Last year about this time, I was learning the ropes of the extensive and wonderful metro system of Barcelona. Our apartment was 3 blocks from a metro/train stop and our family of three was able to get anywhere using the system, sometimes making transfers to the bus network. The route was rarely direct line from point A to point B so we had to plan ahead a bit. But it worked and we eliminated the headaches of car maintenance, insurance, parking and the like. It was refreshing in many ways. We also got some regular exercise just from walking!
This year we are back in suburbia and are forced to use several cars to get around. I don't like it. Our family of 5 is all together under one roof which is good but we need wheels just to do the basic things of life like work, shop and go to school. Four of us are currently working and number five is interviewing for a job this coming week. Two of us are students in different schools. The good thing for me is that most of MY work can be done from the home, traveling on weekends to churches [some by airplane] and networking with people over coffee whenever schedules can be coordinated. I can also walk about a mile to school where I am taking an Arabic class. Having said that, the task of coordinating schedules is a challenge sometimes.
Sorry to ramble. I'm just having fond memories of using public transportation in Barcelona all last year. The downside was misjudging connections and arriving late to an event which happened on occasion.
In this age of depleting energy resources, long commutes and fractured communities, I sometimes wonder how the world would be different if there was greater civic commitment to better mass transit systems and deliberate efforts to locate people in communities where work, recreation, school and family life were more proximate to each other. This imagined scenario would thereby diminish our energy needs and the huge infrastructure that is required to move people around the way we do.
Apart from such profound thoughts, I wanted to share a photo with you that reminds me of life in Barcelona. This is Friday and is time for "Friday Fotos." For some of you who read this blog, you are close to Saturday already. In any case, for all of you, have a great and blessed weekend!
Interesting how so many other nations get public transportation right, while we in the Puget Sound are just bicker and bicker and bicker and bicker and bicker and bicker. . .honestly, I read some of the news message boards around here, and as the Sound Transit package is coming up for a vote, you’d think it was the civil war again. Only fought by people who behave like kids on the schoolyard playground.