Throughout my trip a lot of people told me that I was going to love San Diego, and you know what? The were right, as the city by the border put on a great week for me.
Straight away, there was something to do in San Diego, as the December Nights festival happened to be on that weekend. The annual event in Balboa Park is a Christmas haven as the usually quiet botanical gardens were filled with people, food stands and carnival rides.There was an incredible amount of people walking through the park, and I think I under estimated how fortunate I was to be in town that particular weekend, as it seemed to be a pretty big deal. As an added bonus, the parks museums were open late for everyone to walk through. Afterwards, I explored the Gaslamp Quarter, which is the social hub of downtown San Diego with bars, restaurants and clubs to suit anyones taste. Thanks to the night before, Saturday morning started slowly by the bay, as downtown San Diego is situated on the water, and the sunny December day was perfect to walk along the marina. It was hard to believe that it was the first week of winter, as all throughout the week the weather stayed in the comfortable mid 20s, making San Diego an easy place live. Headed just inland to Little Italy, the monthly farmers market was full of dogs and hipsters, as traders offered up an array of foods, including Cannoli’s which were delicious. With so much going on in San Diego, my Sunday could have been spent doing a number of different activities, however Sunday is always football day.
One thing I’ve really appreciated since being in the US is the sporting rivalry between complete strangers. For example, on Friday I was wearing my Arizona t-shirt, as the Wildcats were playing off in the Pac-12 Championship that night, and as I walked through downtown SD, people would either tell me to “Bear Down” or yell “Go Devils”. This continued on Sunday, as my patriots were in town to take on the Chargers, and despite being an away game, there were New England fans everywhere. After whats become a traditional pre-game pepperoni slice, I travelled north of the city center and again enjoyed the friendly banter between fans. And that’s all it is, whilst fans are deeply loyal and devoted to their team, anything said personal or not, comes with no malice just with a love of sport. After a shaky start, the Patriots went on to win again, and my incredible seat just above the end zone provided the perfect viewing area to enjoy the win. After such a busy weekend, you think I’d take Monday a bit more slowly, however that was not the case.
Once again, the weather was perfect so I headed to Old Town in the north-west (not the famous child) San Diego. Old Town embraces the heavy Mexican influence on San Diego, as the city lies very close to the border, so walking through the outskirts of Old Town, you would be forgiven for mistaking it for Tijuana. Walking through Old Town is like a trip through time, as it winds back the clock to how it was some 100 years ago, with museums show casing San Diego’s first bank, hotel and court-house. Headed back downtown, I wanted to check out Balboa Park without all the people and rides which turned out to be a great decision as it meant I got to go through places like The San Diego Hall of Champions and The Science Center without the screaming kids. My last day in San Diego was easily my favourite, as I took advantage of the weather and headed to the beach. After a bit of a hike and following surfers through tracks and bush land, I eventually ended up at Sunset Cliff beach and had a very hard day of swimming and falling asleep in the sun (yes mum, I wore sunscreen). If you haven’t picked it yet, I couldn’t get over the fact that it was considered winter, as it even though I was some 13,000 kilometers away, it felt very much of all the summers I spent down at Phillip Island growing up, which got me very excited for the Australian summer that awaited me.
It’s strange how so many people I just met knew I would love San Diego but I really did love my week here, from spending a day at the beach and watching my second Patriots game, all the way to just walking through Balboa Park or along the marina. But all good things must come to an end as I make my way to the City of Angels. You stay classy San Diego.
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