On the beach ,,, a day off!

Around noon, on Sunday, we hit the road towards Del Mar on Hwy. 1, stopping on the way in La Jolla, another famous, elegant beach community. Del Mar is about 23 mi. north of San Diego, famous for the Del Mar Horse Races in summer. We easily found our friend's bungalow, only about 3 min. 3 min. walking distance from the beachfront, entered the house and settled in. Since he was traveling on business we had the bungalow for ourselves. The nearby beach, which we explored next, was crowded on this Sunday afternoon, though the water was still cool. We bought a couple of provisions (the area is pretty expensive) and ended the day peacefully on our friend's patio with tomatoes, cheese, dates pistaccios and local beer, surrounded by huge tomato vines, blooming shrubs and growing veggies.

Dense fog again on Monday morning. Caught up with work before driving to Torrey Pines State Reserve, south of Del Mar. Went for a short hike and explored Torrey Pines State Beach - beautiful stones to be found, and, strange living clams (pic). With high cliffs towering above the beach it's a fantastic coastal wilderness of pine forests and sandstone canyons! Just wished, the weather would have been better, but, on the other hand, it had its charm, too, with the fog patches swirling in and out.

Later, we went back to "our" beach in Del Mar (pic), but it was too cool outside, and, in the water, to go for a swim. We walked the beach, but didn't find any interesting shells. In the evening we drove to one of the many breweries in the SD area, to Viewpoint Brewing Co. in Del Mar, and had delicious meal of Pork Belly Bites on a bed of fermented carrots and cabbage and fries with parmigiano. Beers (IPAs) were good, but a little on the „dry“, herbal side.

Later, we had a modest sunset, too:

Tuesday morning - after a pretty fitful night - we got up at 6 am and after cleaning out the house and having coffee, we drove to the airport, which only took us about 30 min. Car return was quick, too, and at 7:30 am we were already at the gate. Plane to San Fran was on time, we even had an empty seat inbetween us, but this flight only tookk a little over an hour . The Dreamliner (B-787) back to MUC started about 50 Min. delayed and was packed, jam-packed. Landed over 30 min. late in MUC and it took us 2:45 hours to get home from the airport by public transport.

San Diego - part 2

The fam tour ended on Sunday morning and the bus dropped us at the car rental center at the airport, where we picked up our AVIS car, this time a nice, big, new Ford Escape (pic), much better than the one we got in Palm Springs! Glad to be on our own now. And, the sun was shining for a change!
First thing, we drove to Seaport Village , had coffee and a cupcake, and visited the famous statue of the "Kissing Sailor".

Then on to Balboa Park, which was deleted from the program yesterday. It's such a fantastic conglomeration of historic buildings and museums that it would have been a shame not to visit again. Balboa Park was originally called "City Park," but was renamed after Spanish explorer for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. In addition to open space and gardens, it contains museums, theaters, and the Zoo. Balboa Park not only hosted the 1915–16 Panama–California Exposition but also the 1935–36 California Pacific International Exposition and both left architectural landmarks, mostly in the lavish Spanish Colonial Revival style. We ended the afternoon at a gorgeous pottery market of the SD Potters' Guild, very tasteful, creative and not-at-all expensive pottery.

Go Padres!

Friday, around noon, we arrived in San Diego, a short drive from Temecula, and had (Mexican) lunch (pics below) in Old Town San Diego first before exploring the neighborhood. Old Town is the historic heart of the city, created in 1769, California’s first settlement with only a mission and a fort. Besides food, folklore, and fun, there is history in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, old buildings and exhibitions.

Afterwards we checked into our two hotels, one at Mission Bay (The Bahia Resort, where we stayed), one on Shelter Island (Kona Kai) and got ready for the baseball game of the Padres in the evening. This was a lot of fun, especially since we were sitting in a luxury suite and had full service, food and drinks, there. Before the game we had a tour through Petco Stadium and, following the reputation of San Diego of being the "craft beer capital" of the U.S., there were a couple of dozens of vendors, pouring brews from different breweries. Unfortunately, had to leave early and didn't see the Padres win anymore, also, the Gaslamp District entertainment was skipped from the itinerary and we were driven "home" around 9 pm.


Next morning: Hotel del Coronado, "The Del", for a tour and a great breakfast. This rare wooden Victorian beach resort is considered one of the "Grande Dame" in the hotel business. When it opened in 1888, it was the single largest resort hotel in the world and has hosted presidents, royalty, and celebrities through the years. Also, it was featured in numerous movies and books.

On to the San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park, now in bright sunshine, and, packed on a weekend! It's a gigantic, state-of-the-art zoo,cooperating with Safari Park. It was a pioneer in the concept of open-air, cageless exhibits that and natural animal habitats. We were on a trolley tour first, including "feeding the giraffes" and behind-the-scene at the elephants, and explored on our own afterwards. What not many people know, is the role of the zoo as a botanical garden at the same time. Took pictures of a couple of the beautiful flowers and shrubs.