After disentangled from the trafficked LA’s freeways and few days of rest in Laguna Beach we were ready to hit the road once again and experience the truly American Roadtrip with lots of motels-hopping!

To familiarize with the frenzy of this new travel-style, we made our first stop just less than a couple of hours away from Los Angeles, San Diego. The city is not WOW but it’s very pleasant: it has a pretty waterfront ,which is the touristy heart and also includes the Maritime Museum, charming neighbourhoods such as historic downtown Gaslamp Quarter, Little Italy, Coronado, Del Mar, Escondido and a great urban-cultural park, the Balboa Park.
It’s this 1,200-acre’s city park that, for us, holds the most interesting features in town like the Spanish-style buildings, the botanical gardens, 14 museums, theatres and the world-renowned San Diego Zoo, the highlight of our short stay in San Diego. It is home to 4’000 animals from all around the world including endangered wildlife. We roamed around the park for hours ‘n hours through the many habitants, the Forest Tales, the Monkey Trails, the Elephant Odyssey, the Urban Jungles, the Rainforest Aviary and many many more, gazing at the most beautiful and exotics creatures like the elegant puma, the majestic California condor, the insatiable polar bears, the lazy giant panda, the playful gorillas, the curious meerkats... it is pretty cool.

As consequence of this exhausting, long-day “safari” we had a great appetite and, since we had to make up for the calories burned, what best than a classic fish&chips by the locals’ favourite Fishette? It’s the fast food alternative to the legendary Anthony’s Fish Grotto restaurant. It might not have a full service but the fish was great, cheap and we managed to eat al fresco within the pretty harbour, good enough for us.

Nevertheless, considering the proximity of San Diego to the Mexican border you will find also around town plenty of opportunities to have a taste of spicy Mexican specialities like enchiladas, empanada and burritos.

The damage:
Downtown motel $66 a night for a double room; entrance San Diego Zoo $29 each with a discount coupon; Fishette dinner $30.
If you plan to stay around for longer and visit also the San Diego Wild Animal Park, SeaWorld or the Balboa Park it worth to look around for one of the many combo tickets available that suit you best. Passport to Balboa Park one-day pass for 5 chosen museums is $35 or if you stick around every Tuesdays on a rotating basis each museums is free.