sudamerica

for our latest trip my mom and i set out for peru, much awaited for her as she had been longing to see machu picchu and i was excited just to finally set foot in south america. we managed to get a direct flight from atlanta to lima and despite the airport's best efforts we did manage to make it to the long-term parking garage (park and ride? misleading) and onto the flight. we arrived in lima after midnight (hey, it was a direct flight, okay?) but managed to get a taxi that would take us to our hotel for what we thought was a reasonable rate. even with no traffic the ride was looong, because lima is a big city. so by the time we were up in our hotel room and off our feet it was past 2am.

gorgeous grounds of the museum

after sleeping in as long as we thought we could without feeling guilty we woke up and had breakfast on the terrace. our hotel was in miraflores, a very liveable part of this huge city. we had a bit of a view from the hotel terrace but couldn't see the sea. the city itself is fairly unremarkable-looking. our first stop was the museo larco, an archaeological museum that told the story of peru's pre-Columbian past through its impressive array of artifacts. they were incredibly well-preserved - ceramics with no cracks or fading, even textiles that were almost completely intact.

incredible preservation

and these pieces were thousands of years old! i guess being entombed with your valuable possessions has its advantages. the ancient incans used three principal animals to represent their spiritual realms - the bird (condor) to represent the heavens, a cat (jaguar) to represent the human world, and a snake to represent the underworld. these motifs come back again and again. they touched on human sacrifice and other (less titillating) rituals in ways that made their behavior very relateable to today's audience. the grounds of the museum itself were gorgeous also - all manners of indigenous flowers spilling out in every possible place. between the grounds and the galleries themselves we spent quite a while in the museum.

colorful streets of lima

by the time we were done it was well into lunchtime. instead of calling another taxi (which we suspected we were overpaying for) we thought we'd try to uber and see what happened. it worked great, and was about a third of the price as a taxi. we made our way towards the historic district where we stopped at a little sandwich shop we'd heard was good. it ended up being little more than a storefront with a small bar to sit at. but the sandwiches and fresh fruit juices were quite tasty. from this little roundabout we again ubered to make our way to the historic area. once we got close our driver seemed taken aback by the road closures he encountered and dropped us off as near to the main square as he could. as it turned out there was a major summit going on - APEC (asia-pacific economic cooperation) - and several major world leaders were in attendance, including obama and mark zuckerberg (who evidently is a world leader now). we couldn't get inside any of the historic buildings so we thought we'd save it for our last day. a very helpful government employee, who had told us about the summit, gave us directions to get to the art museum instead. it was quite a long walk but most of it was down a pedestrian shopping street so there was plenty to look at. it reminded me of a much bigger san josé, with tons of shoe stores and H&M type shops.

the cusqueño madonna

after a long walk and past some very busy streets we made it to the museum of art lima (mali for short). my mom wanted to rest outside so i went inside on my own. there was an odd little exhibition in the first floor. there was another gallery of cusqueño paintings, which is a mix of western styles and traditional andean elements. one aspect that really stood out were the typical triangular shape of the virgim mary - some scholars have said it was to reflect the shape of the mountains. i also noticed several paintings of joseph and the christ child, which is interesting only because it's so rare in european traditions. i thought it was a nice counterpoint to the ubiquitous madonna and childs. the permanent collection upstairs showed a nice cross-section of peruvian modernism. artists obviously wrestled with how much to embrace or reject european styles and what to depict. it was something i knew nothing about so it was a nice introduction to later (as in post-columbian, i suppose) peruvian history.

