Em reafirmo en la meva opinió sobre RENFE/ I reafirm myself in my opinion regarding RENFE

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Durant temps he estat usuària habitual de RENFE (més per obligació que no pas per devoció…), però per raons que ara no fan el cas, fa un temps que no utilitzo el servei. Aquest vespre se m’ha acudit de fer-ho. Mala idea. He agafat el tren a l’estació de Catalunya per dirigirme a Sabadell, però el tren no arrencava. S’ha estat aturat a l’estació uns vint minuts com a mínim, amb un tren plè (de gom a gom!) de gent a dins esperant per marxar, i una calor insuportable. Jo encara he tincut la "sort" de poder seure, però molta gent no ha tingut aquesta sort. Al cap de molta estona, ens informen per megafonia que la circulació per aquella via es trobava aturada per una avaria. Al final, he optat per sortir i anar a agafar els Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat (que m’han portat a casa sense incidències!), però per fer-ho he hagut de travessar una andana encara més abarrotada de gent. Suposo que hi ha coses que no canviaran mai. Doncs, tal com deia ahir, menys carreteres i més recursos pel transport públic!!

For a long time I’ve been a regular RENFE user (because I had to, not because I liked it…), but for reasons which are not important now, I haven’t used the service for some time now. This evening I thought I’d do it. Bad idea. I took the train at the Catalunya station to go to Sabadell, but the train wouldn’t leave. It has remained at the station for a good twenty minutes at the very least, it being so crowded of people awaiting for it to leave, and the heat was unbearable. I have been "lucky" enough to be able to sit down, but many others haven’t been that lucky. After a long while, we are informed by megaphony that the traffic through that railroad was interrupted due to a breakdown. In the end I decided to get out and to take the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat (which took me home without a problem!), but in order to do this I had to cross an even more crowded platform. I suppose some things will never change. So, as I said yesterday, the administration should spend less money on motorways and more on public transport!!

El Quart Cinturó/ The Fourth Ring

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Ultimament veig que, degut a la campanya electoral, es torna a parlar del projecte del Quart cinturó. Em pensava que ho haviem deixat enrera definitivament. Inocent de mi. Al final d’aquest país només en quedaran les carreteres. I de què serviran les carreteres, si ja no quedarà enlloc on anar, ni res que valgui la pena de veure? Els de les administracions s’haurien de gastar els diners dels nostres impostos millorant les infraestructures ferroviàries (a les de RENFE els faria molta falta…).

These last few days I see that, due to the elections campaign, again there are talks about the Fourth Ring project. I thought we had left this behind once and for all. Innocent me. In the end, roads will be the only thing left of this country. And what will be the use of the roads, if there will be nowhere left to go, and nothing worth seeing? The administration should spend the money from our taxes improving the railroad infrastructures (RENFE surely could use it…).

Festa Major/Local Festivities

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Avuí s’acaba la Festa Major d’aquest any. He anat als principals concerts, però ha estat una mica decepcionant. El divendres va actuar la Companyia Elèctrica Dharma, i tot i que el concert en si va ser fantàstic, i que ells, i especialment en Joan Fortuny (com sempre!), hi van deixar la pell, hi havia menys públic del que jo hagués esperat d’una banda clàssica com la Dharma. Una llàstima. En canvi, el dissabte vaig anar al concert de la Rosana, i allí estava plè de gom a gom! I el lloc era bastant més gran! No sóc cap fan d’aquesta senyora, però haig de reconèixer que sap com posar-se el públic a la butxaca! Això, en canvi, no es pot pas dir de l’artista que va venir ahir a la nit, Loquillo. Si bé la qualitat musical era innegable, la seva impassibilitat era tan gran que al concert li va faltar ànima gairebé en tot moment. No hi va haver cap bis i, defet, vaig estar temptada de marxar abans que s’acabés (el concert era gratuït)! Vaja, una decepció. Però fins i tot en aquest cas també hi havia més gent que en el concert de la Dharma. I això també és decepcionant: que hi hagi més gent en els concerts d’artistes espanyols (o que canten en llengua espanyola), que en els dels catalans.

Today is the last day of this year’s Local Festivities. I have been to the main concerts, but it’s been a bit disappointing. On Friday there was the Companyia Elèctrica Dharma, and even though the concert itself was fantastic, and that they, and specially Joan Fortuny (as always!), left their heart and soul on stage, there was less audience than I would have expected for a classic band such as the Dharma. A pity. On the other hand, on Saturday I went to Rosana‘s concert and it was so crowded!! And the place was a lot bigger! I’m not a fan of this lady, but I have to admit that she knows how to empathize with the audience! That, on the other hand, cannot be said about the artist that came yesterday, Loquillo. The quality of the music was irrefutable, but his impassibility was so big that the concert lacked soul almost all the time. He didn’t go back onstage at all, and in fact I was tempted to leave before it was over (the concert was free). So disappointing. But even then there was more people than in Dharma‘s concert, and that was disappointing as well: that there was more people on shows by Spanish artists (or artists that sing in Spanish), than on shows by Catalan ones.