Santa Barbara, California

This was the first city we had stopped in that had had a hugely Spanish influence on the architecture. It was a really attractive town, with a large pedestrian shopping area with lots of boutique shops and restaurants.

We had our first Mexican food here, at a restaurant just down the road from our hotel. It was a treat to be given free tortilla chips and salsa to start the meal, instead of bread, but we would soon get used to it!

In the morning, we walked around the courthouse. This incredible building is a working court and chambers, as well as the administration office. It was quite special, and it offered us a fantastic view over the city, and we spent a long time looking around.























































From there, we headed to the Mission Santa Barbara, our first Mission. These churches were built by the Spanish, and there are around 15 in southern California. They are in various states of repair, and the Santa Barbara one is considered one of the best. Sadly, we had to content ourselves with the outside, as we arrived during mass, and couldn’t afford the time to wait.

























Instead, we walked along the pier, which was restored after fire destroyed the middle of it several years ago. The pier doesn’t have much to recommend it, being filled with restaurants, tourist shops, and many of the city’s homeless. However, the views back to the beach were lovely, and we shared a small fish & chips at the beach.