The first day, we went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch. It took us around an hour for the meal. When we came out, to our utter surprise, the street outside, which happens to be the lifeline of the town, had been converted to a fruit market. That is
Santa Barbara. A very relaxed town at the coast line of
California. I have never been to such a small, beautiful and relaxed town as this one. The downtown has no building above two stories, rather too small for a person from
Chicago. However it has a wide variety of restaurants and other stalls to keep you engaged. It has a lot of green. People can be seen loitering all around or just sitting on the benches. For a moment, I had to recheck if it was actually a weekday. Nobody showed any sign of a rush.
The co-existence of the hills and the ocean makes it a very scenic place. The pier offers a good view of the city. I went to the Goleta beach too which is closer to the university campus. However, the only disappointment was that the water wasn’t clean. I had to drop my plan of bathing in the sea. I had been to the university beach on the last day just before leaving. The water was clearer there but then I didn’t have the time to enjoy it. Our trip to the vineyard for the dinner on Thursday was a very noble experience. The hilly road by the side of the ocean and through the country side was awesome. We went through a Dutch town and farms of horses and ostriches to finally arrive at the winery. The dinner with fine wine and adequate supplements was perfect.
The University of Santa Barbara campus was very attractive too. The very well-defined campus is surrounded by the natural beauties all around. The campus itself is very green. The dearth of students in the summer made it all the more silent and serene. The over-all get-up of the campus, the trees, the abundance of bikes, entrance of the student halls, the buildings reminded me of the KGP campus. It was so unlike UIC.
The note will be incomplete without a mention of the airport. It is again so small. It is made out of a building which wasn’t meant to be an airport. These days I am so used to the big airports, I was actually confused there. It was easier to figure my way out in the LA airport then in Santa Barbara. And, the planes that flew between LA and SB, are pretty small. The American Eagle flights carry hardly forty people. It initially feels a bit uncomfortable travelling in these old style planes, but then the views from the top help you get rid of the worries and enjoy the journey.
Downtown
A view of the Goleta beach
New Day Dawns
The Vineyard
University Campus - silent and serene
The small plane
