A traditional Sicilian cart on display at 2016 Festa in San Diego’s Little Italy.
Festa is a celebration of Italian culture and history. Every year it’s held along several blocks of India Street, in the heart of San Diego’s historic Little Italy neighborhood. Thousands turn out to enjoy music, food, and all things Italian.
Here are a few photos I snapped yesterday. They provide a taste of what Festa is all about. Read the captions for explanations, and click the images of signs in the cultural pavilion if you’d like to read them. By the way, the food and music were great. I wish this blog could convey the deliciousness of my slice of Filippi’s pizza!
Thousands turned out along several blocks of India Street for the annual celebration of Festa.A cultural pavilion at Festa attracted people who were interested in Little Italy’s rich culture and history.An exhibit in the cultural pavilion included old photos of life in Little Italy, a neighborhood in San Diego once associated with fishing.The Italian neighborhood remained deeply rooted in social tradition revolving around family, work and church.The fishing industry defined the residents’ lives and included labor in boat building, net mending, and tuna and sardine canning.Historical photos of Little Italy fishermen at work off the coast of San Diego.Photo of young man on a boat with a very large catch.Old photos of life in Little Italy include workers at a cannery and fishermen mending nets.A display at Festa includes nets and old commercial fishing gear.A pillar for San Diego’s Italian community, Our Lady of the Rosary Parish has endured for more than 80 years.Photographs and puppets provide a glimpse of San Diego’s past.The Columbus Day Queens are presented on stage during 2016 Festa in Little Italy.The Sicilian Band performs during Festa in San Diego.A crowd admires chalk art, or Gesso Italiano, during Festa. The amazing artwork celebrates Italy’s history and culture.A vendor at Festa sells funny signs and aprons to Italy lovers.Of course, lots of pizza, pasta and other Italian food could be found up and down India Street.Chef Boyardee (Ettore Boiardi) appears on a street lamp banner in Little Italy.People at Festa check out some shiny new Vespas.An exhibition of Italian sports cars included Maseratis and Lamborghinis.A kid and gondoliers at Festa. Anyone can ride elegant gondolas in San Diego at the Coronado Cays.
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Almost any day in San Diego is a fine day. A fine day to open eyes and experience life.
When I walk about, I often take photos of everything and anything. Photography helps one to see the surrounding world: a fascinating world in constant motion.
Here are some photos that I’ve taken on different walks around San Diego. Every walk is a fine walk. There is so much to see.
Saturday morning on the pier near the Tuna Harbor Dockside Market.A bicyclist with a daring spirit at the Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge.A standup paddleboarder off Coronado, with sailboats and the San Diego skyline in the background.Bagpipes and a smile outside Petco Park.Early morning produce is ready to deliver in East Village.A boy and a kite at Embarcadero Marina Park North.Someone seeks attention in Seaport Village.Pigeons on Broadway.A smiling face.Rolling down the Gaslamp.A big wheel in Balboa Park.A handstand on a bench. Just another fine day in San Diego.A scene of ordinary city life near the Fifth Avenue trolley station.Entertainer wears a horse head at the Little Italy Farmers’ Market.A slow Sunday in downtown San Diego.
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An imaginative performance at Fault Line Park in San Diego’s East Village during the 2016 Trolley Dances!
Check out these fun photos! They show the energy audiences will experience when they venture downtown to watch the Trolley Dances this year!
The Trolley Dances is all about contemporary dance in surprising public places. This year the Trolley Dances, a collaboration between the San Diego Dance Theater and our Metropolitan Transit System, begins with a performance in Barrio Logan. Mobile audiences, following guides, then make their way by trolley and foot to a variety of unusual downtown locations, where dancers appear like magic and perform. The unique experience lasts about two and a half hours and comes to a conclusion at the relatively new Fault Line Park in East Village. That’s where I snapped a few pics of the final two dances.
I’ll try not to give away too much. Let your imagination go to town–or better yet, buy a ticket. The 2016 Trolley Dances takes places this weekend and next!
A mobile audience arrives at San Diego’s Fault Line Park. The park will be the setting of two energetic dances.The audience takes a seat. Is something behind that wall?Yes, indeed! These suddenly rising dancers seem to have paddled in to shore!Perhaps it’s an invasion!Dancing on boulders at Fault Line Park! Flight of the Valkyries plays!A unique work of modern dance at the 2016 Trolley Dances in San Diego.The dancers approach the audience as if rowing a Viking longship . . .They have conquered!Meanwhile, out on the nearby grass, not far from some people practicing football skills, I spot a circle of baseball players . . .These baseball players also happen to be dancers!Just like professional baseball players, each performer is introduced by name to the Trolley Dances audience.And a joyful dance commences . . .Just a lot of fun.Dancers rest for a few minutes. They await the next mobile audience that will arrive at Fault Line Park during the 2016 Trolley Dances.
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Courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to conquer it.
Walk up Fifth Avenue in Bankers Hill and you’re likely to see some inspiring chalk art. Words of wisdom prompt those passing by to think about courage, wishes and hope. Here are some photos.
