LA JOLLA COASTAL WALK

Views of La Jolla coast near the Children's Pool.

Children's Pool area

Fishing day boat

The Difference Between Sea Lions and Seals

Sea lions hang out more at the cove, the harbor seals at Children’s Pool (1o-minutes south of the cove). You can tell a sea lion from a seal by recognizing some distinct features:

• sea lions have visible, outer ear flaps
• sea lions bark
• sea lions use their flippers to move on land, seals tend to wriggle on their bellies since theirs are smaller
• harbor seals tend to have darker, speckled skin

Swimmers at La Jolla Cove with sea lion

THE GOLDEN AGE OF SPAIN

Apparition of Saint Michael on Mount Gargano by Sebastian de Arteaga

The San Diego Museum of Art explored Spain’s Golden Age with an ambitious exhibition of more than 100 objects primarily from the 17^th century. The museum already has one of the biggest permanent collections of art from that era in the United States. “Art & Empire: The Golden Age of Spain,” which took four years of planning to expand on that collection to take a global view of that period in art history

The art of Spain and the San Diego Museum of Art are inextricably connected. Full-size statues of Spanish masters Diego Velázquez, Bartolomé Estebán Murillo and Francisco de Zurbarán stand sentry in the façade over the main entrance of the Balboa Park museum. Busts of Jusepe de Ribera and El Greco, set in medallions, flank the three.

                  The five painters are masters from the Spanish Golden Age, when Spain laid claim to land around the world, including vast swaths of North and South America, parts of Italy and the Netherlands, as well as the Philippines. Spain’s global expansion that began around 1500 brought a shift in the world order with the conquest of land, subjugation of people and the demise of many societies. But there was also a broadening of culture that led to a brilliant era in the arts, producing what are still considered among the finest works of art in history.

Kitchen Maid by Diego Velazquez

Allegory of Eternity, the Succession of Popes by Ruben

Museum of Art with statues of Velazquez, Murillo and Zurbaran above the entrance

Kitchen Maid by Diego Velazquez

FOOD TRUCK FRIDAYS

    

Kick off your summer weekends in style every Friday evening at Balboa Park’s hottest after-hours event. Visitors of all ages can enjoy live entertainment by talented local performers while eating gourmet dishes from a rotating selection of more than a dozen food trucks parked on the Plaza de Panama and El Prado walkway. Now in its fourth year, Food Truck Fridays is a program of the Balboa Park Conservancy in partnership with the City of San Diego Park and Recreation Department.

Food Truck Fridays gives thousands of park visitors and families a unique opportunity to sample a diverse, rotating selection of gourmet food trucks, serving everything from appetizers and main courses to desserts and specialty beverages, all in one convenient location. In addition to exceptional food options, Food Truck Fridays presents a full slate of family-friendly fun: Different musical acts perform each night in the Plaza de Panama. The Plaza’s “living room” setup is rolled out, along with giant family game sets. Various Balboa Park cultural institutions and community partners offer hands-on activity and crafts booths for kids. And participating park museums host special evening hours and programs on Fridays.