Blowing out a lot of candles on the birthday cake has bad things, but among the good things stands out being able to be carried away by the wind to unknown hobbies. For example, using public transport to explore new places, connect with other people and ultimately as an excuse to get out of the house.
Some take a nap, others read, some socialize or travel aimlessly along all the metro lines. But, whatever the purpose of the journey, they declare that traveling is good for them, because it encourages them to get ready and get out of the house for a good while.
This is what he sometimes does, for example, Luis Mayor Navarro, 85 years old, takes the bus that passes near Carrer Llobregós, in Horta, to travel randomly to various points in Barcelona.
“I have verified that to be physically well I have to walk at least five kilometers a day”, he explains. “Then what I do is take the bus to the Horta velodrome, as I did today, and then walk back. “Indisputably, it’s an excuse to leave the house”, he confirms.
The habit of taking the bus or the subway in the same spirit as when going to the cinema seems to have taken root among elderly people, at least according to the representatives of various associations. “We know that there are elderly people who regularly spend a morning or an afternoon doing the route of a bus line several times to distract themselves and meet other people”, says Albert Quiles, the director of the Amics de la Gent Foundation great
According to Quiles, “the free and accessible public transport allows many elderly people who suffer from loneliness to use the bus and the metro as a relational channel that helps them alleviate their suffering”. With the simple act of greeting, saying good morning and talking about the weather, it is enough to start a conversation that takes them out of isolation.
This is the opinion of Mau Blancafort himself, coordinator of Som Base, an association that claims the right of the elderly to have emotional support. “Public transport is therapeutic, as it allows the elderly to connect with other people and also relate to the city where they live”, he says.
“Inside the bus or the metro it is hot in the winter and cool in the summer”, remembers Blancafort, who says that he knows several elderly people who have a great time going up and down by bus. This is the case of Marisa Flores, a woman who uses public transport “as if it were a tourist bus, but not”, she says jokingly.
Mercedes Zubiburu is a 75-year-old young woman who lives in Carrer Brusi in Barcelona. “Instead of staying at home watching TV, I get on the bus and I’m with all kinds of people, young and old,” he explains. “The bus gives me a lot of energy,” he says.
Like other people consulted in this article, Zubiburu really likes to ride the bus to observe, for example, the Christmas lights, and also the crowd that swirls in the streets. One of his favorite buses is the V15, which passes through Plaça Molina and ends at Barceloneta.
Now, Mrs. Zubiburu wants to express a reproach: many young people no longer get up from their seats to give her their seat. “But I’ve lost my shame and when I see that a young man is sitting in one of the seats reserved for us, I tell him,” he explains. “Young people are looking at their mobile phones and won’t let you sit down”, he reveals.
Lately, Mrs. Mercè, when she doesn’t have to pick up her granddaughters, usually goes for a bus ride with a friend who has also become a widow. Recently they were looking at the breakwater and then her friend took bus 22 to return to where she lives, near the Vallcarca bridge.
Thanks to these bus rides or the conversations they have in the local shops where they stock up, some orphans (as Mau Blancafort calls them) stop listening to the silence and share their wisdom at the slightest opportunity that presents itself humane with all the passengers willing to listen to their life’s vicissitudes and their conviction that life is a journey in which the most important thing is to enjoy the journey.
