DAY 10 Good morning San Diego!

Actually, the sun should shine this morning and laugh from the sky, but unfortunately the weather spoiled our plans a little today.

No, it wasn't cold or pouring rain, but for Californian standards it was a bit cooler than we were used to in the past few days.

So we decided to change the order of our daily plans a bit and take advantage of the weather conditions without feeling guilty.

We went to the Las Americas outlet just a few meters before the Mexican border (yes, we could already see the border fences) on the outskirts of San Diego. It was immediately noticeable that Mexico was not far away and you could practically smell the tortillas and enchiladas.

We really got some good bargains here and after about 2 hours we headed back towards San Diego City, where the next shopping mall was waiting for us: the Fashion Valley Mall

But this one was definitely more exclusive than the outlet center, because it was full of designer stores and expensive luxury brands! But we also found some Christmas or birthday presents here. And by the way, we ate the best cheesecake in the world at the famous Cheesecake Factory.

Before we knew it, it was already late, but the weather was back at its peak, so we could put our original plan into action and went to Old Town San Diego.

It's a total tourist trap, but still worth seeing for 1-2 hours. Here, the old San Diego was rebuilt and you can see what it used to look like, even the vendors walk around in old costumes.

In the evening, we were drawn back to the water and visited the Sea Port Village, a small amusement mile right on the San Diego harbor. We strolled through the small shops here as well and finally checked out the huge USS Midway aircraft carrier from the outside, which has now of course been decommissioned and serves as a museum.

Finally, the smell of pasta and pizza led our noses to Little Italy,

a small neighborhood full of small pizzerias and wine shops.

That's the beauty of San Diego, it's super diverse and honestly, we initially had a completely different idea of it, but now we consider this city an absolute hotspot in California! San Diego is often unfairly shortchanged in many travel guides and is definitely worth more than just one visit.

So many different cultures and lifestyles come together here and despite its size, the city has a totally cozy character. There's always something going on and the streets are crowded. No matter how small the bar or restaurant is, there are happy people sitting everywhere, enjoying life.

One more reason for us to end the evening, full of anticipation for tomorrow, in a really cool bar with two IPAs (beer).

By the way, we sat here at the most well-stocked and highest bar we have seen so far. J