Tijuana

Hello everyone!

It's been a busy few days! Last I wrote it was Thursday evening and we were camping on Malibu Beach outside of LA.

Friday

Friday we had planned on starting on the beach since we were right there, but when we woke it was cloudy and cool. So instead we headed into LA to see some of the sights before driving south. We went to Rodeo drive and walked around for a bit. Such fancy shops! Then we drove around and down Sunset Blvd. We also really wanted to see the Hollywood sign, but it ended up taking about an hour of driving around in order to get to a place with a good view where we could get a picture. The traffic was just so ridiculous it took forever to get anywhere.

Rodeo Drive:

Finally found the Hollywood sign!

That was all we did in LA that day since we plan to go back in a few days. So after that we spent the next 4+ hours fighting the traffic all the way to San Diego. By the time we got to our airbnb it was late and we just stayed in.

Saturday

Saturday we drove down to the USA/Mexico border and parked the truck. We walked across the border (which only took about 15 minutes which was impressive since that is the most crossed border in the entire world). We planned to spend one night in Tijuana with our friends, Luis and Karsaly, who we had met on safari in South Africa!

Luis picked us up from the border and drove us to their apartment to settle in. Then he drove us around the city and pointed out different areas of interest. We went to a really cool bar in the Tijuana soccer stadium which looked over the field. We were able to watch some high school age kids play a game as we had a few drinks.

Then we went to the art expo that Karsaly was working. She's a photographer and had a booth displaying some examples of her work. It was really cool to see, especially since several of her pictures were from the safari we did together!

They took us out to eat at a place called Caesar's, where they claim to have invented the Caesar salad! Of course we all ordered that and they made it right at the table which was cool. It was also the best ceasar salad I've ever had.

Making the Caesar salad:

We went back to the apartment to relax for a bit in the afternoon. Then when Karsaly got off work in the evening we all got ready for a night out on the town. Our first stop was a bar owned by their friends called Norte Brewery. It was a very trendy place with their own craft beers and very busy. It was a great place to chat while having a few drinks. All of Karsaly's siblings and their significant others joined us out as well as some of their friends, so we had a good crowd for the night. Everyone was so friendly and we exchanged many travel stories!

The next place they took us was called La Mezcalera. It was huge with several different areas including a large outdoor patio. This place had more of the club feel so talking was a bit more difficult but lots of drinks and dancing was had. We also tried the famous mezcal drink, which is like tequila but served in a variety of flavors. We tried some fruit flavor that I don't remember, and it was pretty good.

I don't remember the name of the next place but it was a little quieter and we were able to pull some tables together and chat over drinks. A guy came in with a strange-looking contraption and offered it to us. At first I didn't understand what it was and our friends were saying it's a "Mexican game". There were two handles that he handed to two people and then the rest of us held hands. Then I realized what it was. It was some sort of battery which generated electricity and shocked us all! It was a very unique experience. I found it pretty uncomfortable but other people seemed to enjoy it. After we all did it as a group a few times the guys took turns doing it by themselves and competing on who could hang on the longest (men...). Looking back it's probably not the smartest thing we've ever done, but definitely different!

Karsaly's brother taking a turn getting shocked:

Our last bar stop was Dandy del Sur Cantina which is a famous bar that's retro-themed. We stayed there long enough to enjoy the ambiance and have a drink but then we headed out since it was late and we were hungry.

All night people had been talking about the late-night tacos! Apparently stopping at one of the many taco-places is the thing to do after a night of drinking. We each got several tacos of different types and they were very delicious! It's difficult to describe, especially since it was 4am and I wasn't exactly sober. But definitely a must-do experience when in Tijuana!

Sunday

We slept in on Sunday. When we eventually rounded ourselves up Karsaly had to go to work and Luis took us to brunch. He drove us out of the city down the coast to Puerto Nuevo which is famous for their lobster. There were a ton of restaurants which Luis said all served basically the same thing, so he took us to Villa Ortega's which was right along the ocean and had a great view. The place was huge and we took a table right on the water's edge which was fantastic. The chips and salsa came out and the salsa was delicious- fresh and great flavor. I was already pretty excited but then it kept getting better. We ordered the lobster like Luis recommended and wow! They brought out two plates heaping with fresh lobster, and then fresh tortillas, melted butter, and also rice and beans. The idea was to make lobster tacos. It was all incredibly delicious! We really enjoyed it. We will definitely be going back next time we visit Tijuana!

We drove back to the city and stopped by the expo in order to say goodbye to Karsaly. She surprised me by giving us one of the safari pictures that I loved! It was so sweet and I'm so excited to share this picture with our friends and family!

Luis dropped us off at the border and we walked across. It was quite a line this time so it took about an hour for us to get back, but all went smoothly.

We're in San Diego now for another day-ish, so I'll update you all on our San Diego time in a few days!