Travel Biography Photo Extravaganza - Part 19.

The Top Two Cities ever Visited in my Lifetime.

When I was asked which location I had visited most favourable, a decision for first place was difficult to choose. I could pick two cities - Jerusalem in Israel and San Diego in California. Of the natural wonders, there were several. They were the Grand Canyon, the Great Barrier Reef, the Niagara Falls, and the UK's Jurassic Coast. Other natural sites I visited include the Blue Mountains National Park near Sydney, the Lake District in Cumbria, and the Duncansby Stacks in Scotland.

The top two cities visited - Jerusalem and San Diego - couldn't be more different from each other! How I loved the ancient historical as well as the spiritual significance of Jerusalem, especially with its Old City walls. Within the Old City, one minute, I would be walking along the narrow souk, free of motorised traffic, and lined with Arab-owned shops selling trays of different spices which fill the air with various fragrances. The next minute, I could be looking down at an archaeological dig in the middle of the souk at a section of an ancient wall dating back to 700 BC. Also, I would arrive at the Western Wall, the world centre of Judaism, or the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the world centre of Christianity.

By contrast, San Diego is a modern coastal city with its pastel coloured buildings intermingled with subtropical vegetation. Founded in 1769, its lack of ancient history is compensated for by its beauty, especially being the home of the SeaWorld theme park, Balboa Park, with its abundance of palm trees, museums, and striking Spanish architecture. On its coast, San Diego Bay is more of a large lagoon, almost entirely closed by a strip of land known as the Coronado, and ferries sail from the city harbour to its port. Further north, Mission Beach slopes into the open ocean of the Pacific, and a continuous cycleway enabled me to ride up to La Jolla, whose rocky cliffs contrast with San Diego Harbour.

San Diego is also the most southern city in California, and it's a 17-mile trolley tram ride to the Mexican border. The tram's terminus is in San Ysidro, and in 1995, a footbridge crossed the border into the Mexican city of Tijuana. This border city was made famous by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Band, who dominated the charts during the sixties. Also to note was that in 1995, crossing from the USA into Mexico and then back into the USA was relatively easy. On the return, the passport officer couldn't be bothered to stop me and ask for identification. How different national security is now!

When I planned to visit SeaWorld, I was advised to dress lightly by a fellow backpacker, as I was quite likely to get a soaking. Therefore, I wore a light cotton singlet over a pair of summer shorts. It was a wise decision. I got wet twice in a day, first at the Dolphin Theatre, and then later at the Orca performance show. Fortunately, the warm sunshine dried me out relatively quickly. Indoor aquariums include that of the moray eel, a shark tank, and also feature the giant sunstar starfish, along with other marine life. There was also a penguin enclosure.

Feeding the Dolphins, SeaWorld, San Diego.

The theme park was dominated by a 98-metre Skytower, a rotating viewing platform where not only the whole of SeaWorld lies in all its glory, but also views of Mission Beach could be seen. The park is on the south bank of Mission Bay, a smaller lagoon north of the city, which is almost fully enclosed on the west side by Mission Beach, itself a strip of land that also serves as a residential area.

Although I enjoyed visiting the SeaWorld theme park, the theatrical performance of the sea lions, the dolphins, and the orca left me with mixed feelings. Not due to the soaking I received from the Dolphin and the Orca, but a sense of sorrow I felt towards them. These animals exist to swim freely long distances across the open ocean, often in a group or pod. They feed and breed by their natural instincts. Instead, here at SeaWorld, they were held captive and forced to perform unnatural stunts to entertain the public, including me. Little wonder that I received a thorough soaking. I felt that this was the whale's revenge for our delight in its captivity, as the splash looked to have been done deliberately.

By contrast, the moray eels looked content as they were left to themselves in their tank. The atmosphere was enhanced by the continuous soft music that filled the air, yet it was the type of instrumental that was fully appropriate to the environment.

Also to note, the theme park as it is at present is quite different from how it was in 1995. This is due to the introduction of roller coasters onto the grounds. This occurred around 2016, more than twenty years after my initial 1995 visit. In the main biography, I have detailed how children see such venues as too educational, too much like school, and the need for fun rides would bolster visitor numbers.

The few hours I spent in Mexico were also encouraged by a fellow hosteller. The 17-mile (27 km) ride in the trolley tram first wound its way through the city centre, pausing at traffic lights on street intersections like any other road vehicle. As soon as it left downtown, the ride became more like a train, calling at each station dotted along the coastal route. The journey to San Ysidro was approximately 50 minutes long.

Tijuana was quite different to San Diego, having more of a chaotic look with overhead cables just about everywhere. But extensive as the city was, even having its own beach lining the Pacific Ocean, I remained within the city centre, not far from the border crossing. To say that I set foot in Mexico was enough.

This photo album is the second half of the 1995 visit to San Diego. It includes Balboa Park, SeaWorld, and Tijuana.

Click here for the Index with a link to the main Biography. The 1995 visit to San Diego, including Mexico, is covered in Weeks 63-66.

San Diego - Balboa Park.

Main Street of Balboa Park.

Buildings fronted by Palm Trees.

The road passes over a forested ravine.

Posing at the same spot as the pic above.

Striking Architecture.

Museum of Man

I visited the Museum of Man.

Botanical Gardens, Balboa Park.

Trees and pastel coloured structures.

Indian Reservation.

Another view of Balboa Park.

Final view of Balboa Park.

SeaWorld Theme Park.

Main Entrance.

View from the 98-metre-high Skytower.

Mission Bay Lagoon and the Beach beyond.

Looking towards Mission Beach and the Ocean.

General view of SeaWorld.

At the Dolphin Theatre.

Dolphin Pool.

Between theatrical sessions, the dolphins were fed by us. 

I also fed the Dolphins with fish bought nearby.

I fed this one.

Moray Eels. Here, soft music played.

Watching those Eels was a joy.

Marine life.

The Shark Tank.

Giant Sunstar Starfish.

A Sunstar shares the tank with other lifeforms.

Kelp thrives here, too.

Penguin enclosure.

One of the Park's open spaces.

At the Orca Theatre.

The Orca begins to perform before I retreat.

The Orca performs before soaking all of us.

I was fairly high on the stands. I still got soaked!

After the soaking, I dried myself out.

I was dwarfed by the palm trees.

Border Crossing into Mexico.

At San Ysidro, the trolley tram terminates.

The footbridge I was on passes over the freeway.

At the Border.

I enter Tijuana.

To think that I'm no longer in the USA...

Instead, I'm in Mexico.

One of the city's Gardens.

Central Tijuana.

Revolution Plaza, Tijuana.

Another shopping mall, nearby.

Tijuana Cathedral.

I begin to make my way to the Border.

Mexico bids me farewell as I prepare to return to the USA.

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Next Week, I journey northward to Santa Monica.