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Taking a day trip to Tijuana is something I haven’t experienced in a really long time. We were way overdue for a visit! It’s easy to forget we live next door to this amazing hub of streetfood, art galleries and microbreweries.

Our first stop was stop was at Taconazo for fresh Tijuana style tacos. We love this place because they make the tortillas on the spot and the portions are great! The fresh salsas and bottled coke weren’t too bad either. :p

We started the day in the Zona Río district of Tijuana. We decided to pay for all day parking since traffic is so congested, you can probably get around quicker on foot than in a car. Also, exploring a new city by foot is my new favorite thing. You get a whole different sense of a city by walking thru it, the people, the weather, the smell of street food, it’s the best.

After our tacos we made our way back to the downtown area and spotted this amazing building, the Tijuana Cultural Center. This iconic Tijuana symbol houses an IMAX Dome, coffee shop, book store and more. The center is a great place for littles. There’s a ton of enclosed spaces to explore and run around in. Once Lucia spotted the water fountains alongside the building, we couldn’t hold her back.

Can you tell she loves climbing all of the things? ;p She was in her happy place for sure!

Just keep climbing, just keep climbing…

This Art Exhibition on display was a series of portraits by artist Estefany Maya. All photos include objects discarded by motel guests in a city like Tijuana and re-imagined into beautiful still scenes.

Later in the day we headed over to Playas de Tijuana to visit with family nearby. This is where the border fence makes it’s way down into the ocean. I definitely missed out on taking some great photos while here. I was too busy deciding on what to eat next! Food carts, coffee shops, and souvenir vendors all line themselves along the street.

Street art in Playas de Tijuana.

Mexican style hot dogs over everything! I haven’t had one of these since back when me and my friends would drive the streets of Mexicali for the hot dog carts after a night of drinking. They are the best drunk food but good sober too 😉

We ended the night at La Michoacana Ice Cream. From what I’ve been told, this is the og Mexican ice cream shop in Tijuana. They make all the yummy Mexican style fruit snacks and both sweet and savory. Their ice cream has a unique texture, it’s more smooth and velvety than American ice cream. My favorite was the aguas fresca in strawberry flavor. It’s sort of like a strawberry version of horchata.

It’s easy to be swayed away from Tijuana. It’s grimy, bustling, noisy and the smell isn’t great. But the city is being dramatically transformed since it’s dark days of organized crime. I can’t wait to explore it’s cool new bars and always emerging restaurants. Such a multi-cultural and bubbling city is never boring for us creatives and is worth the short trip.