Point Loma and Fort Rosecrans, San Diego

If you have read any of my previous blog posts then you will know that I am particularly partial to the West Coast of America, particularly San Diego and the surrounds.

So I wanted to share some pictures of Point Loma and Fort Rosecrans; the military base in San Diego. I went there this year on a warm and windy day, and visited the thousands of war graves of the men who died to protect America’s liberty. I learned about how the men would have been watching from lookouts in the rugged cliffs to spot for Japanese ships after Pearl Harbor, and I wandered up and down the weathered shoreline of the area.

It was beautiful.

My sister and I  spent a while climbing in the rock pools and fishing in the shallow dips of rock to see what we could find. She is particularly animal minded so was far more patient than me as she watched the crabs and the little fish, and I moved away and found a smooth rock to sit on and watch the shore. It’s where I am my happiest and most relaxed.

I love listening to the water lapping against the stone; slowly eroding it to new shapes and sizes like a person making something out of clay. The wind blew and I thought over what I had learned and cast my mind back to how it must have been for the soldiers who once lived there. nice for a visit, but pretty bleak for life.

If you are ever in the are, take the trip to Point Loma. The bay curves round and you can see Tijuana across the water. The area is calming and still, and a great visit.

Torrey Pines State Reserve

I have spent a lot of time in San Diego, but I wouldn’t go back there if I didn’t love it. I use it as a base to see some other places, but when I was there this year my sister and I decided that we would actually see the area around Del Mar and what our adopted home had to offer us. My sister had been in the country for three months and therefore had built a daily life there, doing nothing all day except embracing the slightly crazy Californian love of exercise.

.

So she decided that she would take me to explore Torrey Pines State Reserve. I love cliffs and the beach, but am not a fan of walking. “it’s not far” she said “and once you get to the top, its spectacular. YOU WILL LOVE IT”.
After about two minutes of walking up a steep incline I had had enough. It was hot, yet people were putting me to shame running up the hill in shell suits, of cycling up at breakneck speed. I didn’t think I would make it, and I wasn’t sure my Travel Insurance covered death by too much sweat.
After a handful of pit stops where we ‘stopped for a little breathe’ we made it to the top. And she hadn’t lied to me after all.

You could see down the coast for miles, and the ocean looked so pretty and calm at the bottom of the steep cliffs. I was in paradise. Why would I ever want to go home? Luckily the tide was low so we could clamber down the cliff paths to the beach at the bottom. My sister pointed out the old cliff paths that had eroded away thanks to the sea, and we meandered down the way to the beach at the bottom. We went and had a poke around flat rock, laughing at the kids chasing the crabs and just enjoying being carefree and happy as we chased the waves and ran back the safety of the cliffs. The tide came in as wound our way along the shore and back to the car, serene and calm after spending a pain free morning actually doing exercise.

If you ever get the chance and the weather is nice then don’t avoid taking the trip. It’s free and its beautiful, and you will really feel at peace when you stand at the top of the cliffs and marvel at the wonders of Mother Nature.

My Favourite Destination, It HAS to Be La Jolla.

I’ll let you into a secret. Yes I would love to travel across the world and I have a great big list of places that I would love to go to, but if you told me that I could only travel to one place for the rest of my life (like the film Groundhog Day) then I would choose it without a second thought.

I love La Jolla. My family live in Del Mar, and I love taking the drove down the coastal road to the town, with the sea to my right and Torrey Pines State Reserve ahead of me. Roof down, sun out, this is my place. So La Jolla would win, hands down.

All three of my cousins now attend La Jolla Country Day, and they study so close to the beach that my little green eyed monster comes out every now and again. I studied near a train track, but that was about it!

So La Jolla is the place that makes me happy. I think I could live there forever; just sitting on the cliffs and watching the world go by. Poking around in the rock pools and watching the children splash in the water; watching the pelicans in their formations as they glide through the air, so delicately. My uncle once told me that pelicans only travel in prime numbers, something I knew to be a fib by the look on his face, but nonetheless when I see them coming I always count them.

My favourite thing is to walk down to the sea wall and walk out to sea; the wall doubles back around on a little beach where seals lay and bask in the sun. Its mesmerising and I could watch them for hours. I might be easily pleased, but there is something so serene about the place and I feel relaxed when I know I am on my way. And I always cry when I have to leave California. Don’t get me wrong, I like London but if I could never sit on the cliffs again I think a piece of me would be lost.

My grandfather used to visit my Great Auntie in California before she died, and they would always make their ritual trip to the The Crab Catcher. It’s a fantastic restaurant that looks out over the bay, and they serve lots of delicious fresh seafood, caught that day. The soft shell crab is their speciality, and it’s well worth a visit. It’s delicious.

If you are in the area and stuck for something to do then you won’t regret making the trip to La Jolla. If you like to scuba the waters are often still enough, but if you are like me and just seek a little respite from a busy day then walk a while till you reach the cliff tops, take a seat and relax there. The heat will warm your bones and the lapping of the sea against the rocks is a sound that can so nothing but to calm you. It’s one of the most beautiful places in the world.

48 Hours In…. Las Vegas

In 2010 I found myself with the opportunity to visit Las Vegas. I had never been anywhere like it, but had seen The Hangover enough times to know that it was mental. The chance of a lifetime, I went.

We drove, and as we came over the edge of the city I remember thinking I was in for a ride. Hotels and rides towered over the car and billboards adverting drinking and gambling seemed endless. We pulled p at the hotel and I’m not going to lie, I nearly died.

The Venetian is like something out of a dream. It’s supposed to be a replica of Venice, although there is a bit of artistic licence, but oh my god. The ceiling is decorated to look like a cloudy fresco and an actual canal runs through the ground floor where you can ride a gondola, even stopping to marvel at the Bridge of Sighs. Fantastic.

My experience of the city wasn’t the gambling, drinking and generally being rowdy experience that most people tend to have, instead I went for dinner with my family and went to see Cirque de Soleil, another thing that I had never done before. It was AMAZING! The bodies of the dancers were muscly and ripped, and some of the acrobatics were so dangerous and amazing that you could hear the whole audience holding their breaths.

We ate in a fantastic Argentinean restaurant, and the next day we walked around the Mirage and visited the indoor zoo. Yep, there is actually a zoo in the hotel .Go figure, its Vegas!

If you are planning a trip then you need to do the following. Wipe your mind of anything you have ever thought it will be, because it won’t. It’s like nothing you will have ever seen or experienced before. Be prepared for no sleep, and also immerse yourself with everything it is. It’s a little seedy, a little surreal, but REALLY fun!

I would like to add that my gambling career began and ended in Vegas. I was given a hundred dollar bill (lucky girl) and told to gamble it. I couldn’t bring myself to put such a large amount of money on a craps table, so I played the 5 cent sex in the city game for a couple of dollars before deciding to spend it on souvenirs for my friends. Because I’m good like that!