Tijuana and San Diego
Most people always seem to think, Tijuana is just a place of crimes and the mafia; prostitution, and kidnapping. Tijuana might have all of that just like any other city in the world, but let's focus on what this city is, outside of the mafia and the crimes around the border itself.
Tijuana is a border city in Mexico and if you know anything about border cities in Mexico, you will know about the Mexican Cartel. Outside of the border itself, it is an amazing city. The city shares a border with San Diego, California. Tourism is one of its most important activities and you will see this when you go shopping there. Most people refer to this city simply as TJ. It is supposedly the most visited border city in the world.
The state occupies the northern half of the Baja California peninsula and consists of rugged mountains, the Sierra de Juárez and the Sierra San Pedro Martir. Much of the state is occupied by a westward extension of the Sonoran Desert.
Avenida Revolución is a bustling main street with shops, restaurants, bars, and locals and tourists walking everywhere. You can feel the energy when you get there. Everyone is engaged with whatever they are in TJ for. You will find people shopping, eating, drinking, walking, or just taking pictures of the city.
Rosarito
Located south along the coast, lies this amazing, beautiful coastal town just outside of TJ. I really wish I knew about this town before I went to TJ or I would have spent most of my time there and not TJ. You have to visit this town. You will find everything you will see in TJ but with the addition of a beautiful coast. It is very touristic though, so expect to pay touristy prices everywhere you go.
The perfect destination for water activities like surfing, scuba diving, or just swimming. The waves here are strong but surfers from around the world go here to surf. I thought the water was too cold, but this is true in the Westcoast. The ocean on the west coast is too cold for me. I prefer the ocean, in other cities in Mexico like Cancun, Oaxaca's coasts, etc.
Rosarito Beach is a resort town on the coast of Mexico's Baja California peninsula. Many tourists go there for its nightlife.
San Diego
Okay, this is currently my favorite city in California. Actually, the only city in California I care about now. I've never been a fan of California and although I had never been to San Diego, I always dismissed it because of my experiences with other cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco and how much I hated them. Okay, let's take that back. I do like San Francisco to visit, but I will never want to live there. San Diego is different. I can definitely live in that city.
San Diego is great for families. You will see kids everywhere in the city.
There are people from all parts of the world either visiting the city or living there. I probably heard more Spanish spoken in the city than I heard living in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. There are some places that you will hear mostly French and other European languages, but I believe Spanish is the language I heard the most.
San Diego Zoo
I have to be honest, the main reason I went to San Diego was the zoo. This zoo is meant to be the best zoo in the world. By the way, what makes a zoo the best zoo in the world? Should animals, even be in zoos? Why should we give awards to people caging animals that should be in the wild? Hahaha,,, I am not going there because I would never have seen so many animals without zoos. I don't know how I feel about zoos because sometimes I feel like these animals should be in the wild and not caged but on the other hand, they seem happy as they are well fed and taken care of. The question is, did they ask us to caged? Well, how could they? hahaha.. Just kidding. But honestly, I am not sure what to think of it, but I went to San Diego primarily to go to the zoo, and I was super disappointed. Why advertise you have white tigers when you barely even have 🐅 tigers. Okay, yes, they have tigers, but not white tigers and just tigers you will see in any zoo. They do have polar bears and grizzlies though. That was pretty cool and awesome. No big snakes. They had some but nothing that I would take a picture of.
My favorite was seeing these two together and thinking they are siblings. Loved it. Now, this is something that would not happen in the wild. So, I liked this. I saw this once in Australia and seeing It again, made me smile.
These guys are just massive and all power
Coronado
Just across the bay from downtown San Diego lies this beautiful paradise that you are going to fall in love with. I really liked this place and spent most of my time in San Diego there. You can just go there and relax in this little park there and chill and just enjoy San Diego. There are some really beautiful houses there too.
The sunset in San Diego is amazing. The sunset 🌇 there is around 5:40 PM. There is something about sunsets that is hard to explain with a picture. I am always looking for places around the world with amazing sunsets and sunrises. It is just amazing and I wish I had a better camera to show you how amazing this was to me.
The Gaslamp Quarter is one of those places that you will have to visit even if you wanted to avoid the city. It is a historic town with lots of stories and history. Many tourists come here for its restaurants and unique and epic nightlife.
Oktoberfest in San Diego
Oktoberfest is every beer 🍺 drinkers' special time of the year. My very first Oktoberfest was actually in Germany and in Munich. Since then, I have been to quite a few Oktoberfests all around Germany and the world. This was my first in San Diego and I was not disappointed, especially as this took place during the pandemic. It is definitely not the best I have been to but, considering it was during the pandemic, it was not too bad.
