This has been a month for anniversaries - married for a year... working at Google for three... March is a nice month.
We went to Santa Barbara for our wedding anniversary. A place that has meant very different things to me at different times in life -- strange how events work out...
We went to Santa Barbara for our wedding anniversary. A place that has meant very different things to me at different times in life -- strange how events work out...
It was a very nice weekend, warm and sunny except when the breeze picked up. Santa Barbara has some very attractive houses - not just large and grand, but unique, quirky and imaginative that somehow feel quite authentic. There was a definite "southern California" air to the place, particularly close to the beach.
We also went down to the Santa Barbara Mission, quite a nice building. I have lived in California all these years, without really understanding what these "Missions" were all about. It turns out the Spanish built Christian missions down the coast from San Francisco to Mexico, to bring Christianity to the heathens. Or the heathens to Christianity, if you prefer.
As I stood there in Santa Barbara Mission, reading about its history, the conversion and "education" of local Indians, I couldn't help thinking: thank God the practical British were more into trade than religion. Less of that religious zeal than the Portugese and Spanish. I shudder to think what India would have looked like after two centuries of coerced conversion.
As I stood there in Santa Barbara Mission, reading about its history, the conversion and "education" of local Indians, I couldn't help thinking: thank God the practical British were more into trade than religion. Less of that religious zeal than the Portugese and Spanish. I shudder to think what India would have looked like after two centuries of coerced conversion.
Oh well, back to the present.
The Santa Barbara courthouse is a surprisingly interesting and pretty building, with some very attractive interiors. Far better than the average bureaucratic outpost.
The Santa Barbara courthouse is a surprisingly interesting and pretty building, with some very attractive interiors. Far better than the average bureaucratic outpost.
On our way back, we stopped at Solvang, which is a mildly interesting, touristy, fake Danish town.
And I can finally say that I have been to Santa Barbara.
1 comment:
I had no idea you wanted to say that so badly. Congratulations!
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