This is the second (and final) part of my visual travel diary from my trip to San Diego earlier this year… now that we’ve had the fun of Comic Con in my previous post, it’s not so easy to find the real standout images! Nevertheless, the things that caught my eye in the remainder of my trip are below…

The ballgame.

My first, and possibly last, real-life baseball game. If you thought cricket was a slow game, try baseball! By the time they have finished combing the field (literally – with big combs!), rearranging their players, entertaining the crowd with cheerleaders launching baseballs into the stands, and filming crowds of schoolkids filing into the stadium, someone hits a ball! But then they stop and comb the field again. It’s amazing how quickly it got so unkempt that it clearly needed a tidy…

Petco Park… this is clearly the best baseball stadium I’ve ever been to.  So many levels – we were still put up on the roof though!

Many people had many of these. And others with beer. This was my view… well, I moved the Coke after this shot of course!

And here is the stadium. After its 83rd careful grooming of the innings.

The streets.

Over the course of the conference, I managed to snatch some time most days (or nights – loved the summer light!) to get out and about. Here’s some shots from my wanderings…

I don’t really know what these do, but I like them…

The Gaslamp Quarter, where Comic Con was based, and where I spent most of my time (that’s my hotel in the background. Not ALL mine, but you know what I mean…)

This is the Midway. Or part of it, at least. Maybe I need a wider lens! Note the sections of deck converted to cafes. I’m sure these were very popular with the sailors… 😉

And this is the flight deck of the Midway, complete with benches so the sailors could get nice and close to the action as the planes took off… maybe…

On the tram… along with not many other people…

The bus was much more popular.

And this is where I went on the bus! Balboa Park, home to many museums…

Turtles…

Amphitheatres…

And people! Lots of people.

And this was the very last shot I took, while waiting for the bus.

Thanks, San Diego… it was great. Hope to see you again someday.

 

Earlier this year, I was very lucky to have the opportunity to travel to San Diego… whilst I was mostly there for work, I did have plenty of opportunities to get out and about with my trusty OM-D. I’ve had the photos sitting around for a long time, gathering virtual dust and waiting to be processed.  A rainy Monday (public holiday of course!), and here they are. I’m no travel writer (I’ll leave that to my wife!), so I’ll mostly share through pictures, with some context added where I think of it!

Leaving.

There are only a few flights out of Burnie (where I live) each day, and the one I took meant I arrived in Melbourne too late to connect. Here’s the view from my rather lovely hotel room, directly opposite the terminal in Melbourne. And then I went on the plane. There’s no photos of that, because I’ve discovered people get a bit funny if you start waving a camera around mid-flight these days. Sad, but true…

A strange arrival.

When I arrived in San Diego, feeling tired and grubby, I discovered I had landed on the last day of Comic-Con International… I didn’t have a pass to get in to any of the venues, so I just joined the hundred-thousand-odd (some of them very odd) folks wandering around the streets. It was a slightly surreal, very interesting way to spend an afternoon…

Just an ordinary bike ride. With opaque goggles. And a codpiece. A spiky one.

Another bike rider… these guys were everywhere while Comic-Con was on. The next day… none. Do they travel with the shows, I wonder?

Apparently you can park in San Diego’s main street for as long as you like…

There was a lot of this sort of thing going on… (the end of the world, that is…) no-one seemed to be paying much attention though. Lots to see.

This guy had the job of holding back both vehicular and human traffic… respect.

Just one of many buskers… this guy played really well though.

A pretty convincing Kiki… I wonder if she sat there on purpose because she matched the flowers?

By the end of the afternoon, I felt like this too…

The family reunion was going very well…

A reasonably-sized boat. By reasonable, I mean it had its own helipad and helicopter, and two smaller boats hanging off the side. Like a giant, shiny Babuschka doll… Except more expensive…

She was either giving him a hug, or being eaten. Still not sure which.