Santa Monica Visit in Summer 2016
Happy New Year Everyone! Sorry that I haven’t written in quite some time. Life has been agonizingly busy, and I say agonizingly as you wouldn’t believe what I just went through – one of the worst moves of my life. I will leave this story for another day, but needless to say I was not happy about moving – I also had to downsize, and pay double the rent! 😦
Anyway, onto happier memories from last year….and hoping this year will be better for me and for all of you. We visited Santa Monica last summer, and I have had so much happen that I couldn’t even post my pictures until now. Well, it’s better to do it now than deciding to do it five years from now.
We loved Santa Monica, it’s quite close to Los Angeles, and we were just in Santa Monica for a day, but in the Los Angeles area for nearly three days. Isn’t it amazing that I live in San Diego, but don’t get up to Los Angeles that often any more, and that I have never visited Santa Monica until last year – and I’ve been in San Diego for almost 19 years!
Well, without further ado, here are some of my pictures:
Santa Monica Pier, CA
Santa Monica Pier, CA
Santa Monica Pier, CA
Santa Monica Pier, CA
Santa Monica Pier, CA
Santa Monica Pier, CA
Santa Monica Pier, CA
Santa Monica Pier, CA
Santa Monica Pier, CA
Santa Monica Pier, CA
Santa Monica Pier, CA
Santa Monica, CA
This last picture is of main shopping street that is a block or two away from the beach. I will share more of these pictures another time. Well, that’s it for now, I hope you liked my pictures, and that you are already having an amazing year!
Lovely La Jolla
Lovely La Jolla, what more is there to say. This place which is just a 12 minute drive for me going south, or a 20 minute drive from downtown San Diego is spectacular. The scenery is amazing, and the wildlife is abundant.
La Jolla Cove, San Diego
La Jolla Cove, San Diego
Wildlife at La Jolla Cove, San Diego
Most of the time, the seals like to laze on the beach, and don’t move much at all, but all of a sudden, a few of them got up to take a dip in the ocean!
Sea lion at La Jolla Cove, San Diego
Look at this one! Doesn’t it look like a cross between a sea lion, and a tortoise?
Half sea lion/half tortoise at La Jolla Cove, San Diego
The Seals at La Jolla Cove, San Diego
La Jolla, San Diego
We walked away from the ocean onto Prospect Street, and Chandra got to play with a massive globe that was a water-fountain feature. Oh, she rolled and rolled the globe around. She was enchanted!
La Jolla, San Diego
Afterwards, we went for a treat to the Living Room, a really wonderful coffee house, that has wonderful pastries, and sandwiches. I got Chandra two macaroons, which she devoured before I got to take photos of them, and I also did the same with my pistachio baklava. Chandra then eyed my coconut mocha, and oh my gosh, it was delicious – it was made with low fat milk, and extra hot. I left a tiny bit of it for Chandi to try, as she really should not be drinking coffee at her tender age of 7! She loved it, well….it was delicious!
Then she got some gelato from a place called Gelateria, across from the Living Room, and again, I didn’t take pictures – but this was Chandi’s treat as mine was the coconut mocha. Then, it was time for a few more pictures.
La Jolla, San Diego
La Jolla, San Diego
La Jolla, San Diego
La Jolla Cove, San Diego
This last picture was from a previous visit to La Jolla
La Jolla Cove, San Diego
I hope you liked my pictures of La Jolla. It really is a nice place to visit. I really enjoy it there, and I think I would like to say it is one of my favorites in San Diego.
Some Turkish Delight in Antalya
I must continue writing and sharing my pictures of Antalya. I was only in Antalya for 7 days, but have so many pictures that I took, and I was only in the Old City for about 4 hours, but also took more than enough pictures. But, can you ever get enough pictures? When you are into taking pictures, it’s never enough!
You might want to take a picture of a big beautiful boat (perhaps it’s a barge) like this, surrounded by other boats with the gorgeous backdrop of the Sea in Antalya.
