Sewage, batteries and serenades

Oh the metro. Wandering the tunnels underground several times each day is funny to me at times. The routine of the different routes that I take to get to and from the various places around the city have certain little checkpoints, you might say, that I find interesting.

Sitting in the plaza down by La Rambla, almost ready to go to work each day, I can expect to see my friend the battery salesman continuing his sales pitches trying to sell Duracell batteries to the people walking through the metro. He's right on the way to the S and the L6 and L7 lines, waiting for me, marking the first of the several routine spots that I pass each day.

In-between the green and blue lines on the way back from Plaza Catalunya there's this one stretch of not more than 20 meters that has the always welcoming smell of spilled sewage. I have no idea why, or how long it's been there or if someone's planning on fixing it at some point, but I'm always counting the steps until the spot where the smell begins. Is it weird that I keep taking a whiff of it everyday?....doesn't sound smart to me, but nevertheless, I won't lie, I give it a sniff.

I like the city, I like the routes, but being underground for so much of the day in the usually stiflingly hot metro can be somewhat of a drag. But the day just wouldn't be the same without the battery guy. Wouldn't know what to do without him.

The best of all, though, is the musicians playing down there. Some of them are a little sketch, just hoping to collect some money for being there, but for the most part there are some pretty decent performers sending their music reverberating all around the tunnel system. It's great, it helps take your mind off the profuse sweating. I think there are even a couple semi-professional legitimate musicians who just enjoy playing for the masses in the metros because they're dressed up nicely and have quality instruments and even good sound systems with them sometimes. A strong gust of wind and some violins echoing all around, can't beat it.