ceviche at mama's

the thought of braving the traffic or walking much more didn't sound terribly appealing so we were hoping to find a cafe nearby where we could sit and relax for a bit. there wasn't much around though so we ended up in a little shopping mall coffee shop where mom got a rich hot chocolate and i got something with arequipe sauce, something akin to caramel. after a bit of relaxing and journaling we made our way out and hailed an uber to make the long trek across town back to the hotel. we had a nice rest before making our way out again for dinner. luckily there are plenty of restaurants in the miraflores area. we walked toward a restaurant we'd come across in our research - just a few blocks away. but we were dismayed to find it was closed. we encountered the same thing again and again in our walk - which incidentally was full of bright lights from the signs of the many casinos in the neighborhood. we ended up going back to the hotel to ask if anything was actually open on a sunday night. they said there was a traditional place but it was quite a few blocks away. we headed that direction but ended up on a little side street with a few restaurants. i'm glad we did because mama olla did not disappoint. we started off with some little taqueños (what they sound like, a bit like taquitos) with peruvian (slightly salty) cheese inside. even better were our entrees - seafood risotto and our first taste of peruvian ceviche. outside of guinea pig (cuy), ceviche is probably the closest thing to a national dish of peru - or so we were told. the fish was so fresh, the acidity of the lime was just perfect, and it was served with giant indigenous corn, which was fun. we savored every bite but couldn't linger too long, as we head another early morning ahead of us.

the new gold standard

the next day we were up obscenely early to get a taxi to the bus station. the ride took about 30 minutes less than the concierge had budgeted so we found ourselves in a very bright little bus station waiting for our bus at 3am. when it arrived, though, we were not disappointed. luxurious doesn't quite cover it - these bus seats were nicer than most recliners i've sat in. they had not only a foot rest but a panel for your entire leg and they reclined so you were almost laying flat. that plus a pillow, blanket and individual tv screens made for a very pleasant four-hour trip. by the time we made it to paracas we were much better rested. we ended up in a tiny little bus station that looked like it was in the middle of nowhere. that turned out to be somewhat misleading. it was off of a quiet road but also surrounded by a wall. as we discovered later, if you walked out down to the bottom of the grounds, through the gate and out you ended up on the main road and just across from the building of the little town of paracas.

sea lions lazing

we ended up setting up our boat ride there in the station, not having made plans already. they drove our little group down to the water in a van, where we then loaded onto the small boat. i think it sat about 35. we ended up with great seats at the back since he let 'retired people' board first. my mom took full advantage and got us seats at the back left of the boat. once everyone had settled we sped over to the islands (islas balestas).

PENGUINS!

the largest island was largely uninhabited but there were a few trucks zipping along the one road we could see. on the side of this island was a large symbol that looked like it had been written in sand. from there we jetted over to the smaller, rockier islands. this is the main attraction because of the wildlife. these little islands are absolutely full of animals - mostly birds but also quite a few sea lions lazing on the rocks and occasionally playing in the water. we even managed to see one group of humboldt penguins! there must not be many of them because on our trip all around the islands we only saw the one little group. we had a lovely time floating around the islands, soaking up the sun and looking for sea lions with funny expressions. after we had made our way almost all around the islands the little boat sped up again and we braced ourselves for a windy ride back to the mainland.

paracas' little harbor

we had a few more hours until our bus left to go back to lima so we explored tiny town of paracas, such as it was. it seems to be a little tourist spot, filled with little shops and restaurants along the water but not much else. we walked along the shore, taking in the colorful boats and waiting until restaurants would be serving lunch.

scallops on the half shell

to pass the time we stopped at a little cafe for some fresh passion fruit juice (our favorite), which came with a little dish of corn nuts. my mom was not a fan. finally we made our way down to another restaurant where we got some nice ceviche (our last day on the coast for a while, we figured we should take advantage) and little scallops covered in parmesan. maybe it's just me but somehow i hadn't put together that the word 'scalloped' is related to the shape of the shells scallops are in. i guess i'd never seen them served that way! quite tasty though. after a bit more lingering we made our way back to the bus station and braced for another comfortable yet long bus ride. by the time we got back to lima it was rush hour and getting an uber took longer than usual. after that long ride all we wanted was to be back at the hotel so we were very relieved when our uber driver finally made it through traffic and dropped us off.

soup and sips

after a rest we went down in search of another place for dinner. in the hotel lobby we discovered that one that had been on an anthony bourdain show we watched just before we left was just blocks away. we thought we might as well try it out. it's called amaz - not for 'amaze' but for the amazon, from which many of the dishes ingredients are sourced. the food had a mix of andean and amazonian food with some asian touches. (did you know there's a large asian population in peru? me neither.) the very kind waiter recommended several dishes so we tried a few different dishes. first was the wild prawn soup with smoked pork, tapioca and noodles. fairly thin, yet with a hint of pepper and i didn't even mind the tapioca balls (which in bubble tea i find disgusting). next was the main course - peking duck juane with rice and hoisin sauce, cooked in a banana leaf and - the best dish - the tender and flavorful lomo saltado (basically sauteed beef and vegetables) even our drinks were filled with interesting amazonian ingredients - mine had caribbean rum, berries from the amazon, guava, and pineapple juice. a bit pricy but a great experience.

