September 2011 - Santa Clara California

I travel to northern California quite a bit, but this was the first time that I actually spent some time in Santa Clara. Santa Clara, like all the other valley cities, has one big disadvantage - it is nothing compared to San Francisco. However I did happen to find an excellent second hand bookshop there - Recycle -

http://www.yelp.com/biz/recycle-book-store-san-jose

Packed to the gills with bargain quality second hand books - what more could one ask for. A lot probably, but that's another matter. Driving to and from work, I passed the Tesla factory where they manufacture their "awesome" electric vehicles. I assume one day they will be an ubiquitous as the VW Golf. I passed a lot of so called cities and their shopping malls, each one essentially a carbon copy of the other. That's what really hits me here in the valley - there is no sense of history - one could term it ersatz living, albeit at a comfortable level. There is, for example a city called Dublin - which is in no way like my alma mater. Pleasanton, I must concur is a pleasant place to spend an evening. There is an excellent Mexican restaurant smack in the middle of main st. Livermore is - what can I say Livermore and Newark is no nonsense Newark - I got lost in Target there. Apart from that, Santa Clara came and went - like a ship in the night...It could have been San Jose for all I knew and cared. Maybe in 500 years people will visit Silicon valley with the same reverence as we do the Renaissance cities of Italy. Then I'll admit I don't know squat!