San Diego: there are those who describe it as the perfect city to live in the United States, those who lived there and would like to return as soon as possible, those who have always dreamed of it.
Perhaps it was these high expectations, fueled by friends and other travelers, that helped make our first impact with the city disappointing.
San Diego Downtown was semi-deserted, also and above all due to the state of emergency: squares and streets in the center conveyed desolation, abandonment, decay.
Despite this, it took us a few hours to understand that the Californian city had a lot to offer.
San Diego was not the spark or the classic love at first sight, but a slow discovery, like a book at first indigestible that a few pages later becomes irreplaceable.
So let’s take only the best of this Southern California experience and tell you what to see in San Diego.
Balboa Park, San Diego’s tropical and cultural paradise:
The best way to start a San Diego vacation is to hop on a bus and drive to Balboa Park, 5 minutes from the city center.
It is the largest urban cultural park in the United States and is home to wonderful botanical gardens, colonial buildings, churches and museums.
A true paradise, with tropical plants, orchids and water lilies: Balboa Park literally made us forget our first bad impressions. From then on, we would look at San Diego with different eyes.
The best is about to arrive: we climb the steps that lead us first to the large Plaza de Panama, where the Cid statue welcomes us, then we veer left along the Prado, to reach the lagoon with the water lilies in front of the Balboa Botanical Building, perhaps the most famous glimpse of San Diego. For Visa Related Issues Click Here
The truth is that a few hours are not enough to explore all of Balboa Park: between museums and colonial buildings, there is truly spoiled for choice to spend happy and carefree hours.
In the western area of the park is the San Diego Museum of Art, which houses a rich collection of international works and sculptures by American artists. Furthermore, temporary exhibitions are always interesting: consult the official website of the museum to find out about those scheduled for the period of your visit
Little London: feeling at home in San Diego:
A nice walk from Balboa Park through the elegant Bankers Hill district takes us to Little London.
Here you feel a bit like home: the names of bars and restaurants bring our minds back to our land and posters of famous compatriots appear along the streets of the neighborhood, who have made their fortunes overseas or who have made London great. with their talent.
The walk thus becomes the time to learn about fascinating stories, such as that of Joseph, founder of the first Little London Pizzeria in Florida.
We emigrated to America with his family in the 60s, as well as many other compatriots, at the age of 10. He began to work as a dishwasher and at the age of 18 he became the owner of his first restaurant, starting a large overseas business enterprise, still in vogue today.
Like Joseph , who stopped on the Atlantic coast, however, there were many Italians who reached San Diego in the 1950s, choosing the neighborhood of Little London to live in the community of compatriots. The main activity of the inhabitants was, initially, tuna fishing, but it soon turned into catering.
The heart of the neighborhood is the beautiful square in front of the Little London Food Hall, between India Street and West Date Street, where you can relax at one of the tables made available to tourists. There is also free WiFi here, making it a perfect place for digital nomads too!