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The Old City, Antalya
Then, you need to get the rocks centralized, and still get the boats in the picture.
The Old City, Antalya
Then, perhaps find an angle with buildings that will blend in and still give you a picture that has boats and the Sea in it.
The Old City, Antalya
Now, you get all that I described above in one picture.
The Old City, Antalya
Okay, and there I will stop. You get the picture, you just have to take lots of pictures as you don’t know when you might go back – if ever. The wish always of course is when you are there, that you will return. However, life gets in the way many a time, and return visits to certain places is not as possible as perhaps a visit to other places that you just have to go to because either a piece of your heart is there, like mine is in London, or because you have family there and that is somewhere you must go back to or you will lose yourself if you erase that part completely. I will never erase England from my memory, nor do I want to.
The Old City, Antalya
However, this post is about Turkey, and I feel that I have connected somewhat to Turkey – after all – I have vacationed here for a week this time, and been to Istanbul before (for about 8 hours only on a port visit during a cruise), and to Izmir (during the same cruise – but on a different day). Who knows, it seems like Turkey is part of my destiny in some ways – I feel I will return here again.
The Old City, Antalya
The Old City, Antalya
The Old City, Antalya
I love these colors, bright red against the green – with the splash of blue in the background – very pretty!
The Old City, Antalya
The picture below reminds me a little of Seaport Village in San Diego. Why am I seeing so much similarity or drifting off to other places during this post? Please forgive me. If you do view the San Diego post, I’m sure you will see some water with exactly the same color as in this one with the fountain.
The Old City, Antalya
The Old City, Antalya
Look at this, don’t you just love the Turkish teapots?
The Old City, Antalya
The Old City, Antalya
The Old City, Antalya
The Old City, Antalya
The Old City, Antalya
I really love this picture below and love that barge – yes I’m going to barge right in, and call it a barge!
The Old City, Antalya
One more thing, I was thinking about the title of this post and since I linked to other pieces that I wrote with Turkish Delight in the titles, I figured why not use these words again, and this time give you a picture or two of Turkish Delight since now I have more than enough pictures of this delicious Turkish treat. So, these two are just for you! By the way, they were delicious!
Turkish Delight
Turkish Delight
Well, I hope you enjoyed my pictures of Antalya. Next time, I might bring you more pictures of Antalya or more of London…..we’ll see. Until then, I hope you all have a terrific weekend, and for those of you in the USA – happy three day weekend!
Swami’s Beach in Encinitas
Swami’s Beach in Encinitas, is a beach you should visit.
Let’s do the 5 w’s:
What? A beautiful beach situated in a
seaside town.
Swami’s Beach, Encinitas
Swami’s Beach, Encinitas
Swami’s Beach, Encinitas
Swami’s Beach, Encinitas
Swami’s Beach, Encinitas
Swami’s Beach, Encinitas
Where? Swami’s is on Coast Hwy. 101 in Encinitas, just 25 minutes or so north of downtown San Diego – about an 8 minute walk from the Lumberyard which has an array of pubs, bars, cafes, and restaurants at the intersection of Coast Hwy. 101 and K Street
The Lumberyard, Encinitas
Why? Why would you not want to? You can see beautiful spiritual places such as the buildings and amazing grounds of the Self Realization Fellowship
Swami’s Beach, Encinitas
Swami’s Beach, Encinitas
Swami’s Beach, Encinitas
Swami’s Beach, Encinitas
When? Go there anytime you want fresh air and beautiful surroundings.
Swami’s Beach, Encinitas
Swami’s Beach, Encinitas
Who? Encinitas is for everyone, but truth be told…..I think surfers like it a lot.
Swami’s Beach, Encinitas
What makes me think that? Well, take a look at these pictures – there’s memorials to surfers.
Swami’s Beach, Encinitas
(Okay, this one is upside down and since I’m posting from my phone again, I’ll have to correct it later).
