped at a number of different sights and interest points of the city. here, you can choose to hop off and explore or go on to the next place. buses come every 30 minutes to pick up those who want to hop back on and go to another area. we explored a saturday market set up in old town before starting the tour.
quite a few areas we had already been to the previous day, or had little interest in going to. however, we crossed the bridge out of san diego and went to coronado island. the blue skies, white sand and expensive people were just too appealing to pass up! we spent our time at the hotel del coronado, a beautiful beachfront luxury hotel. some of you may know the location from 'some like it hot', starring marilyn monroe. the place oozed wealth- as we sat on the deck of the hotel for lunch, we overlooked the beach, whilst simultaneously doing a serious amount of people watching. after a walk through the hotel, seeing a number of brides, (one with sunglasses being ushered by about 5 family members as she had a panic attack about the big day) and exploring, we decided that the hotel wasn't quite to our standard and we might just hop back on the trolley car.
the other location we stopped at was balboa park. a casual 1,200 acres, it contains a number of attractions including the famous san diego zoo. the park was a step above the rest, with beautifully kept gardens and incredible architecture. once again, the brides were in full swing, being photographed amongst the gardens. back lit. with no fill flash. i cringe at the thought of it! we left balboa, and headed back to old town, where we had initially begun the tour.
with old town being just a 20 minute drive from tijuana, mexico, the countries influence became instantly obvious when we stepped into the area. traces of día de los muertos were everywhere, with frida kahlo and sugar skulls. the architecture in the area reflected that of mexico's. having studied kahlo extensively and loving the colours, i was in complete heaven in the old town, and spent a few hours sauntering before hunger set in.
we spent the evening having dinner at cafe coyote- a mexican restaurant right in the heart of old town. paired with big margaritas, we were approached by two men with guitars who serenaded us whilst we ate and drank. finally, we headed to a shopping center (slightly buzzed on margaritas) to pick up some things before heading home.
