California Sunset

We have planned first to visit the San Diego Zoo but it was to expensive in our opinion, so we decided to visit other interesting things close by in the Balboa Park.

The San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California is one of the largest, most progressive zoos in the world with over 4,000 animals of more than 800 species. It is also one of the few zoos in the world that houses the giant panda.[1] It is privately operated by the nonprofit Zoological Society of San Diego on 100 acres (0.40 km2) of parkland leased from the City of San Diego, and ownership of all animals, equipment and other assets rests with the City of San Diego.

The airplanes come very close over the houses into the airport

San Diego International is the busiest single-runway commercial service airport in the United States, and second in the world, with approximately 600 departures and arrivals carrying 50,000 passengers each day, and a total of 18.3 million passengers in 2007.

Welcome to Balboa Park - the nation's largest urban cultural park. Home to 15 major museums, renowned performing arts venues, beautiful gardens and the San Diego Zoo, the Park has an ever-changing calendar of museum exhibitions, plays, musicals, concerts, and classes—all in the beautiful and timeless setting of this must-see San Diego attraction.

Very beautiful architecture in the Balboa Park

A lot of interesting museums are waiting to be discovered

Another museum we went , I even don't know the name anymore

In the Balboa Park were also pretty gardens with more pretty fountains

And lot of blooming "Bird of paradise" flowers

Located beneath the ornate 200-foot California Tower, the San Diego Museum of Man is the city’s only museum devoted to anthropology. With its Spanish colonial and mission style architecture, the landmark building was originally constructed for the 1915–16 Panama-California Exposition. Today, a key focus of the museum is to create and display dynamic and educational anthropological exhibits about people and places throughout the Americas and around the world.

This is the "NikkiGator" - a sculptur from the French artist Nikki-de-Saint-Phalle

De Saint Phalle's San Diego works also include the famous Sun God piece on the grounds of UCSD, which first brought the artist notoreity in this area back in 1983. She also has a piece, Coming Together, at the San Diego Convention Center. The artist has public works of art all over the world.

A close up of a fountain in the park

I liked this art work of the sun very much on this gray and cloudy day in San Diego

or this cute looking out of space face - as a decoration on a fence pole

and this cute monkey face too :))

And then we have discovered the Spanish Village of the Art, a special place to spend your time:

The quaint buildings and courtyards were built in 1935 to depict a charming old village in Spain for the second California Pacific International Exposition. This Spanish village in Balboa Park was such a popular and beautiful attraction it was allowed to remain when exposition ended. In 1937 it was reopened as an art center by a group of farsighted and dedicated artists.

During World War II, the US Army used the village for temporary barracks. In 1947, it was reclaimed and restored by the artists. San Diego artists continue to preserve and enhance this historical landmark by adding to its beauty with colorful flowers and unique entryways. It is a favorite location for both professional and amateur photographers.

Today Spanish village Art Center is a thriving community of over 200 artists who share their love of all things art with you. We take pride in our village, studios and galleries and strive to make it an inviting place for you to take a stroll and spend a day with art!

Enjoy the coming close ups and my own sight of view of this pretty place

Baby blue face

A quiet corner to relax...

Flowers everywhere...

Colorful spots and corners...

One surf hotspot is Cardiff Reef, located alongside Historic Highway 101 at the mouth of San Elijo Lagoon. Surf at the reef consistently breaks both right and left attracting professional and amateur surfers from all over Southern California and beyond year round.

Surfers were all over in the waters waiting for that BIG wave

San Elijo State Beach Campground provides beach campsites were we stayed one night too - and we have seen one of the most beautiful sunsets too!

Founded in 1911 by developer J. Frank Cullen, the community was named in honor of his wife's native Wales and many streets have English names. A later developer, German musician Victor Kramer added the "by-the-Sea".

The community takes pride in its "walkability" with the beach, lagoon, restaurants, markets, post office, library, and other commercial services in easy walking distance to each other.Restaurant Row offers beach-side dining and a wide variety of choices, including Mexican, Italian and California Cuisine with an emphasis on seafood.

California Sunset!

Hi my friends,

I had the last two days no connections again, that's why I could not post anything. Finally I can show you pictures made in San Diego, some days ago.

In between the days between San Diego and today happened a lot good thing and we have seen breathtaking pretty landscapes that let me forget all the unnecessary, self made problems that certain people in our socieite make in life!!

We are fine and enjoy our travel very much. Just now we make a three day "vacation" and relax from driving and reading the map :)) stay tuned, I'll try to keep up a little bit with my pictures.

Susanne and David