Santa Barbara, California
Seaduced
John & Jane Craven
Fri 31 Aug 2012 16:04
On the second full day, we decided to take a city tour round Santa Barbara as we hadn't seen much of the place so far. There is an old town area, which is very Spanish influenced, and has been since large parts of it were rebuilt after the big earthquake in the 1920's. There are small shops, boutiques and restaurants tucked into small alleys around the main street. One of the main 'sights' on the tour was the Santa Barbara Mission. This is the oldest in California and has been there for 225 years. The missions, which are all through California, were set up by Monks travelling north, attempting to bring civilisation to the masses. They started schools for the public, and generally improved life. The missions are all about 40-50 miles apart, no more than a days walk.
After dipping our toe in some culture we stopped for lunch at a small bakery and then did a spot of shopping, before retiring back to the pool to rest after a hard day!