Santa Barbara 26, 27, 28, 29 May

The garden of the apartment.

 We loved the last four days of our trip, spent at the lovely town of Santa Barbara in this apartment.

Our hire car, the smallest car in the USA.

State Street.  The town is uniformly Mediterranean architectural style, because it was rebuilt according to strict rules after an earthquake in 1925. 

                                                           Beautiful flowering Jacaranda trees line the streets.

                                         The Spanish influence is everywhere.

                                         Arches rule here.

                                                            Santa Barbara has lots of decorative tiles.

                                          More arches.

                                                           Benjamin Franklin makes an appearance.

There are many beautiful old theatres in State Street.

                              

 

                                                                                   The Arlington Theatre.

                    An old police car waiting for a wedding to come out of this church, Our Lady of Sorrows.

                                        The very impressive colonial style County Courthouse.

                                         The main entrance of the County Courthouse.

                             A view of the Ynez mountains from the El Mirador clock tower above the Court House.

                                           The interior of the Courthouse is very impressive.

Tunisian tiled pots and walls.

 Lovely painted wall plaques.          

   

    

Bill at one of the huge doors.   

Each door has one of these superior signs.

 Dolphins in one of the courtyards along State Street.

 

Looking back on the town from Stearns Wharf.

                                        This day was Sunday, so a lot of people were out on the water.

                                          More dolphin statues.

                                  

  El Presidio State Park.  Founded in 1782, it was the last of four military fortresses built by the Spanish along the Californian coast. It was also a social and political hub, as well as a stopping point for travelling  Spanish military people.

                                        A wedding at the Presidio.  We think this couple invited everyone they had ever met to be in their wedding party.

 A tiled staircase.

                                         The Chapel with trompe l'oeil effects.

                                          How the Presidio looked originally.  It is gradually getting restored.

                                        The Presidio kitchen.

C

 The Santa Barbara Mission, called the "Queen of Missions", was founded by the Spanish in 1786. 

We were lucky enough to be there for the annual I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival held during the Memorial Day weekend.

Hundreds of artists show off their talents by producing colourful chalk paintings on the pavement.

The jolly Berry Man.

                                       

                                         There was a terrific festive atmosphere, with food stalls and live music.

                                         Arcaded corridors inside the mission.

                                                    A Qing Dynasty Vase with Flying Cranes over Islands of Peach Trees, at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.  The Museum was established in 1941 and has works ranging from classical antiquities to modern installations. 

                                                   Portrait of Nadya 1890, Ilya Efimovich Repin.   

                

The Santa Barbara Museum of Art was last place we visited before heading back to Los Angeles for our return flight home.   We left with many happy memories of an interesting and fun journey.

Drive from Cambria to Santa Barbara

  Roadside wild flowers.

    Morro Bay, a seaside port, and in the background, Morro Rock a dome shaped volcanic rock, one of a chain of 9 in the area.  It houses nests of peregrine falcons.

    It is still a genuine fishing port.

  

  We stopped for quite a while in the charming town of San Luis Obispo, which is laid out around the mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, above.   It was founded in 1772, also by Junipero Serra. These teenagers were having a graduation ceremony there.

  The History Centre.

  A small river runs through the middle.

  Love this street art.

  What colours!

   More cute artwork.

  A windmill in the Scandinavian style town of Solvang.  It was established in 1911 by three Danish farmers as a folk school to pass on their Danish traditions to future generations. The town grew around the folk school.  Now it is a tourist town.

   The buildings are built in the Danish tradition.

  A Dane.

  Actually there are lots of windmills.