4th of July: Independence Day

Aquest any la festa nacional dels Estats Units ha caigut en dilluns i vam decidir anar a Nova York. Vam passejar per Central Park, per Broadway fins a Times Square i per la 5a avinguda. L'ambient de 4 de juliol el donaven bàsicament les banderes, una mica més nombroses que habitualment, però tampoc res espectacular. A part d'això, Central Park continuava igual de bonic, els carrers en estiu estaven molt més plens que quan vaig ser-hi la tardor passada, la plaça del Temps farcida de turistes bombardejats pels anuncis en forma de cartell o pantalla de video sempre més enormes i la 5a avinguda plena de botigues de roba, un parell d'elles fins i tot tenien una cua a fora i probablement una festa a dins; era difícil de dir si eren botigues, discoteques o ambdues ("botiteques", perquè clarament no eren "discotigues", oi?).

Se m'havia oblidat parlar-vos dels anys xinesos. Segur que molts ja n'esteu al corrent però cada any va acompanyat d'un dels animals que podeu veure a la foto superior (podeu consultar el vostre). Als del 1984 ens va tocar la rata. La veritat és que hi ha una certa semblança no?

I had forgotten to tell you about the chinese years. Sure many of you already know but every year comes with on of the animals that you can see in the photo above these lines (you can check yours). For those born in 1984 it's the rat. Actually there is some resemblance, right?

Això és Times Square i sembla ser que jo devia estar ON amb la festa nacional a jutjar per la meva cara, el cartell i la bandera. Les aparences enganyen.

This is Times Square and it looks like I was ON with the national holiday if judging by the look on my face, the sign and the flag. Appearances can be deceptive.

A Times Square hi ha lloc per tot, encara que sembli que no pugui ser. A part del muntegar d'anuncis per tot arreu, també hi ha espai per anuncis més modestos com ara els d'aquesta foto: Jesus saves from Hell. També són força curioses les noies amb patins i banderes.

In Times Square there is room for everything, no matter how impossible it seems. Apart from the bunch of ads everywhere, there is also space for more modest ads like the ones in this pictures: Jesus saves from Hell. The ladies in rollers and waving the flags are funny too.

Més tard, ja a New Haven després d'una mica menys de 2 hores de tren, vam poder gaudir d'un segon Sant Joan amb els petards i focs d'artifici que també són típics de la festa del dia de la Independència.

<>

This year the national holiday fell on a Monday and we decided to go to New York. We walked in Central Park, on Broadway to Times Square and on the 5th avenue. The 4th of July atmosphere was basically created through some more flags than it is usual, but nothing really spectacular. Apart from that, Central Park was as beautiful as always, the streets in summer were much more crowded than when I first was there last fall, Times Square was stuffed with tourists bombarded by bigger and bigger ads in posters or in video screens and the 5th avenue, as expected, was packed with clothes shops, a couple of them even had a queue outside and looked like there was a party inside; it was hard to tell if they were shops, clubs or both ("shubs", because they definitely weren't "clops", right?).

Later, back in New Haven after a little less than 2 hours by train, we enjoyed a second "Sant Joan" with the fireworks that are also typical of the festivities of the Independence Day.

"powered" by #15M #realdemocracynow