glorious tiles

dem bones

and now, if you'll permit me, i'll skip ahead a bit to our last day in lima. our first priority was to head back to the historic district, where we hadn't been able to see much of anything the first day. our first destination was the iglesia san francisco, which we discovered had a huge line out front. we (correctly) guessed that it must have been a saint's feast day, which accounted for all the people lined up in the square with flowers in their hands. i had mostly wanted to see this church because we read it had a great muqarnas dome. well, we never got to see it because the church was full of worshipers. but we did take a tour of the monastery, where our rather inept (but sweet) guide walked us around giving us vague information about the monastery and spaces we were in. the cloisters were some of the prettiest i've seen - the walkways were all covered in spanish tiles (from sevilla, no less). the middle of the cloisters was filled with green gardens and palm trees. we weren't supposed to take photos, for some reason, but the guide quite literally looked the other way, which was most appreciated. the other highlight was the catacombs - quite extensive. many chambers filled with sorted bones all neatly stacked. in some parts we could look up through a grill and see into the church's sanctuary, and even hear part of the service. oh and there's also a 'last supper' painting there that's somewhat famous. the titular dinner on the table is all traditional peruvian food - potatoes, chillis, and even guinea pig. tourists clearly get a kick out of it.

tiles on every surface

from here we walked over toward the plaza de armas, where we stopped in a little hole in the wall for some lunch. the food was modest - the usual thin soups and mediocre cuts of meat - but it did the job. from there we walked through the large but otherwise not terribly interesting main square and on to the convento santo domingo. we went there almost on a whim - it was on our list of places and we had plenty of time to kill. i am SO glad we did. it was stunning. when we walked through we immediately saw the cloisters - even more stunning than the last (and we were allowed to take photos - bonus!) with red columns covered with tiles and walls to match. the central fountain was surrounded by flowers, palm tress, and birds chirping. from the courtyard we could see the church's bell tower, completing the illusion that we were not in peru but a moorish mosque-turned-church in spain. (the tiles, once again, were from seville).

light from above

we had a lovely guide who did a great job of showing us through the space and telling us about the various residents - two of them now saints - who had once lived there. (this is a pretty unfair characterization but we noted that the female guides we had always tended to be slightly better - succinct, even when giving bilingual tours, and yet packing a lot of information in.) one of these was st. martin de porres was the first black man to be canonized in the americas, although it was about 330 years after his death. he worked at the monastery all his life, cutting hair and tending to sick monks, never attaining the rank himself. a humbling story - one can see why people flock to his shrine to venerate him. the rest of the grounds were beautiful too. each room was decorated differently - whether with painted walls, colorful stained glass or tiles. (even the floor of the small crypt was covered in gorgeous tiles.) needless to say, i had a ball roaming around taking pictures and was so glad we had decided to stop in.

at this point we figured we had seen what we wanted to of the historic district and set about trying to find a way back to miraflores. after walking through the maze of one way streets we eventually hopped in a very old taxi who was willing to take us back towards the more residential part of town. we spent the rest of the afternoon shopping in the little markets to fill out the rest of our gift lists, relaxing in a small cafe (with wifi of course) over tres leches cake and coffee, and walking through the more commercial districts popping into grocery stores to buy some potable souvenirs. for dinner we decided we wanted seafood and set our sights on a rather upscale place that was within walking distance. the meal was good but pricey (which helped us use up the last of our soles) - we had giant portions of risotto and one last order of ceviche. we dragged out dinner as long as we could but eventually we figured we should make our way to the airport (even though our 1am flight still wasn't for several hours). it's a good thing we weren't in a rush because the cab ride took literally two hours! traffic was a nightmare - we felt for our driver (since we had already negotiated a price), along with everyone else trying to get to the airport in a hurry. eventually of course we made it to the airport and collected the rest of our luggage from the lockers (what a godsend those are). this took a while, too, though. the second key needed to open the locker seemed to be missing and the poor night manager took quite a while to bust open our locker. again, good we were not in any hurry. in spite of all these hangups we still had several hours to wait and even then our flight boarded late as every single person's hand luggage had to be inspected by airport personnel. it was a full flight in the middle of the night and this last obstacle was almost interminable. finally we did get on the flight and managed to sleep some. we even made the drive back from atlanta without any problems.

