At Global Alliance, we take the “Worldwide” in our company name very seriously. We pride ourselves in offering premium limousine services to our clientele not only in our home base of Toronto but around the globe. Through our sophisticated network of trusted worldwide affiliates, Global Alliance can provide professional chauffeured services in hundreds of international cities. We will discuss many of the major worldwide destinations served via our affiliate network on this blog. Today’s port of call is Southern California’s sunny, historic city of San Diego.
San Diego is the second-largest city in California and eighth-largest in the United States, with a population of 1.38 million people. Its metropolitan area is home to over 3 million residents. Home to indigenous peoples for centuries, the San Diego area was first visited by Europeans in 1542, when Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo claimed the area for Spain in the first European landing on the Pacific coast of what is now the United States. Permanent European settlement did not follow until over 200 years later, however, with the founding of the Presidio and Mission of San Diego by Spaniards. Part of Mexico after the Spanish colonial period, San Diego joined the United States in 1848, and was a key settlement in the new state of California in 1850.
Originally based away from key transportation waterways, San Diego’s Old Town (now a restored State Historic Park) was soon eclipsed in importance by the New Town, which is now the modern city’s downtown core. San Diego’s growth was catalyzed by a major railroad connection in 1878, and its urban and cultural development highlighted by two major international expositions in 1915 and 1935. Both of these expositions were held in Balboa Park, and many of the Spanish Colonial Revival buildings and landscaping features from the fairs form the architectural basis of the popular park today. Home to many theatres, museums, gardens and greenhouses, and the world-renowned San Diego Zoo, Balboa Park is one of America’s finest and most distinctive green and cultural spaces and a National Historic Landmark.
San Diego is a hub of outdoor activity all year long, with warm and sunny (or at least mild) weather all year long. Mission Bay and Mission Beach are excellent venues for all types of watersports and athletic pursuits. Hiking is popular at nearby regional parks and preserves, and the San Diego area is also home to many excellent golf courses. Sport fishing, surfing and whale watching are practiced in the adjacent Pacific Ocean. Sea World San Diego is a much-visited aquarium and marine life theme park within the city, and the nearby coastal town of La Jolla is a quaint playground for the wealthy.
San Diego is a major military town, home to U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps facilities. One of these is on the island of Coronado in San Diego Bay, which is also home to the historic Hotel del Coronado. San Diego is also an educational and biotechnological research hotbed, much of it based out of the prestigious University of California at San Diego in the north of the city. A highlight of the UCSD campus is the dramatic and distinctive Geisel Library, named for Theodor Geisel, a.k.a. Dr Seuss, one of the city’s favourite cultural sons. The border with Mexico is just south of the city, and daytrips to lively Tijuana are a common visitor activity.
San Diego International Airport (airport code SAN) is the main air travel hub for the metropolitan area and is quite proximal to the city core. The Port of San Diego is a busy facility for marine cargo, and is also a stop for cruise ships.
Please feel free to contact Global Alliance Worldwide Chauffeured Services for all of your transportation needs in San Diego, California.