From San Diego with Love

San Diego

No recipe this time, friends. I’ll be honest – I’ve given myself a short break from cooking up a storm on a daily basis. That break is much needed these days. But it is temporary and food will come back to this blog.

This time I want to take you on a trip to one of California’s most beautiful cities, San Diego, bordering Mexico. It is about 2 hours of driving from Long Beach.  We drove there a couple of weeks ago on a nice, sunny day. The plan was to meet up with friends and take the kids to the famous San Diego Zoo. We met with the friends, but the plans changed. We went sightseeing in the city, instead of going to the zoo.

First on our agenda was San Diego Seaport Village – a fabulous waterfront shopping, dining, and recreation complex. Then we drove to the Historic Old Town San Diego –  little Mexico, an amazing place filled with history everywhere you turn. There is something for everybody to enjoy there – museums, authentic Mexican restaurants, mariachis, galleries, shops that sell everything from San Diego souvenirs to Mexican sombreros. If you plan to go to San Diego – this is the place to see first and foremost. There are many other places to see in San Diego as well but we didn’t have a chance to see them all. They are on our next trip’s agenda though.

You can find a lot written about San Diego and its places of interest on the internet. I do not want to dwell on much details – rather, I want you to enjoy the pictures I took during our brief stay in this fabulous city.

Let’s begin. I snapped that very first photo from the car as we we drove on a San Diego highway to the Old City. On the go photography worked pretty well, don’t you think?

Marina in San Diego’s Seaport Village.

Ocean souvenirs for sale in Seaport Village.

I just had to take their picture. Everybody stopped to watch these colorful pals fight then make up.

Amazing colors!

San Diego as seen from our hotel room.

While strolling on a coastal paradise.

San Diego downtown as seen from the car.

Soft sand and breathtaking vistas along the coast.

A very creative store name.

The table was set with all the necessary tools to read one’s fortune, but the psychic reader was nowhere to be seen around.

In full bloom.

Historic Old Town of San Diego. We felt like we were transplanted to Mexico. Old Town is considered the birthplace of California. This is where the first Spaniards came in the 16th century and settled afterwards.

Mexican store named after Frida Kahlo in Old Town.

Handmade Mexican pottery. Colors everywhere! This is the beauty of Mexican culture.

Inside a Mexican restaurant we had our dinner at.

This is what most from our group ordered for dinner – beef fajitas. I went with Mexican seafood soup – muy delicioso!

California-grown olives.

Nice looking band.

Chili peppered-cupboard.

This is a sign at the entrance to a store that sells ingredients which, as they claim, will put your tongue on fire.

A lovely band entertaining restaurant guests (we were just passing by).

A board that talks about California cuisine.

Everything in Old Town has an authentic flair to it.

The poster in the picture sums it up.

Meltem with a romantic violin player.

Mexican women kneading the dough, rolling it, and making bread.

This singer was not wearing a sombrero when I approached the stage to take his picture, but he put it on immediately for me, so that my picture turned out authentic:) Muchas gracias!

Sneaking into a tortilla making booth.

Mexican sombreros!

Handmade candles displayed in numbers in a candle shop.

Casa de Estudillo. This is a house where José Antonio Estudillo, a treasurer and revenue collector lived with his 11 children.

A restaurant in which patrons can wear sombreros for that authentic Mexican touch.

Hasta luego, amigos!

****

More about  Old Town San Diego and other places of interest:

www.carolmendelmaps.com/walking-tours/old-town
www.oldtownsandiegoguide.com
www.oldtownsandiego.org
www.sandiego.org/nav/visitors/whattodo

18 Comments

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  1. Beautiful pictures Feride! Reminds me of the time when were in San Diego back in 2009. We loved the port area and the border into Mexico! The border is something to experience. The only thing I did not like was the weather, it was very cloudy. Next if we do visit, I hope to travel up north San Fran and Sacramento!..xo..Aysegul

  2. Beautiful pictures, Feride. New places and scenes…
    Thank you.
    I’m looking for your recipes.
    See you.

  3. Iam so happy that u like my city San Diego and my culture iam mexican and my husband from Azerbaijan = ) saludos y que viva Mexico !!!!

  4. Feride, glad you got some break and indeed beautiful time in San Diego. Thanks for sharing. Get some rest and we are looking forward to delicious recipes.

    Viridiana, not sure if you will read this, but so happy to hear your husband is from Azerbaijan, normally they are not open-minded enough to marry other cultures. Wishing your family much happiness!

  5. So much beauty in this city! Enjoy!

  6. Feride! Cool pics! I love San Diego. That’s where I got married! Great memories. 🙂

    Hi Viridiana! yo tambien so mexicana de California y mi esposo tambien es de ese pais. Estas en facebook?

  7. I live in San Diego; it’s always interesting to see my Home Town through a visitor’s eyes. Glad we had such nice weather while you were here.

  8. I am in San diego, let’s meet!

    Deepa

  9. AYSEGUL – Next time you visit CA, please come to Long Beach first:)

    SARE – Glad you like it. There will be new recipes.

    VIRIDIANA – Que bueno! Wishing you happiness! Cook lots o Azerbaijani food for your man – they love homemade:)))

    ASMAR – I am trying to get rest, but really there is only rest when I sleep:)

    CYNTHIA – Glad you like them.

    ACUZENA – come to Long Beach for your anniversary!

    CC – It was nice indeed. And beautiful city. Loved it!

    DEEPA – I didn’t know you were there. I would make sure to met you. Any plans to come to Los Angeles area? Would love to see you!

  10. Lovely pictures ~ thanks so much for the tour.
    Keeping up a food blog is a tremendous obligation ~ you do all the work and we reap all the benefits ~ I’d much rather see you post once or twice a week and continue to enjoy your hard work and expertise, than have you shut down this wonderful site because it became overwhelming.
    Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed today’s post ~ because of you I got to tour a beautiful part of your country that I would never have seen otherwise.~ once again you did all the work and we enjoyed the benefits. Thanks so much for sharing.

  11. Beautiful pictures Feride! I’ve never been to San Diego but looks like a great place to visit

  12. Beautiful pics, Feride, thank you.

  13. BARBARA – Glad you liked the photos. Thank you for your support too – it means a world to me.

    ROXANA – Thank you:)

    ZARINA – Thank you, too:)

  14. I am very grateful to you for having this blog. You inspired me to cook. This blog is a big motivation for me. The pictures that you shared are just amazing.

    Thank you very much….
    I do not know you in a real life, but you are my Angel , you inspire me a lot..;
    Luvssssssss Hugssssssss

  15. Aziz Farida thanks for sharing!

  16. GUNAY – So glad you enjoy the blog. Thank you for your nice words:)

    NARGES_KH – You are welcome, my lovely friend!

  17. Oh, this brings back memories. I lived in San Diego when I was 10-12 years old. (A long time ago). Such a beautiful spot!

  18. Hi Farida khanum. Thanks for your recipes. I have tried some of them and now I’m going to prepare strawberry whipped cream cake and I believe that I will afford it. And I ask you to give the recipe of julien (which is prepared with chicken, mushroom and Holland cheese).

    Thanks a lot beforehand. By the way, Happy Novruz Holiday

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