but now on to the middle of the trip..

lala land

up early again (i suppose that happens when you go turn in at 10pm), we managed to watch a full episode of law & order and still hit the road at a decent hour. on the way out of joshua tree we saw windmills - only a few at first and then dozens and maybe even hundreds. before long we were on the highway and it was clear we were approaching big cities again.

oval office replica

we bypassed LA for the time being and headed straight up to simi valley - quite a trek but my mother wanted to see the reagan library, a first presidential library for both of us. there were a TON of people there - which we first sensed by the parking. all the lots were full, and so visitors had to start parking along the steep hill that leads to the library and take a shuttle to the top. after a brief wait in line we made our way through the self-guided exhibitions. it was pretty interesting to read about reagan's early life and career. there were even a few interactive elements. towards the end of the tour we were able to walk through an older air force one. surprisingly cramped actually! i'm sure the current one is a bit more luxurious. still, it was cool to see how the president and press would have traveled (right down to the jellybeans they had interspersed throughout the cabin).

drought-resistant plants, spanish colonial house

from there we were still quite far from LA proper and it was already past one so we figured we'd stop for a quick bite. the are around there is clearly suburban and pretty nondescript. we could have been in northern virginia. we found an interesting little hawaiian place that had stir fry, which was good enough for us. after a quick meal we were back on the road and anxious to get into the city. we didn't make it for well over an hour - not because there was traffic but because we were just that far out of the city. eventually we made it into downtown and then we started to hit a few lights/traffic. it was close to rush hour so people were already trying to get out of the city. we eventually made it to our destination, lacma, one of the few museums that's open on mondays. parking around the museum proved challenging, since it was located next to another very popular brand new museum (the broad, pronounced broh-d, i learned) and in the midst of lots of big office buildings. we circled around and around and eventually found a parking garage for a hospital on the other side of a residential area. we wandered through the fairly quiet streets, noting the southern california architecture and plants along the way.

detail of sam francis

eventually we made it to the museum but the line was rather daunting. i later discovered this was because LA county residents get in free after 3pm every weekday. i tried my luck and went up to the members window and asked about a discount for museum employees. sure enough, it was free for me and she even let me buy my mom's ticket at the window without waiting in line. sometimes it just pays to ask. we were a bit rushed since the museum closed at 5 but i'm pretty certain we hit the highlights (and by that i mean things i most wanted to see). this was made a bit more difficult with the layout of the museum (or campus, rather) since it's really a conglomeration of buildings. we started in one that had ancient art, contemporary korean art, and a children's studio. see? not exactly intuitive. eventually we made our way to one of the bigger buildings (one senses that it was originally the only building that housed the museum's collection, and indeed it still looks very dated - the dark paneling and overall interior betraying its 1965 opening) which housed a substantial part of the collection. we made our way through the islamic art section (natch) which had a great mix of unusual pieces (like ceramic tiles from pakistan and bizarre portrayals of stereotyped westerners in miniature paintings) along with works from contemporary artists. the modern and contemporary galleries had a lot of great stuff, although i confess we had to move through them a little more quickly. i particularly liked this sam francis print (detailed at left) and a few other odd pieces. after a quick stop in the shop we made our way back to the car.

