Getting off the bus at Old Town, I decided to take a look around neighboring Linda Vista (which translates as “beautiful view” I had been through that trolley stop many times during my stay and wanted to know more about it. So I began walking. I passed a less than beautiful construction site and kept going up and up to the Linda Vista Mesa.

The edge of the mesa is home to the University of San Diego and it's “Spanish Renaissance architecture, breathtaking views of Mission Bay and the Pacific Ocean, and impeccably manicured landscapes.” At the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice I found a quiet spot to relax and enjoy a westerly view. Back behind the newly opened Donald P. Shiley Center for Science and Technology I found another spot to sit. It's gardens were still very new and the climb down the stairs around the building made the place less accessible, but I found it nicer in a couple of ways. There was a more southerly view across the San Diego River towards the Presidio, there was more adequate bench seating and humming birds were acting fiestily territorial darting in and out of sight up and down the steep face of the mesa's escarpment in the afternoon sun.

On the way back to my hotel I stopped one last time in Old Town to see what might be happening and listened to some of Tinku®:  Music of the Andes as night finally fell on my long last day out and about in San Diego.

The next morning I was up early and as most people were still drinking their coffee and reading their morning papers I was footing it from the hotel down along the waterfront to the airport. It had been a long stay, but not so long that I was done soaking in Southern California. My guess is I'm not done still, but perhaps I'll stray further afield next time. Maybe I'll take the train up to Los Angeles and San Francisco. The bigger question is when.

page:  one two three four five six seven
image list
my previous trip