On My Way Downtown

The thing is: I like walking. I don’t mean hiking or walking as a work out, though I enjoy those things from time to time. Instead, I am talking about walking for fun or just to admire the view, which is simply breathtaking in Santa Barbara. So sometimes I’ll choose walking downtown over taking the bus for instance, just as long as I have my ipod with me and can listen to good music on my way there – usually rock’ n’ roll. Yup, in case you were wondering, I am that weird kid who always wears a black shirt, with a picture of a rock band on it, even during a 90 degrees summer afternoon (or as we call it in Brazil: a regular afternoon).

Besides the fact that downtown is gorgeous and worth of at least a couple posts, the walk there can be equally interesting and baffling. For starters, there are a few ways to get to State Street, and some are rather “amusing.” This may not be the best word to describe those paths, but for lack of a better word it’ll have to do it. Depending on where you are walking from, and where exactly you are trying to go, there is one road (or trail if you will) that goes down a hill, through trees and bushes. Some kind soul has even set a rope to aid whoever attempted to pass there. Seriously, the first time I went through this path, I was convinced I would be kidnapped at any moment. Either that or an UFO would appear.

Another possible way to go downtown is by walking down Cliff Dr. And if you go straight, by the highway, there is a huge tree I have climbed once or twice. Okay, I have climbed it way more times than that, but who is counting anyway? Regardless of how often I have been sent back to my childhood amidst its branches, I’ve definitely had fun on this tree. Now someone whose head is in the right place would naturally ask whether we are supposed to be playing on it, and the most honest answer is: I don’t know.

In spite of how I make it downtown, I love the feeling I get when I make a turn and finally glimpse  it. But then again, downtown deserves a post of its own.