if only the car in front were a mustang

from here we figured we should get to the hotel and figure out things from there. despite being about 5.00 we made it to the hotel without hitting tons of traffic. we stayed at a little boutique hotel that was clearly once an unremarkable roadside hotel (as evidenced by the exterior and teeny rooms) but had been transformed with high-end, mostly white decor and an almost-too-fancy breakfast. we wished we could have made use of the central patio area, but it really just a bit too chilly to enjoy it. after a bit of a rest we set out again (this time with uber - after yelp, probably the app my mom is most impressed by) to a nearby movie theater. after museums, my top priority in LA was to check out great movies that hadn't come to our smaller cities yet. we made it to the theater but realized there wasn't as much in the way of restaurants as we had thought. it was odd, the closest things to the theater were a nursing home and a school. we ended up grabbing a quick bite at a little italian cafe before making it to the theater to see mustang. what a GREAT movie! it's about five turkish sisters growing up in a conservative town and how their lives are increasingly restricted. it's truly one of the best movies i've seen in the past year. i have high hopes that it will come to the nick in columbia.

getty structures from the gardens

the next day we were up fairly early in hopes of being among the first to get to the getty. what an ordeal that is; it's almost like getting through the airport. we drove to the parking garage and even well before opening time, there were quite a few cars there ahead of us. (parking, by the way, is $15, so admission isn't quite as free as it seems.) we made our way to the line for the shuttle, which snaked around quite a bit and included a bag check. the shuttle ride, much like an airport might, had introductions (in this case from the director) and instructions in several languages. we were eventually dropped off at the museum complex at the top of the hill. like the lacma, there were several buildings we moved between, which would have been fine had it not been unseasonably cold! we made our way in and out of the various galleries, especially enjoying the west pavilion which had some of the more modern pieces. there were some lovely degas drawings (did you know he did sketches of folk dancers as well as ballerinas?), turners, cezannes, and some spanish painters whose work was new to me. the museum has quite a bit of european decorative art, which was really how the collection began. one of the pavilions also had a sketching room which was quite busy while we were there and full of art from past visitors. we really enjoyed the gardens as well. they, like many in california it seems, have switched to drought-resistant plants so it's a mix of tropical plants like bougainvillea and then cacti and succulents. even with these constraints they had quite a variety of plants. the grounds were nice but i wish we'd had time to visit the getty villa whose setting looks really lovely. oh well, it's on the list for next time. still, of all the museums we visited on this trip, i myself was surprised to note that the san diego art museum was my favorite.

koshi box

by now it was getting toward lunch time but we wanted to make our way towards our next destination, which of course (like everything on our list) was way across town. thanks to yelp i was able to find a nice little korean fusion place (koshi) just off the highway on our way. before our trip i'd had high hopes for different types of cuisine or restaurants i had wanted to try in LA. (not to mention book stores and thrift stores..) but when we got there it became clear that going to a particular destination just for a restaurant wasn't going to work with our ambitious, and spread out, schedule. even without traffic (because somehow we'd managed to avoid the ubiquitous LA traffic) we just couldn't afford the time to stop anywhere but along the way. this, combined with the fact that in the desert we had to rely on whatever was around, all contributed to us not having had proper mexican food up until the second to last day of the trip. but i digress. the korean food, at left, was delicious. their combo lunch included sushi, bulgogi, rice, and  veggies. i topped it off with a delicious thai iced tea.

overlooking LA, from afar

we pressed on to the griffin observatory. or as close as we could get. what an ordeal. we figured parking at the top would be packed so we parked on the street and figured we'd take the nearby shuttle. we got into a line of about 50 or 60 people but figured it wouldn't take too long. as it turned out there were only two shuttles and it took each one a loooong time to get up and down the big hill to the observatory. arguably longer than it should have. nearly an hour later we were finally at the top of the hill where we could, as promised, see the hollywood sign. of course the observatory is also the site of that famous scene in 'rebel without a cause'. as soon as we made it to the top we immediately got in the line for the shuttle and took turns exploring. the observatory itself did seem neat and they had a planetarium show that seemed popular with families. the view was also fairly impressive, making it clear just how far we really were from downtown LA. but was it worth the several hours it took to get there and explore it? well i'm not sure.

