Today I got up and told my girlfriend we should go take a little car trip. The idea was to go to Lugo but we ended up going to Santiago de Compostela as we were willing to go since a while ago.
The day was rainy but shiny as well, since we woke up pretty late, when we arrived there it was around 4 PM.

The center of the city is really beautiful with it’s main attraction, the cathedral which is the target of the well known pilgrims that journey in the Way of Santiago (or St. James).

I bought a t-shirt with some Celtic art (wich I dig a lot) and the sayings “Arte Celta · Galicia Máxica” — “Celtic Art · Magic Galicia” in Galician. My girlfriend bought a mug with some nice Celtic symbols as well. I know, the souvenirs are pretty cliche but whatever…

So, why the “celebration day” in this post’s title? Today is the 25th of April, a very special holiday since it’s the day when Portugal celebrates the Carnation Revolution which ended Portugal’s dictatorship and brought freedom to the people in 1974.
I am thankful to the people (the directly involved in the revolution and the others who always stood up and against the regime, like my grandfather) that not so long ago made it possible for me and others not to know how is to live in an authoritarian regime.

BitRock is located in Sevilla, the city of the sun and heat… but not today! Today was dark and raining.
Last Sunday my parents came to visit Seville for the first time and it was  raining… they work hard everytime and once they found time to come visit the city… it looked like Britain.

Anyways, I had lunch at a Tapas cafe for the second day. It’s cheap and good but the main difference I find between these cafes and the ones in Portugal is that here they pretty much eat on their feet! They don’t seat down or seat at the bar. Also, it is usually so noisy inside that it ain’t no peace break But I like it and it’s amazing that they don’t write down what you’ve ask for, they just know how many stuff you ate and when you ask for the check… you get it before you can reach your wallet! I think they should try a degree on Physics or something like that cause I bet they’d remember on the formulas right away… but then we’d be without such a nice place for eating and shouting.

One of the reasons I went there was also to know the place where I’ll work next February – BitRock’s facilities. It surpassed my expectations, the office is great and the people seem to be nice. Plus, it was great to have lunch with Daniel López (BitRock’s founder and my future boss).

I got to revisit the amazingly gorgeous city of Seville and eat tapas over and over.
I need to say, it was surprising to me the Spanish way of celebrating the new year. I thought it was everywhere the way it is in Portugal or in the USA – you go to some place to have fun, to drink, etc. In Spain you spend it with your family! It’s like a second Xmas, then after midnight everybody goes out to watch the fireworks.
Also, every damn restaurant is closed (even McDonalds, BurgerKing, Pans&Company…), except for the few ones who realized that when you have a bunch of starving foreigners, that means a bunch of money!

Luckily, we found a small shop owned by a not-Spanish person and we, some Italians, some Germans and other individuals with a Scandinavian appearance bought something to survive through the night (pizza, water, soda…).

The next day I found that eventually somebody wanted to give me their best wishes for the new year by braking into my car – wrecking the driver’s window and the left mirror – and stealing my radio (he/she/they found the radio front panel which I had hidden in the car). So, I had to bother Daniel and request his help to find me a car window replacement shop. Plus, it began to rain and believe me, it ain’t fun to drive under the rain with your window open… it’s quite an experience.
At least they didn’t steal the car itself.
Anyways, I should watch better where I park because I am used to the safety of Portugal
To all Spanish, I wanna let you know I still love Seville and I don’t wanna invade your country even if mine was a military power.
When I finally got back home to Portugal I found out I had no internet connection (and I was “internetless” since I went to Seville)… For the cherry on top of the cake, when I opened my laptop in my home for the first time in this new year the screen hinge surrounding plastic parts broke and several screws fell from it…
We got a Portuguese popular saying: “Um azar nunca vem só” which I can translate as: A bad luck event never comes alone.

Anyways, I am eager to go live in Seville and become a BitRockStar

Happy new year for everybody, specially car owners with 5 year old laptops and lousy ISPs.