Two of the life affirming messages adorn a community library box located next to the front entrance of a safe haven for the homeless. A brave lion roars nearby. Uptown Safe Haven features transitional housing, supportive services, and hope. It is the project of Episcopal Community Services. The chalk art speaks of their mission.
If you’d like to learn more, or if you’d like to consider volunteering through this program to serve those in need, please click here.
Never stop making wishes. Life affirming chalk art in San Diego’s Bankers Hill neighborhood.The only thing stronger than fear is hope.
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Part of a spray paint street mural in North Park by artists Maxx Moses and Glow.
Here are even more photos of random street art that I’ve encountered during walks through North Park!
I’ve already covered many amazing street murals in the neighborhood. You can find those by surfing around my blog, clicking related articles, tags or performing a search in the sidebar. Cool San Diego Sights contains hundreds of San Diego street art photos that you might enjoy!
North Park utility box depicts meditating figure.Many utility boxes in North Park (like other San Diego neighborhoods) have been enlivened with colorful street art. This box has the word SOAK and some tentacles.Lightning inside a deadhead skull separates night from day. Urban art on a shop located on North Park’s University Avenue.Huge glowing crystals grow from a North Park sidewalk!More creatively decorated utility boxes along University Avenue in North Park.Unusual artwork near a building’s rooftop features alien-like creatures with three eyes.A cool sun with mustache above some prickly pear cacti.A young person holding binoculars seems to watch the people of North Park.These artistic cubes are fun seats for people waiting for the bus.One unique utility box has four sides featuring subterranean slices. West shows where land meets Pacific Ocean.Bienvenidos! South shows the border with nearby Mexico.East shows the desert, which lies beyond our mountains.North depicts a small, happy home in North Park.Just walking along the sidewalk, past a creatively decorated transformer box.Turning a corner past pink and yellow cats.Utility box on 30th Street has tropical palm trees, flowers, fish and a skull.Newspaper box covered top to bottom with decals.Graffiti near shop door includes a sexy lady.A typical scene on one sidewalk that stretches down 30th Street in North Park.Street art in North Park shows a woman walking through the city.In easy-going, laid-back North Park, an appropriate slogan: r.i.p. bullshit
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Colorful art in the sidewalk in San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood. A fisherman sells his fresh catch to a family by the ocean.
I walked through Little Italy yesterday morning on my way to catch the trolley. I was struck by the quiet beauty all around me. So I tried to capture a few moments with some photos.
In the interest of full disclosure, two or three of these photos are from walks on other mornings. It seems my every journey through Little Italy is magical.
It’s still early morning in Little Italy, so perhaps everyone isn’t quite ready to tackle the day.Morning sunlight slants in to touch the side of a newly painted Victorian house near a modern hotel.Michelangelo watches–and so does a construction worker–as a new development rises in the heart of Little Italy.This huge new development will include the public gathering space Piazza Famiglia.Sweeping up some leaves, preparing for another day.A Little Italy Association maintenance truck has pulled up beside a wheelbarrow full of flowers.Wisdom along the roof of one building. Do right. Fear nothing. Keep it simple. Find what you love.A big red chair awaits on Little Italy’s popular but now quiet India Street.Mary and Christ Child welcome the faithful above the entrance to Our Lady of the Rosary church.Classic bearded face provides a building wall with sculptural ornamentation.Little Italy San Diego street lamp banner celebrates entertainer Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta.Fanciful birdhouses sit on a fence between homes in Little Italy.Be like a pineapple! Wear a crown. Stand tall and be sweet on the inside.Greenery flows like cascading water from planters on the outside wall of the Sorrento Ristorante.A quiet moment before the day’s business begins.Life and color fill the streets of the Little Italy neighborhood in downtown San Diego.
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San Diego Police Headquarters’ Wall of Honor. The wall is inscribed with the names of police officers killed in the line of duty since 1913.
Almost everyone in San Diego, and many across the country, know the heartbreaking news. Two San Diego gang-unit officers were shot in the Southcrest neighborhood late last night. One, Jonathan DeGuzman, has passed away. The second, Wade Irwin, remains in serious condition.
As an ordinary citizen, would you like to help the San Diego Police Department? It’s an extremely difficult job they do, and a noble one. Their task is to protect our communities. They risk their own lives every single day to save others, to protect and assist law-abiding citizens, and to keep the peace. Unfortunately, in some important areas our local police department is underfunded.
Please visit the San Diego Police Foundation website to learn how you can directly help, and consider giving a donation. Thank you.
Players prepare to go to bat during a stickball tournament in San Diego’s Little Italy.
A stickball tournament was held today in San Diego’s Little Italy. I watched one game between the Sidewalk Slammers and Street Rookies, and was able to snap a bunch of action photos. Sometimes these tournaments include teams from New York, but I was told that the five teams today were all local. Stickball has become a very cool downtown San Diego tradition!
