How about a stroll through Little Italy? It’s one of my favorite San Diego neighborhoods with sidewalk cafes, tasteful high-rises and slightly funky boutiques. . . .
We parked near a little house with this banana tree growing in the yard:
I was so focused on the strange-looking “flower,” I missed the bananas! D’oh.
One of the boutiques had the best accessory sitting outside.
I love these old Citroën 2CVs. Yes, they’re probably like driving around in a tin can, but their lines are so nice, so French. Brings back wonderful memories of trips to Paris. I really like that the shades of yellow and black are echoed in the shop’s exterior.
Never mind that all the tires are flat. Maybe to thwart thieves? Never really noticed how tiny the wheels were before.
According to Wikipedia, many Italians moved to San Diego from San Francisco after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake in search of tuna and other deep-sea sport and commercial fish. After I-5 was built, 35% of Little Italy was destroyed, the tuna-fishing industry declined and the neighborhood was pretty much forgotten for thirty years. The Little Italy Association was created in 1996 and gentrification began.
Although many of the restaurants are Italian, there’s an English pub that’s supposed to have great fish ‘n’ chips. . . .
Happy Halloween, everyone. 🙂
Little Italy has an annual art walk with sidewalk chalk painters, but the artists work on materials that can be removed. Some are now displayed on the sides of buildings.
I’m now wondering how they keep the artwork from fading and deteriorating.
Part II on Friday. Hope your week’s going well so far. . . .
{carole}
Pearls & Prose 
Just love that second photo! Great colours throughout 🙂
Thank you! Glad your cross country trip is going so well. Stay safe.
Thanks so much! In Sedona now – just love the West. Absolutely beautiful colours, people, and natural wonder.
I love Sedona. You are making good time!
Happy Halloween to you as well.
That looks like a charming neighborhood. I like these cars as well. You don’t see them anymore here.
I’ve only seen them in France, although there are ads for them in the U.S. They seem to be collectors’ items here and are expensive.
Looks like lots of fun. That last fresco is amazing!
Do you get lots of trick or treaters there? The weather is so nice I imagine that there’s nothing stopping the kids from going out on a candy hunt.
So good to hear from you! I hope you didn’t get any water in your place or lose electricity. Not the best Halloween in New York this year, sadly.
There aren’t that many kids in our development, so we have a lot of leftover candy, which is going in the freezer today. 🙂
Cool. I’ve never been there and yes, I’m looking forward to part II. Whenever we went to San Diego we always went to the zoo or beach. And I used to have soccer tournaments there. Every Thanksgiving for years. I miss that.
The zoo and the beach are probably the main attractions here, along with Old Town.
A soccer tourney every Thanksgiving! Growing up in the Midwest, I can only imagine that. We usually had snow by Nov. 1, and one Halloween we had to slog through a lot of the white stuff. Trick-or-treating in slush is the worst.
Oh my, I can certainly see why Little Italy is a favourite! Great pics, as always, Carole.
Thanks, Cheryl. It’s especially fun on Columbus Day, but we missed it this year.
Ooh, I’ve never seen a banana flower before.
But…you live in California, right? You don’t have any growing near you?
Not that I’ve ever seen – oranges everywhere, pomegranates, but no bananas
We had a tree when we first moved to Calif., but the bananas weren’t that great.
Little Italy in Manhattan has all but disappeared – swallowed up by Chinatown.
Wow, I almost forgot there was a Little Italy in Manhattan! Kinda’ sad.