Joaquim Rocha
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To Santiago de Compostela in a celebration day

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    Joaquim Rocha
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  • Principal Software Engineering Manager at Microsoft

So what-up!?

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.