Young player on the Sidewalk Slammers team takes a swing during the early innings of a fungo-style stickball game.A teammate is ready to strike the bounced rubber ball with a taped wooden broom handle. Lots of people were watching on either side of Columbia Street.Stickball fans watch the action while seated or standing. Music, drink and good times on the sidewalk in front of The Firehouse Museum in Little Italy.Halfway through the 3rd inning and the Sidewalk Slammers trail the Street Rookies.Members of the Street Rookies, in yellow shirts, watch as their offense tries to score more runs.He calls himself a Street Rookie? This guy hits the ball really hard. A line drive far down the long city block.A runner scores by touching the chalk home plate, and the Street Rookies extend their lead.The next batter prepares to bounce the rubber ball before swinging. I learned that self-pitching the ball is technically called fungo.Another hit! Fans go wild! A downtown San Diego street makes for a very unusual stadium.Time out! A car is pulling out of a parking garage and into the asphalt outfield. During the action, pedestrians, dogs and onlookers are sometimes in the field of play.Three teammates take the field at the top of a new inning. A great game is underway.An athletic move and lightning fast throw. If I recall, the play was very close and the runner was nearly tagged out.Another defensive play. A Sidewalk Slammers runner has safely made second base.Another time out! The KUSI television van is leaving the scene. They had several live shots of the local stickball tournament this morning.Someone watches the game from high up on their balcony. I believe hitting a fly into a building is considered a foul. Unlike baseball, a foul or a strike is called out. Tough rules.Some fielding action on the sidewalk right in front of me! Fortunately, I didn’t manage to get in the way.Chasing the ball! A game played primarily in the Northeastern United States is being enjoyed several thousand miles away!Encouragement and friendship on the not-so-mean streets of San Diego.This game is over. The members of both teams exchange high fives. Good sportsmanship and fun. That’s San Diego style!The Sidewalk Slammers get a team photo. Five local teams are competing in this tournament.And here is the final score. Sidewalk Slammers 5. Street Rookies 12.People enjoy watching a Memorial Day weekend game of stickball in Little Italy.
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You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of fun photos for you to enjoy!
I rely on Christine’s hot chocolate on rare super cold San Diego mornings. She’s been smiling near the corner of Sixth and B Street for as long as I can remember!
These photos were taken during a morning walk down Sixth Avenue in downtown San Diego. They contain cool smiles and glimpses.
Walking south along Sixth Avenue in downtown San Diego, approaching Ash Street.Reflection in glass panes of the Parking Palace shows the iconic sign atop the El Cortez.Still walking down Sixth Avenue, now approaching A Street.Ornamentation near roof of the old World Trade Center, which has been converted into housing for the homeless. The Art Deco building was once home of publishers Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.A bird flies between skyscrapers.Looking up at a corner of the America’s Finest City mural on Sixth Avenue.A Kurt Cobain quote over doors at the downtown House of Blues. “If it’s illegal to rock and roll, throw my ass in jail.”Banner promotes romance in the Gaslamp Quarter. The nearby Jewelers Exchange in the Timkin Building at the corner of Sixth and E Streets is packed with dozens of small jewelry vendors.Photo of moon, high above towers of Louis Bank of Commerce Building’s facade, one block over on Fifth Avenue. This famous location was home to Wyatt Earp’s Oyster Bar gambling hall and saloon.Rear of Reading Cinemas Gaslamp building. The movie theater closed in February. The complex originally opened in 1997 as Pacific Theatres. It was used in past years for popular film festivals and San Diego Comic-Con screenings.Angels in flight on rear of the now closed Gaslamp movie theater.Old faded words painted on brick exterior of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Building in San Diego’s Gaslamp spell Tin Shop.Utility box on Sixth Avenue painted with tea, sandwiches, coffee, salads, burrito and bagels. It made me so hungry, I wanted to step through that cafe’s door!Hotel Z really really catches the eye with their new, flamboyant paint job. According to their website, their slogan is A Piece of Pineapple Hospitality.A funny sight glimpsed inside the window of Cute Cakes. San Diego’s Swinging Friar is seated by a big Petco Park frosted cake filled with sprinkle fans!Morning deliveries and jogger near an electric guitar on the employee door of the Hard Rock Hotel.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of fun photos for you to enjoy!
Avoid urban decay. A funny image on the window of a dentist office in San Diego’s East Village.
For your enjoyment, here’s another random batch of funny photos taken around downtown San Diego!
Don’t break into this downtown San Diego business. A sign on the door warns: Beware of Attack Cat!A very odd sign near a parking lot simply states: MEOW.A bench shaped like a mustache. A fun sight in front of a barber shop.Funny quote inside a store window. I only drink champagne on two occasions, when I am in love and when I am not.Photo of funny shirt inside a Gaslamp window. We must learn to take life with a grain of salt, slice of lime and a shot of tequila.A wonderfully bizarre downtown San Diego poster. Perhaps I need to eat here. Fear the power of Sushi Burrito. Finish off your evil hunger!Funny sign on East Village sidewalk. Rubbing an eye to wake up. Maybe some coffee will help!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of fun photos for you to enjoy!