From Santa Barbara to Los Angeles

The next day leads us to Santa Barbara, a nice, clean place which is more Mexican than American. We visit again a missionary Church and the Presidio and picnic on the beach. It shows that our U.S. food tastes among the seagulls significantly better than for us.

We are looking for the Highway No. 1 despite the continuing resistance of Navi again and get rewarded for our patience with coastal landscape - if less spectacular than in Big Sur.

Malibu is our entry in the LA area. Right the stilt villas known from the movies above the beach, left the more up the Hill. What Hollywood but does not show is that you must have a villa for jogging or swimming on the beach, because for miles there is no public access between the houses. And coastal area Malibu winds up for at least 27 miles. Here everything is simply bigger - the distances, the packing and the egos.

Malibu is then transferred into Santa Monica meaning: more urban, less expensive. With the more dense traffic we then realize that we have arrived back in Los Angeles. The loop of 5,000 kilometers net is complete. This means that we have to get back in the little beloved Holiday Inn LAX. Washing again, blow-dry socks, the children's sake in the nearest shopping center drive and then we are too tired at 8 P.m., when the children have spent all the money we gave them, to find a restaurant. Sbarro in shopping center offers Italian cuisine, whose only advantage is it saturates according to sign. But the abundant.

But shopping center and restaurants abound with cheerful, willing to purchase and satisfied Americans, what is amazing because the cities have an incredible density of these shopping centres. Part one pops up at every third street - always on the corner - of these widgets and basically all look the same. Americans want it probably this way it regardless of whether they are in Seattle, Philadelphia or Atlanta. Inside are alternately always the same shops and fast food chains and all of them are well attended.

Sometimes one has the impression, the Americans are living from selling each other goods produced in China. And of course, that the Chinese buy government bonds from them to finance their budget and private household deficits. I have only a suspicion that the Chinese will eventually provide the Bill and then theirs is the East and West Coast and in addition everything, where natural resources are inside. The Americans can then either live in the Plains or pay rent to the Chinese. But when I come back as a tourist then, at least the food will have improved.