Crossing Florida into Spain

My last day in California, I spent the majority of the day strolling (and at some points hiking strenuously) through Balboa Park. Named for the explorer Balboa, the first European to reach the Pacific ocean, it's a 1,200 acre park/cultural center in San Diego. I'll liken it to Central Park in NYC, but it's actually very different (mainly in that it's much less flat).

The Park is split by a major road, one side being primarily a Canyon preserve with trail running, picnic areas, ball fields, tennis courts, lap pool, disc golf and actual golf, and the second side being a cultural hub of museums, tea gardens, art houses and the San Diego Zoo.

The main hub is El Prado, a long promenade of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, which was built to host the 1915 Panama-California Exposition which celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal. San Diego was the first port of call after vessels exit the Panama Canal, and the city wanted to introduce itself to the world. At the time, San Diego had a meager population of 40,000.

Congress had set aside 5 million dollars to celebrate the completion of the canal, but most of it was going Panama-Pacific International Convention (world's fair) that was taking place simultaneously in San Francisco. But the San Diego fair met with such approval and admiration that Theodore Roosevelt recommended that the buildings, which were of such "rare phenomenal taste and beauty", stay as permanent additions.

The park's use has changed over the decades, being used for the 1935 California Pacific International Expo and as Naval training grounds during the World Wars. In recent years, its received over 12 million visitors a year. 

For me, visiting the park was a fulfilling experience. Once I crossed Florida Avenue, it was like walking out of this solitary desert and right into the busy streets of Europe. I spent much of the afternoon laying on a bench in a quiet sculpture garden. Nearby, under a bell tower and a shining cupola, somewhere I couldn't see but I could hear, a string violin played softly. People walked along the streets while I read my book, in what felt like, my own private piazza.

Among the Animals

When I was a kid, we used to fill out a football pool every week. I'd pick teams for arbitrary reasons... Tampa Bay because it was warm there, Jacksonville because I liked the colors of their uniforms and San Diego because they had a good zoo.

I had never been there, but, as far as zoos go, it's legendary. And, 20 years later, now that I finally made it there, it really is worth the hype. 

I spent 5.5+ hours in the 100 acre zoo. Which was enough time for me to see most of it, thoroughly. The animal selection was vast* (and fortunately I was there long enough to see most of them active), the staff was friendly, knowledgeable and for the most part seemed to genuinely care about the animals, and the landscaping, botanical aspect of it was amazing.

I would say, aside from my internal gut that struggles with seeing animals in cages, the only negative thing I have to say about the San Diego Zoo reflects on the people visiting it. Pushy parents with strollers the size of Montana, adults who crowd the glass so other kids/visitors can't see through or move past them, and kids banging on the glass while parents take iPhone videos. At times, I felt like the animals we were all fighting to see, were actually the civilized beings.

But the zoo, the zoo is great.

*Panda's are actually way cooler than I expected.