art deco stylings at nuart

we had initially hoped to see 'theeb', another movie on the top of our list that sounded good, about a young boy in the jordanain desert. since the observatory turned out to be such an ordeal we figured we wouldn't make that one. we settled for our third choice, son of saul (like the other two movies, also nominated for a best foreign film oscar). we decided we'd have enough time to go to the hotel and uber out so we wouldn't have to deal with parking. we managed to make it to the theater with plenty of time to spare so we found a place for dinner. it was an odd area, not many people and restaurants were few and far between. luckily we happened upon an iranian restaurant where we had delicious food. we were just about the only people in there but i suppose that's not abnormal for a tuesday. the theater was just a little further down the street and it had a nice vintage movie house look. the movie was.. bleak i think is the only way to describe it. it was hard to watch, but then for a movie about working in a concentration camp i suppose that's the point. it was a very good film but i have to say i preferred mustang.

song and dance men

our last morning we did a quick walk through the hollywood walk of fame, which my mom had really wanted to do. it was cheesy and touristy, as you would expect, with souvenir stores and people hawking bus rides to celebrity homes or studio tours. the walk of fame (the modern one anyway) goes on and on, with a star every few feet. there are so many (and some of such questionable caliber) that you start to wonder what their criteria is. i was most interested to see the original walk of fame with the cement hand and footprints. it's now all roped off since grauman's chinese theater is using it as a plate for people to line up for tickets (i think?). i was pretty excited to see that gene kelly and dick van dyke, two of my all-time faves, are right next to one another! the very nice woman working at the theater offered to take a photo for me. my mother's main criticism of the experience was that there weren't enough people she wanted to see (namely brits).

taco wednesday

with that done we were back on the road on our way out of town. our destination for our last full day was la jolla, which we'd only heard great things about. we made it there and for the first time hit some traffic as we got near the city limits. on our way into the city we passed some houses near the coast that we knew must have cost a small fortune. it was well into lunchtime so as soon as we found a parking spot (no small feat) we headed to lunch. we knew it was ridiculous that we'd yet to have any real mexican food in southern california so that was a must. nearby we found a little place called, quite simply, the taco stand. it was fairly small but obviously well loved, if the crowds on a wednesday were any indication. and well-deserved, i'd say, because our tacos were absolutely delicious. we sampled four different kinds and washed it all down with a squirt soda. honestly, i'm still thinking about those tacos a little bit.

coastal vegetation

mainly what we wanted to do in la jolla is enjoy the views of the coast so we made our way towards the water. the water was a beautiful blue and the rocky coast was dotted with flowers and that odd thick grass-like plant you only seem to see in california. we wound our way around the coastline admiring the views until we came to the cove, where we happened upon some sea lions basking in the sun (my kind of animal). they didn't seem to mind people, even letting them walk in between them - although they didn't hesitate to bark if anyone got too close.

yes?

most of them were just napping, occasionally lazily raising their head to see what was going on. only one was a bit more active, waddling and barking all over the little rocky outcrop and posing for people's photos. with our remaining time in town we explored a bit more, stopping for a library book sale and at a thrift store on the other side of town.

we were amazed at how quickly we made it from la jolla back to san diego. i guess we just didn't realize it was quite that close. we dropped off our rental car at the airport and we're preparing to take an uber when the company offered us a free ride to our hotel in the car we'd been using. so convenient - i guess it pays to have the airport so close to the city. about three minutes later and we were at our hotel. we stayed a bit closer to the water (and airport) this time but still quite close to little italy, where we'd stayed before. we were able to meet my friend kelly for one last dinner - we had wonderful pasta at bencotto - and capped off the evening with gelato at our favorite italian place, pappalecco. we retired early in anticipation of our very early flight - luckily we didn't have far to go in the morning. our flight took off early on the morning of new years eve. overall not a bad way to cap off 2015.

so cal, so cold

my mother and i had been wavering on where to take our next little trip. airline prices at christmas were higher than thanksgiving, naturally, and i didn't have many vacation days available so we settled on something domestic. we decided to do southern california, figuring that it would be a nice warm destination. well it turned out the joke was on us because the entire time we were there the region was experiencing a cold snap. (meanwhile it was an unseasonable 80+ degrees in south carolina.) still, it was a perfectly pleasant trip and we managed to see quite a bit.

san diego's architectural mix

we flew into san diego, coming in just over the tops of the buildings in balboa park, lit up in blue. we were shocked to see just how close the airport is to downtown on the map. even more dramatic is when you seem to be skimming the tops of the buildings downtown or - on the flip side - when you're driving downtown and huge planes seem to come out of nowhere and be right overhead. the proximity of the airport to the city was quite handy, since we landed close to 11pm. our hotel was quite close, in little italy. what was most striking about the city was the way little old victorian houses were peppered among high rises and office modern apartments.

