S Barbara

Last Saturday, after more than 2 months I had my first experience of driving in heavy freeway traffic. Direction west and north towards S. Barbara on the 101, formerly called Ventura Freeway, or within LA, Hollywood Freeway. It was not a gridlock, but was very slow getting out of LA. And was packed on both directions. To see a 4 or 5 lanes -on each direction- freeway full of immobile cars is quite a sight. And the usual dumb question comes to your mind, where are all of these people going on Saturday at 11 am? Are they going to have lunch at the in-laws with their packed "pastarelle" sitting on the back seat? Are they going to the seaside beaches north, to the parks? to their weekend jobs?

After 3 hours and more of driving and radio, with L. we finally arrive to S Barbara, some 90 miles away, the average speed is after all not too bad. Just in time for lunch at the house of a couple of friends I know from Italy. They have a house overlooking the city from the south east. The weather is very misty and one cannot see very far into the sea where some islands are supposed to be. However from downtown looking to the hills I am very struck by how much familiar it looks. Could well be anywhere in southern Italy. Or Spain? Could it not? The white flat-roofed houses, the green hills, Only when you look closer then the size of streets and the quantity of palm trees tells you are not in the Mediterranean.

Infinite variations of what it is called the Spanish style line up in the streets.

Downtown S Barbara is very pleasant, a seaside resort kind of atmosphere, overpriced shops, fancy restaurants, many of which are Italian. However, and in this it differs from a seaside resort, downtown and the main promenade area are all inland. As you get closer to the freeway that runs parallel and close to the coastline shops disappear and buildings get rougher.

Why is it that seaside cities tends to center away from the coast? And why the upper classes prefer the hills to the ocean view? It is such a general phenomenon that involves both medium and large cities, I am sure somebody must have written something clever on this.