Monday, December 15, 2008

Santa Barbara ... more than just a soap opera



Santa Barbara was a Soap Opera which was produced in the early to mid eighties. However, it only aired in South Africa during the mid nineties. Now, i am no soap-opera-watcher, but this particular program would come on roundabout 2.30pm which was exactly when i would get home from school, make myself a snackwich, and plop down in front of the tv to have lunch.

Every now and then I would get sucked in. I always thought that this was an extremely cheesy show, and that anyone who seriously followed it must have an IQ of 20... this might be applicable to LOST followers too... that one was for Frank ;)





WEll, this blog serves the purpose of letting everyone out there know that Santa Barbara the soapie does not do ANY justice to Santa Barbara the place.





I surprised Jono for his birthday this weekend by booking a hotel in Santa Barbara without telling him. I am sooo chuffed with myself (and others) for not blowing the surprise, and it was completely worth it when i made "that wrong turn" and Jono starting cottoning on!





The place we stayed at was called "Hotel Oceana", a beautiful newly renovated place right on the water's edge. We had an ocean view room, and were so thrilled with the atmosphere of the place. The decor reminded me of Cape Town's style, which made me happy.





We had a very relaxing afternoon, as we lay in bed and watched random movies aswell as the clouds rolling in over the water (Our first big "storm" of the winter hit this weekend). This morning we awoke to a most fascinating sight. The beach that our room overlooked was covered with pelican - REAL pelican! We couldn't believe our eyes! Of course, Jono being Mr.adventure, had to run down and investigate which led to the following:















See how peaceful they look?







Not for long!







Bye-Bye Birdies!







Overall we had such a great time in Santa Barbara. A few words to sum this place up: quaint; karaktervol; peaceful; beautiful; seaside bliss; historical; scenic; hilly; delightful; magical.





And now a few more pics of our time there:





Our perfect little room
















The view from our room







me, a little too excited about the fun wallpaper







The view from our room at sunset







View of the pelican from our room







The fish place we ate at







That's our hotel in the background, our room on top, left







On the way home... now that's california for you


8 comments:

The Pascua Family said...

We LOVE Santa Barbara and were actually just reminiscing over our fun trips there B.K. (before kids) hehehe! Isn't beautiful, we love the atmosphere, food, ocean and everything about it!!
Love the pics of you guys....and where did Jono's hair go??
I'm so excited you are blogging!!!!

Carrie Allen said...

Niiiiice

danielle marie. said...

ok 1. absolutely beautiful, sounds like you guys had a lot of fun.
2. simone, i am a LOST follower and i take offends to what you said...it is a great show!!

Frank Morgan said...

yeahhh. now hey hey simone.
you better watch itt.
theres a lot of LOST followers around..especially people you know.
you wouldn't wanna get us all angry now would you?
you miight find yourself LOST in the future.

Frank And Lela said...

What, 20 isn't high!?

Simone Knepper said...

apologies to all those LOST readers, but I DO NOT retract my statement. I'm ready for whatever tragedy befalls me.

blythe said...

chuffed? cottoned?

Simone Knepper said...

south africanisms b.