Chandi likes to think she’s surfing!
Swami’s Beach, Encinitas
Lastly, there’s stairs down to the beach
Swami’s Beach, Encinitas
Swami’s Beach, Encinitas
Swami’s Beach, Encinitas
There’s even a road crossing sign that says Swami’s Pedestrian Xing
Swami’s Beach, Encinitas
If you see this house with the beautiful garden, you’ll be close by
close to Swami’s Beach, Encinitas
Last look at Swami’s
Swami’s Beach, Encinitas
Don’t forget to visit Swami’s!
A Little Bit of Paradise At The Hotel Del, Coronado
I love to go to the Hotel Del – that place is just what the doctor would order or should order for anyone to get away from it all! It makes me feel content and serene and as though I am on vacation. Yesterday, on November 30th, we finally got to go and visit this beautiful place again. My heart had been yearning for the Hotel Del. I was so excited to go and visit it again.
On the way to the Hotel Del, there are many picture taking opportunities:
Hotel Del, Coronado
Hotel Del, Coronado
near the Hotel Del, Coronado
Don’t park in the hotel grounds as you will have to pay for parking, and it isn’t cheap. There is plenty of free parking by the beach on the main streets. We had to park about a ten-minute walk away from the hotel, but it’s such a lovely place to take a walk. Just take in the surroundings all around and you won’t be disappointed.
near the Hotel Del, Coronado
near the Hotel Del, Coronado
near the Hotel Del, Coronado
near the Hotel Del, Coronado
near the Hotel Del, Coronado
People just love to gaze at the Hotel Del, well……it’s so swell!
near the Hotel Del, Coronado
Coronado near the Hotel Del
Finally, we got to the Hotel Del. The ice-skating rink is now open for the holidays and I could just stand here for hours taking in the happiness of everyone and the beauty all around.
I couldn’t decide if I wanted pictures with the hotel in the background
Hotel Del, Coronado
Hotel Del, Coronado
Hotel Del, Coronado
Hotel Del, Coronado
or without it
Hotel Del, Coronado
Hotel Del
Hotel Del Ice-Skating Rink, Coronado
Hotel Del Ice-Skating Rink, Coronado
You might want to start with taking a break, just to take in the surrounding beauty while you have an ice-cream from Moo-Time Creamery or grab a cup of coffee or a cold drink – this area shown in the picture below is a self-service area and it is ever so relaxing and a great place to sit.
Hotel Del, Coronado
Moo-Time Creamery, Hotel Del, Coronado
There’s plenty of shops and places to get treats
The Hotel Del, Coronado
Hotel Del, Coronado
Hotel Del, Coronado
Hotel Del, Coronado
Then, you’ll want to go and see the lobby and the Christmas tree, and some more of the grounds of the hotel
Hotel Del, Coronado
Hotel Del, Coronado
This tree is located where the Sheerwater Restaurant is and close by to where the self-service coffee shop is located
If you go through the lobby and past the tree, then you can exit from the other side and wander out into the beautiful garden
Hotel Del, Coronado
This area shown below is a restaurant with out-door seating and a prime view of not just the ocean, but people-watching
Hotel Del, Coronado
We ended up staying for several hours, and got treated to a nice sunset.
Hotel Del, Coronado
Feel like some hot chocolate out by the ice-skating rink? Then you should try Coffee By The Sea
The ice-skating rink is now bathed in a beautiful sun-set
Hotel Del, Coronado
Hotel Del, Coronado
Hotel Del, Coronado
Then the sunset became even more spectacular, but how could it be other than spectacular in this beautiful of most beautiful places?
Hotel Del, Coronado
Hotel Del, Coronado
Hotel Del, Coronado
Hotel Del, Coronado
Hotel Del, Coronado
Hotel Del, Coronado
Hotel Del, Coronado
Hotel Del, Coronado
Hotel Del, Coronado
Hotel Del, Coronado
Hotel Del, Coronado
Last, but not least…..this place is just where you have to come to get into the holiday spirit! It looks like a holiday bonanza, and it is so festive and elegant here that I can’t describe it accurately enough.