islamicate stucco and snapdragons. i'm a fan already!

the next day we were up bright and early in search of breakfast. a few blocks away was a little italian place that sounded nice. it did not disappoint - the friendly staff were chattering to one another in boisterous italian and the food was delicious. everything tasted authentic - from the baguettes to the mozzarella (yes we got breakfast paninis). my chai latte was quite tasty too. we were able to sit outside only because there was a nice little sunbeam - otherwise it would've been just too cold. there was a little bikeshare station just across the street that i'd been eyeing and the park didn't look too far away so... we went for it. turned out the path to balboa park (by bike anyway) was a bit farther than i thought and involved several hills and passing interstates. we did make it eventually though (my mom was a good sport) and turned in our bikes before catching a handy trolley to the other side of the massive park. (the signs advertise that the park has 17 museums - so already i'm intrigued.)

i do love arch. that seems islamic!

we arrived in what seems to be the epicenter of this gigantic park - the stretch with several museums surrounded by a central fountain and open square with friendly umbrellas and chairs. we had a bit of time before we were meeting my friend so my mom and i explored the museum of man (a natural history museum, for the most part), part of which includes a tower that looks very much like a minaret. (i'm a fan!) we picked a few exhibits to explore fully - there was one small exhibit about monsters around the world that was great (putting my museum educator hat on now) for kids, although there was plenty of information for adults too. we also enjoyed another exhibit on evolution that was incredibly thorough.

lovely architecture and palm trees - classic combo

by now it was getting close to lunch time. we weren't far from the japanese tea gardens, where we had planned to meet my friend kelly. my mom was excited to see her too, as she was an old friend from high school who my mom had known fairly well. we eventually found one another and settled in for lunch at basically the only nearby restaurant. luckily it was pretty tasty and not outrageously overpriced. we caught up and discussed her new post there - she only arrived a few months ago and hasn't had much time to explore the city yet, what with defending court martials for the coast guard and all. after our leisurely lunch kelly was eager for a nap so we parted ways, her to make the walk back to her place, and us to keep exploring this park.

lovely persian ceramics

our next stop, and most anticipated, for me anyway, was the art museum. our first stop was a small collection of california watercolor landscapes by james hubbell. i really enjoy bright little watercolors like those - although i may have appreciated them even more after we'd been to the desert. the main exhibition was called 'the art of music' - and, truly, it was one of the best exhibitions i've seen in a while (and, frankly, i see a lot of exhibitions). they really explored the idea of music from all angles - from literal inclusion of music in works of art to musical instruments that serve ritual or spiritual purposes, to the influence of jazz on artists like matisse or ragas on indian miniature painters. it was truly global in scope - no continent was overlooked. and in several instances they included recordings of certain nearby instruments that could only be heard when you were below a discrete sound cone. towards the end there was a station where you could create your own work of art while listening to jazz music, provided via headphones on the wall. i love it! the collection was smallish but also quite nice, with a lovely little gallery full of beautiful islamic ceramics and upstairs some pretty colorful postmodern paintings of paris. by this time my mom was flagging so i went downstairs to explore the shop (of course) and head out. i could've stayed a bit longer but overall i left quite satisfied.

bye bye, balboa

i could have stayed in the park a bit longer - going down to explore the japanese tea gardens or the mingei international museum (which had a very promising shop) but my mom was spent, and worried about how we were going to get back to the hotel. uber to the rescue! it was my mom's first time experiencing the app and i think she was smitten. about twenty minutes later and we were back in our hotel room with our feet up on the bed. so far san diego had offered up bikes, islamicate architecture, and lots of museums. check, check, and check. so far, so good, san diego.

kelly's nap turned into an evening so we were on our own for dinner. we strolled the streets of little italy. did anyone else know that san diego had a very authentic little italy? well, i didn't. it was so thorough that i think it might've been hard to find a place that wasn't italian. both places we had been recommended were closed (oh, it was christmas eve, didn't i mention?) and the rest were packed. we found a little place that was decent enough. we had to sit 'outside', which meant behind a clear plastic curtain and next to a space heater. see, the locals knew it was cold too!

