Mission San Diego
On our second day in San Diego we had breakfast at the "Broken Yolk", a restaurant we discovered in the historic Gaslamp Quarter quite close to the hotel. We loved that they just kept pouring us coffee at no additional charge. I asked for a Coke and got the largest glassful one can imagine. It must have contained about a litre! Americans do not know what "small" is when it comes to drinks. In most restaurants one is allowed to refill one's glass as often as one wants to, for same basic price. Often one can help oneself at the soda fountain (Pieter tried a mix of different sodas - just because he could).
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| Gaslamp Quarter |
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| Our favourite breakfast spot in San Diego |
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| Chris de Wet and I with a take away cold drink as I could not finish my drink in the restaurant. |
We then went for a walk on the bayfront having used a pedestrian bridge across the train rails (the city trains are called trolleys). There is a promenade along the bayfront and many people were lounging about. There were joggers, families with children and couples all enjoying themselves. It was another glorious day. We admired the gardens, the friendship statue and the beautiful yachts moored there.
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| The pedestrian bridge across the rails. |
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| Pieter and I (Helen) on the promenade. |
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| Part of the bayfront is called the Embarcadero. |
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| The friendship statue. |
We headed for the trolleys in order to go to the San Diego Mission with Wendy Mayer and her husband, Dan Corbett. We did not really understand why the mission is special, but soon learnt that it reflects an important period of history. San Diego went through several periods of occupation, first the Kumegaay Indians, then the Spanish Mission followed by the Mexican period and then the American military. The main economic engines today are military and defence related.
King Carlos III of Spain wanted settlements to be established along the coast of Alta California in order to claim the land for Spain. His viceroy, who had to make this happen, wanted it to appear that the motives for this plan were religious and not political and so the Franciscan order of Catholic priests led by Padre Juniperro Serra was chosen to accompany the military and to be responsible for converting the native population to christianity. Consequently the Mission San Diego de Alcala was founded in July 1769.
A road, which is marked by iconic lanterns, linking the different missions was established.
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| Public transport in San Diego is very good. |
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| The mission is a short walk from this station. |
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| Pieter and I in front of the mission. |
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| The padres at work. |
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| The mission church on the inside. |
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| A touching Pieta in the courtyard |
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| These pictures reflect the rather spartan lifestyle of the priests. |
A road, which is marked by iconic lanterns, linking the different missions was established.
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