Hotel Del, Coronado
Did I tell you that I loved the Hotel Del, did I tell you it is so so swell? It is beautiful and I highly recommend that you visit.
Where’s This Beach…Hope It’s Within Reach! It’s in Oceanside!
Where is this beauty of a beach?
Oceanside, CA
Is it Tenerife?
Oceanside, CA
Is it Majorca?
Oceanside, CA
Is it Sicily?
No, well, I think you know it by now, as I put it in the title and in the captions……it’s in Oceanside, California, which is just 45 minutes north or so of downtown San Diego. Oh, this beach is so stunning and one of my latest joys and discoveries. You can live by a place, but not even visit it or know of it’s beauty, until one day you stumble upon a part of it, and instantly think, wow, this is so beautiful, how could I never have visited this place before, or even known how beautiful? So, now, I go back to this beautiful beach as often as I can. Here are more pictures.
Beautiful park by Paradise on the Beach (that’s just my name for it) – it’s actually called Tyson’s Park – I believe.
Oceanside, CA
A bit of color by the beach
Oceanside, CA
Take a walk along the Pier
Oceanside, CA
Especially on a day that’s perfect, and the sky is clear
Oceanside Pier, CA
Okay, the sky may not be that clear, but the day was perfect.
Oceanside Pier, CA
Here’s a view from the Pier
A view from Oceanside Pier, Oceanside, CA
Another view from the Pier
A view from Oceanside Pier, Oceanside, CA
Back to the beautiful Pier
Oceanside Pier, CA
More of the beach
Oceanside Beach, CA
Guess what? There’s a restaurant on the Pier, and it was fun eating there, it almost felt like being on a cruise!
Ruby’s Restaurant, Oceanside Pier, CA
Ruby’s Restaurant, Oceanside Pier, CA
Okay, so I had to take a picture inside Ruby’s where we enjoyed lunch, but this one didn’t come out great, I wanted to show the view through the window
Ruby’s Restaurant, Oceanside Pier, CA
Back to the outside world and lovely Oceanside Pier again! Here’s someone else enjoying the view from the Pier.
Oceanside Pier, CA
Here’s someone taking a break from fishing on the Pier
Oceanside Pier, CA
Here’s more people enjoying the view from the Pier
Oceanside Pier, CA
What a beauty of a beach!
Oceanside Beach, CA
What nice waves you have!
Oceanside Beach, CA
What nice trees you have!
Oceanside Beach, CA
Chandi loved visiting Oceanside
Oceanside Pier, CA
I know these people loved the beach
Oceanside Pier, CA
Oceanside Pier, CA
I think anyone visiting would love this place
Oceanside Pier, CA
Life’s more fun with a visit to the beach. I hope the beach is within reach for you
Oceanside Beach, CA
No matter which angle you view it from, Oceanside Beach should be within your reach
Oceanside Beach, CA
Shade or no shade, tents or not
Oceanside Beach, CA
This beach sparkles
Oceanside Beach, CA
Where is Oceanside again?
Oceanside Beach, CA
It’s part of sunny San Diego, just 5 or 10 minutes away from Carlsbad, and 40 or 45 minutes north of downtown San Diego.
Oceanside Beach, CA
Oceanside Beach, CA
Oh, it’s so Oceanside!
Oceanside Beach, CA
By the way, Happy Labor Day!
Oh, I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside – In Oceanside, CA
What’s better than visiting a beautiful seaside or should I say beach on a beautiful day in San Diego? Oceanside, which is about 40 minutes north of downtown San Diego has spectacular beaches. Here’s a few pictures.
The beach at Oceanside (San Diego)
Life’s getting really hectic, so I’m bringing you this really short post with just a few pictures. Until next time!
luchanik 