WHEN IN TIJUANA....

(Yes, this is how you simply walk into Mexico)

This past Friday, I took a trip across the border to Tijuana with a few friends.  My house is less than 20 miles from the international border, and yet I forget about it all the time. Some people make the commute between Tijuana and San Diego daily. I have friends that once lived in Tijuana and now live in San Diego, or friends that are originally from San Diego that now live in Tijuana. I admit that I am often caught up in my SD lifestyle that I forget about our sister city south of the border.

         ( I should have written "Gracias Tijuana por un buen tiempo")

Now, my original thoughts about TJ are similar to what everyone else thought. It's dangerous. The police are going to give me a hard time because I am American. Its going to be grimy but great for cheap alcohol. I might never make it home alive. After living in San Diego, it was five years before I crossed the border into Tijuana with an ex-boyfriend. We actually drove past Tijuana and to Ensenada for some wine tasting. But boy do I remember freaking out! Upon crossing the border I definitely felt like I was in a different Country. The change between countries was immediate and overwhelming. As I took more and more trips across the border, I started to feel more comfortable with Tijuana. What I once thought of as "dangerous Mexico", slowly but surely grew on me in many ways.

 

(Outside of Food Garden)

This past Friday I fell more in love with Tijuana. I visited a new part of the city called Zona Rio, which immediately gave me flashbacks to Mexico City-- Huge streets, round-a-bouts, monuments! Zona Rio was lined with many restaurants and bars, and I was surprised by how fancy and clean the area was. We decided to eat at a place called Food Garden. I would describe it as an outside cafeteria where there are a bunch different food stands to choose from. I had the most delicious Chilaquiles (which I had for the first time in Mexico city), and my friends enjoyed their food as well. To be honest, we kind of died and went to heaven over how amazing the food was. Overall the place is super cute and super hipster, and definitely something I would see in San Diego. Tijuana is definitely changing and I am liking it! After Food Garden, we did a bar crawl and had a few drinks at some really cool bars. It was a great time and I enjoyed exploring this Metropolis that is only a hop and skip away. I will definitely be making the trip across the border more often!


And on a random note, did you know there is a huge statue of Abraham Lincoln in Tijuana? Because there definitely is.