Day 4
True to form, I was woken up at 4:00 AM by the feathered alarm clock also known as the resident blackbird. Fortunately after the adventures of the previous day, I was tired enough to go back to sleep after going to the bathroom and quickly checking my emails. I then slept through until 9:00 AM when both of us were awake. We got up and got ready and then headed to the kitchen. Our friends were also up and had wondered if we had gone out somewhere. We had a fantastic breakfast consisting of coffee, freshly made waffles and chicken sausages. During breakfast we were making plans for the day and decided to head down to San Diego.
While everybody else got ready, I decided to reorganize my suitcase. I had sent my fish extender gifts by post to our friends and I now had to find room in the suitcase for those. Unfortunately when I opened the suitcase, the zip broke. This was definitely not what I needed. For a minute or two, I considered if I should ask our friends if they have some duct tape and just tape it shut, but considering that we had to hand over our luggage to porters at the port and that it then would be delivered to our stateroom later in the day, this did not seem like a very smart option. So I needed to get a new suitcase somehow.
I mentioned the problem to our friends and asked if there was a Walmart or K Mart on our way to San Diego. They suggested that we should try something like Marshalls or T J Maxx instead. This was fine by me. We had previously bought suitcases at T J Maxx and I was pleased with the quality, price and choice. The retail park in question is right across the road from South Coast Plaza, which is probably the most upscale shopping mall that I have ever encountered. I was really surprised that there was something so down to earth just across the road. When we walked into Marshalls everybody kind of dispersed. I think they were under the impression that I would be a little while. They could not have been more wrong. I was a woman on a mission. I headed straight for the luggage department and spotted the right suitcase straight away. Somebody had left a burgundy suitcase in the aisle. It was about the right size and when I looked closer, this was actually a Samsonite suitcase and it only cost $99. This was too good to pass up. So from entering the store to having paid, it only took me about 3 minutes. Eventually, I found the rest of the gang and we were on our way to San Diego.
The drive was pleasant and was nice to get a look at the ocean every now and again. Our destination was Balboa Park. We had been to San Diego before and actually stayed there fora few nights in 2006, but Balboa Park was not something we had previously visited. It has existed since 1868, when 1400 acres of land were set aside for a park. It took a further 20 years until this was started to be developed. In those early years, it was known as City Park. San Diego was set to play host to the 1915 Panama Exposition and what is now Balboa Park played an important role in this. The powers that be decided that City Park was not an impressive enough name for a venue for such prestigious event. After a lot of discussion, City Park was then renamed into Balboa Park, which was chosen in honor of Spanish-born Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, the first European to spot the Pacific Ocean while on exploration in Panama. A lot of the impressive Spanish Renaissance- style buildings that are dotted around the park were built for the 1915 Panama Exposition. Today Balboa Park is home to a large number of museums, galleries and performing arts venues (including a replica of the Old Globe Theater) as well as San Diego Zoo.
When we got there, the place was heaving and one of our friends dropped the rest of us off near the entrance while she tried to find somewhere to park. It turned out that they had multiple weddings and Quinceaneras that day as well as a graduation ceremony so the place was quite busy. We had a look around the visitor centre and the court yard behind it. One of our friends was still looking for a parking space. We agreed that Graham and I would head for the Japanese Friendship Garden, which is quite close to the visitor centre and they would meet us there.
We could not figure out how to access the Japanese Friendship Garden as the sign posts led to nowhere. We could look down to it and quite frankly it looked like a big building site so we were not too upset that we could not find the entrance. What we did however find was a lovely terrace with a water feature and quite a nice view. We settled down in this area and just soaked up the sunshine. I also took a few photos of the immediate area.
When I came back from taking the photos, I saw our friends coming up the path. They had actually found the entrance to the Japanese Friendship Garden, but agreed with our assessment that it was definitely missable. Instead we sat down in the sun and decided what to do.
A lot of choice is not always a good thing and I was definitely overwhelmed by the amount of choice that Balboa Park offered. The Natural History Museum, a Model Railway Museum, a Titanic exhibition, the Science Centre, the History Centre and the Museum of Man all appealed and I could not narrow it down to just one. I was also absolutely in awe of the architecture. Our friends wanted Graham and me to decide and Graham just wanted to enjoy the beautiful weather. So we decided that we would just go exploring. One thing that had caught my eye earlier on was the Botanical Building. The building itself was closed, but I was happy to take photos from the outside.
We came across a poster for a Bonsai exhibition. As it was free, we decided to check it out. It was not anything to write home about and was firmly aimed at selling and buying, but some of the Bonsais were really beautiful and impressive and others were best described as amusing. When we left the exhibition, I got the chance to take some photos of the Botanical building from a different perspective with the lily pond in front of it. This is actually the most photographed scenes in Balboa Park and I can definitely understand why this is.
