It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Oh, how I love this time of year, the wonderful memories of Christmas that has already passed, and the exhilarating anticipation of Christmas yet to come.

Two fabulous places to experience a taste of the holidays are Balboa Park, and the adjacent San Diego Zoo.  Did you know that you can actually walk from Balboa Park to the Zoo?  It will only take about five to ten minutes to walk from one to the other.

I would like to remind you that December Nights is just around the corner – it’s actually this week on Friday and Saturday (December 7 and 8) …..two wonderful days of holiday cheer, where San Diego celebrates the holidays like no place else.

Here’s three links with more information about this wonderful event – December Nights At Balboa Park, Official Tourism Blog of San Diego and NBC 7 San Diego News.

Here’s some pictures from past December Nights, previously known as Christmas On The Prado

December Nights – Balboa Park, San Diego

December Nights – Organ Pavilion – Balboa Park

December Nights – Organ Pavilion – Balboa Park

Cultural events and activities galore can be found at December Nights

Cultural Events – December Nights – Balboa Park

Cultural Events – December Nights – Balboa Park

These dances took place outside the House of Ukraine at the International Cottages in 2011.

Cultural Events – December Nights – Balboa Park

I think one of the best places to visit in Balboa Park is this very area…..the International Cottages.  Here, you will see the House of Scotland, England, Germany, France, Russia, Italy, Ireland, Ukraine, and many others.  What can you expect to see or learn from these International Cottages?  You will get a big taste of what it’s like to be from that region.  You can try samples of the food from any of those respective countries, you may even be in for a treat to a dance from that region – it really is a fantastic thing to experience – you might just see Scottish, German, Russian, Indian and other dances (during December Nights, 2012, I know you can definitely see Indian dances on Saturday evening (I apologize if you read it before and it said Friday, I just got confirmation today 12/6/12 that it’s Saturday evening).  Read more about the International Cottages right here: http://www.balboapark.org/in-the-park/house-pacific-relations-international-cottages

This picture of my three kids was taken last year at San Diego Zoo.  The Zoo is beautiful at Christmas time.

Merry Christmas from San Diego Zoo

Can you believe the same tree shown above behind my kids actually magically changes and becomes the tree below when it is darker

Christmas Tree at San Diego Zoo

Jungle Bells – San Diego Zoo

Jungle Bells and The Elves – San Diego Zoo

Jungle Bells and The Elves – San Diego Zoo

San Diego Zoo

San Diego Zoo

San Diego Zoo

San Diego Zoo

The San Diego Zoo is a favorite of my kids – especially Chandi – she absolutely loves it here.

San Diego Zoo

I really love her expression when she saw the orangutans.

Orangutans – San Diego Zoo

Now from my house to yours – I would like to spread some holiday cheer.  This is a picture of my kids from two years ago.  They wish you a Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas from San Diego

I don’t have a good picture yet of all three of my kids from this holiday season, but will certainly strive to capture one at some point or other, but I do have a picture of my little Chandi which was taken just a few days ago.

The Wonder of Christmas

My daughter Niki is very creative and made these holiday cookies

Go attend some festivities, get into the spirit, and don’t forget to enjoy some holiday cookies!

By the way……you are probably thinking that San Diego can’t look very “Christmassy”.  I hope you can see that we still celebrate this joyous season here in a big way.  It’s all about getting into the spirit, holiday decorations, festivities, etc., and any place can be seasonally festive.  This is a nice place to celebrate it, because we don’t have to deal with the snow.  I know many of you might like snow, but I grew up in England, and had more than my fair share of it.  I really enjoy looking at it from inside, and seeing the snow fall – it certainly is a beautiful sight, but I can do without trudging through it, and shoveling my car out of it.   However, my kids crave it – so what do we do here in San Diego for snow?  We go to the Zoo and visit the “Snowerator” – at least I think that’s the word for it!

“Snowing” At San Diego Zoo

We also have places like Julian (one hour away) that are fairly close by, which we can go to if we really need the real thing.

Whatever you do…..I hope you get to celebrate the holidays, and to experience some of the season’s joy.  Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays!