![]() ![]() Instead of the anxiety-inducing focus on other drivers, the train passenger is treated to the views of gently rolling Simi Hills and the crashing turquoise waves of the Pacific Ocean. Still, traveling on even the slowest train is superior in my mind to driving on any interstate freeway. However, for anyone who’s ridden a train in, say, Belgium, China, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Korea, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, or Uzbekistan the unhurried speed of trains in the world’s wealthiest nation will likely come as another surprise. The average speed of the Pacific Surfliner is about 66 kilometers per hour (roughly 40 miles per hour). The scenery, as it washes over one from the comfort of a train car, is beautiful. Nationally, only the Acela Express and Northeast Regional carry more passengers. The Pacific Surfliner is a coastal train that runs 563 kilometers from San Diego in the south to San Luis Obispo in the north. Not long after I left the restroom, The Pacific Surfliner arrived and we boarded it without incident. If anyone reading this has the ear of anyone in the Glendale government, perhaps you could hip them to electric hand dryers - a waste-reducing invention that has now been around for a century. ![]() When I reached into the towel dispenser and discovered, to my horror, a wet pair of gym shorts stuffed inside. I normally carry a handkerchief with which to dry my hands but on this day I did not. There are worse things than urine-soaked station floors, I soon learned. If station elevators and stairs smell like urine, it’s because transit authorities provide no better place to relieve oneself. To the traveller familiar with the modern transit systems of most modern, developed countries, it is worth pointing out that in degenerating democracies, public restrooms are rare almost no American public transit station has been built with public restrooms since the 1970s - certainly none built by Metro or Metrolink. Predating, as it does, both Metro and Metrolink, the station is graced with public restrooms - a great relief to any traveller who concerned in the slightest with comfort and cleanliness. Despite serving Amtrak, Glendale Beeline, Greyhound, Metro, and Metrolink - and despite being the proposed terminus of the Glendale Streetcar - it is a quiet station and the ticket window has, for many years I suppose, been unstaffed. MacDonald Jr., made more charming by the hints of a non-existent second story. ![]() It’s a charming Churrigueresque style station, designed by Kenneth A. Less than five minutes later, we arrived at the Glendale Transportation Center, a train station built in 1923 as the Glendale Southern Pacific Railroad Depot and later known as Tropico Station. So, when the day arrived, Una and I rode our bicycles toward Glendale, stopping first for breakfast at always excellent Tacos Villa Corona in the Atwater neighborhood. She reassured me that that Santa Barbara was easily accessed and explored without an automobile. Committed multimodalists, they’d taken the train and bicycles. Available as a print or on merch.Īs Una planned our trip to Santa Barbara, I saw on Twitter that Emily Han - the woman behind the much-missed Moving Stories LA - had posted about a recent trip to Santa Barbara that she’d taken with her partner. Pendersleigh & Sons Cartography’s ink and watercolor map of Santa Barbara, 2021. I did quite enjoy my stay in Santa Barbara, though, even if I was unnerved by what I perceived as its failings. On the other hand, I’m somehow capable of enjoying myself, with some effort, even in places like resorts, sports bars, and outlet malls. Sitting in a sauna is about as appealing an idea to me as is being waterboarded. One person’s rest and relaxation is, to me, an endurance test. It’s just that I (with few exceptions) prefer vibrant, massive metropolises or utterly untamed natural landscapes to genteel tourist towns. It’s not that I had anything against Santa Barbara in particular or that sort of place, generally. Santa Barbara is a rather small city that’s popular with tourists - exactly the sort of place, in other words, that’s not exactly high on my list of top places to visit. Anyway - if I don’t write about it now, I never will - so here it is, what I can remember, and without many pictures. An unwanted OS update erased most of my photos. My job-job (as opposed to my work) got very busy, though, and I found myself overworked and exhausted. When the pandemic hit, many suddenly found themselves with more time than they knew what to do with. I meant to write about our visit for California Fool’s Gold sooner, but 2020 was the year everything went pear-shaped. A year ago - over a year ago! - my partner and I visited the town of Santa Barbara. ![]()
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