Oceanside

As we all went to see Oppenheimer last week, this week we had to go and see Barbie. The boys had decided at Pam's leaving party that they were going to see it on a boys trip, so us girls decided to go as a group too. We booked tickets and a table for dinner, and all wore matching pink clothes. The boys are going at some point next week and will maybe manage to feed themselves beforehand. 

We went to a Japanese restaurant, where they have a hibatchi grill in the centre, and a cook comes to prepare the food right in front of you. That was fun to watch and we enjoyed some pink cocktails too. 

On Friday, we went to Makbule's for her regular potlucks for the international department. It was a very busy night, with lots of people attending this time. We brought some chocolate chip cookies and ate a lot of food. 

On Sunday, we went to the train station very early to catch the morning train south. 

After an hour and a half on the train, we got off at San Juan Capistrano for some breakfast. They have a very cool old town right by the train station, with a saloon and a few cafes along one long street. They were all shaded in trees with funky art hanging around them all. 


We stopped for some breakfast in the Hidden House cafe, which looked a bit like a treehouse! As we ate, the sky cleared up and it got very sunny. 

We went for a short walk to see the butterfly garden and the rest of the street. On the other side of the rails, there was the actual town, which was still very small and cute. 



We went past the Mission, but you had to pay entry to go and see it and we didn't have long until we had to get back on the train. But through the doorway and over the wall we could see a very old and crumbling building, so it probably would have been very interesting to go and see. 

After this, we got back on the train and headed down to Oceanside. The train went past San Clemente pier which was where we'd been last time on the train, but this time we wanted to see the other town. Even though it was near 40 degrees and sunny in Riverside, at the beach it was still cloudy and about 22 degrees. 

Once off the train, we walked for about 5 minutes down to the beach. It was pretty busy, but we found a spot and lay down for a little bit. Mitchell had his obligatory beach nap and I finished my book. After a little while, we went to go and see what was happening further along the beach. We passed a food festival with lots of food trucks and noticed it was mainly Polynesian and Hawaiian food. 

As we walked further along the beach we could hear music and found it was a Polynesian dance competition/event. We'd seen a few people in costumes and big headdresses walking around, and this was why! We couldn't go in to watch as we didn't have tickets, but we could see a bit of what was going on from the pier above. We watch one dance off which was fun and then kept exploring. 


We went to see the pier, and although it was very cloudy at the beach that day, the sea was still a very bright turquoise. 

After that, we walked through the town, which was pretty much a regular town once you got away from the beach and got some sandwiches for a late lunch. With these, we decided to get the train back home.

Because we took the earlier train, we made it home in time to have a quick shower and meet our group for dinner and drinks for Milan's birthday.


Lots of love,

Emily and Mitchell

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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