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Thank you to all the kind strangers who helped and advised us on the way. The total raised for local and national charities is already more than £30,000. Sadly we were beaten to first place: one team reached Buenos Aires, courtesy of a Cambridge alumnus. Even on this short budget break, the infectiously cheerful California people, eclectic urban culture and stunning golden bays had enlivened our tired student souls. On Monday we were up early to spend our last few hours basking in the sunshine, eating peanut butter and jelly bagels at the adorable Cafe 222 ( ). The waitresses indulged our "oh so cute" English accents with a three-course meal.
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Later we got a free dinner at upmarket Mexican restaurant Barrio Star (+1 6) after explaining we were writing for the Guardian and doing a charity competition.
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We had blagged some free pancakes at the famous Maryjane's ( /6yb4gdv) at our hotel, so splashed out on a $13 taxi ride to uptown district Hillcrest, a largely gay, transgender and fabulous community, with quirky vintage, independent and hip stores such as Luigi Vera on 5th, and some of the best restaurants in town, including the Tractor Room (+1 6, ) and Extraordinary Desserts ( ).Īt Balboa Park ( ), an "urban cultural" park with 14 museums and beautiful botanical gardens, we sweet-talked the receptionist into giving us a press pass for free entry to each museum. In fact, we soon learnt that a typical San Diegan Sunday is dominated by sport – all the locals, it seemed, from dogs to toddlers, were in sportswear, making the most of the parks and sunshine. Nevertheless, we saw a real slice of American life in the form of an amateur, middle-aged team practising in their threadbare gym shorts.
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We had hoped to catch a glimpse of some handsome Padres in full swing, but it was no longer baseball season. To the right out of our hotel was Petco Park ( /yky5ox2), home of the San Diego Padres baseball team. The Gaslamp Quarter is the beautiful heart of the old city, full of bars, galleries and affordable restaurants, and the beach is a must-see. The pace is stroll, don't rush – the people are as relaxed and sunny as the weather. The city is on the Pacific and has wide, clean streets with colourful architecture. Next day we decided to find out how San Diegans spend Sundays. Our age and lack of funds (or smart clothes) meant the city's reputedly brilliant nightlife was off-limits, so we made do with a mountain of frozen yoghurt, piled high with fruit and sugary toppings, for just $5 at the Pinkberry frozen yogurt shop ( ), which was open till 11pm, and next to the Hard Rock. The Exclusive Collection Gallery on 5th ( ) was showing fine art from artists such as Michael Flohr, and at the Horton Plaza Mall ( /hortonplaza) we browsed in American classics such as Abercrombie & Fitch. Photograph: Sarah Malikīut there was plenty to see without spending a dime. The shop owner found us perfect dresses to try on (with matching shoes and belts) and we posed in the window like pin-ups. We were smitten with the Bettie Page store ( ), which sells 1950s-style dresses. We decided to spend the day checking out the area and were delighted to find that most of San Diego's interesting shops were on 4th and 5th Avenues, right by our hotel. The aim of the jailbreak is to do as much as possible without using your own money. On 5th Avenue we found a Mexican restaurant – Tequila 100 (+1 6, ) – and ravenously consumed our American-sized portions. The much-needed drink was illegal (the hotel cleared the mini-bar in our room), as we are under 21, so we explored.
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A text told us that had found us a room, at the Hard Rock Hotel. San Diego is 5,500 miles from Cambridge, and as it was still just a few hours after the start, we were sure we were in first place.Ĭhanging at Washington DC, we finally landed in San Diego, to sunshine and palm trees. We got to check-in with minutes to spare and boarded our United Airlines plane euphoric. She eventually told us she had found us a flight to San Diego. We spent two hours trying to get sponsorship from firms before landing at the Guardian offices, where travel editor Gemma Bowes was our "Guardian angel". Once at King's Cross we felt braver – we had escaped Cambridge and a world of possibilities lay before us. We gamely rattled our purple collecting bucket until we'd collected enough coins to buy two £15 tickets to London. When the go signal was fired, we joined in a mass stampede heading directly to the train station. In 2010 the prize was taken by a pair of amateur magicians who spent the weekend frantically busking to buy two tickets to Washington DC. Sarah Malik, left, and Alice Wainright, right, with Gema Bowes outside the Guardian offices.