the next day, christmas morning, we were up fairly early so we thought we'd get in a quick walk down to the harbor before meeting kelly. sadly, our great little italian place, being staffed by good italian catholics, was closed so we had to settle for hot cocoa from 7-11 (watery and underwhelming) instead. it was about a 10 minute walk to the harbor and, honestly, it wasn't much to look at - at least that part of it. we made our way back up and over to kelly's apartment - amazingly about two blocks from our hotel. we admired her incredible apartment - somehow she lucked into the penthouse! - as we enjoyed the breakfast she had sweetly assembled for us.

hungry hungry polar bear

our plan for the day was to go to the zoo, one of the few attractions open on christmas day, which of course makes it also one of the most crowded. so we made it back to balboa park and into the famed san diego zoo. kelly got in free with her military ID but for my mom and me it was 50 bucks. i was skeptical that any zoo could be worth that but we set off. it was certainly a nicer zoo - lots of vegetation and very big and naturalistic habitats for the animals.we started with the penguins - diving and swimming amazingly fast. then we made our way through the reptile cages (so many kinds of snakes!) and past some colorful macaws.

cable car.. things? chair lift? hanging buckets? i don't know.

the highlight was probably the polar bears, since one happened to come right over to the corner we were at and playfully munch on his soggy lettuce under the water. we made it to the elephants (they seemed very far away) and saw some monkeys and flamingos. and of course we rode the chair lift/cable car things - what do we call those?? the one area was skipped was the pandas. for some reason there was a line snaking in and out for yards and yards - there must have been 1000 people in that line. at least. we figured no wait was worth that - especially when at the end there was no roller coaster but the off chance you might see a panda not sleeping. pass! we snacked on some pretty tasty nachos before we left - not bad for zoo food. overall it was a very nice visit. but was it worth the 100 dollars? i'm just not sure. honestly, the riverbanks zoo in columbia rivals this one easily.

the view from the penthouse

we made our way back to the city and each had another rest before meeting up for the evening. this meant (as usual) mom napped off and on while i watched whatever christmas movies were on tv. after an hour or so i made my way to kelly's so we could have a glass of wine and catch up. this was made even more pleasant by her fireplace and floor to ceiling windows where we could watch the sunset over downtown. after a bit my mom joined us and we had a bit more wine before leaving for our fancy christmas dinner.

part of del coronado's light extravaganza

the dinner was across the water on coronado islamd. the famed hotel, aptly named hotel del coronado, is something of an institution. the place was massive - and full of families doing the same as we were. we stopped for the requisite picture at the famous christmas tree (i'm told it's where all the local go to get their yearly christmas photo taken.) the island itself is quite exclusive, with fancy houses and upscale shopping areas. we took kelly's word for it as we didn't see much in the dark. we made our way through the huge hotel facilities, past the courtyard and the skating rink (yes, in san diego) to our dining area. we opted for the least fancy of the three options, although the meal still came out to a pretty penny. eighteen dollar caesar salads! the meal itself was lovely and we were fully stuffed with chilean sea bass and risotto and all kinds of other lovely seafood. we made it back to kelly's and sampled the desserts she had kindly bought the day before. i was too tired even for a last glass of wine so we said our goodbyes and made it the two blocks back to our hotel.

didn't know what dahlias were, but they're lovely

the next morning we were up early again and ready to hit the road. before we left we thought we'd better get one last breakfast at pappalecco, our favorite italian cafe. just along our path was the local farmers market, with vendors just finishing setting up their booths in the bitter cold. (seriously, i'm not just being whiny, it was about 38 degrees.) it was a lovely market, with all kinds of wonderful california produce (oranges and tomatoes and avocados), gorgeous (and surprisingly affordable) flower bouquets, and of course lots of hippie goodies - kale this and superfood that. we got some hand-painted postcards of SD (complete with low-flying planes!), a few apples, spice mixtures, cookies for later, and two lovely woven baskets. it was a really wonderful little market - i can't recommend it highly enough.

from there we were set out into the desert for the next leg of our trip...