Nearly three months after, I finally post here the photos of the Vesala gigs I saw in September. I travelled to Helsinki on purpose to finally see her live (I've been a fan for over ten years now).

Full album here

This woman is unstoppable: music, theatre, acting, writing. Like she said, she can do whatever she wants and that is exactly what I want for myself too. I don't want to stop: doesn't matter if it is as developer or not.

And why am I posting this? Vesala comes to my mind in every job interview I go to and the interviewer asks "why did you become a developer?". Well, over ten years ago I taught myself how to program and I built a small website about her, because she is who I admired a lot at the time (and I still do).

my first websites were about PMMP (around 2005)

the only screenshots I was able to recover from ten years ago when I built a fansite about Vesala

I have on my drafts a very long post that will cover how I first learned to program, but for now I will leave here these. I do smile a lot looking at these screenshots: I was 15 years old and I was learning CSS and HTML on my own after school.

And ten years later, I was meeting one of the people that, by accident, contributed a lot to how my future was being shaped at the time.
So thank you Paula, and sorry for crying when I met you.

And so I say goodbye to 2015. A year full of emotions and unexpected adventures. As any ordinary person on the final day of the year I reflected on everything that was left to do but also the achievements I managed to complete. At the end of the day it's the good things that are worth celebrating.

In 2015 I moved to London and started a new job. The early months were a huge emotional challenge. Leaving my parents, friends and family (and all my crap too) and going to one of the biggest cities in the world and starting a social life (nearly) from nothing was an exhaustive process.

Very quickly I started to hate public transport, crowds and everything involving the city. It was painful emotionally, for me, to plan anything because I didn't know anyone and trying to work out the best way to get to a particular place in the city was a nightmare.

However, time passes and I got to know new people who took me to visit new things and have new experiences which I wouldn't put myself through in my spare time, and now I know the transport network better than the back of my own hand, a journey of 45 minutes changing trains three times doesn't scare me anymore. I took almost four months to start to like London. Now I love it.

Changing jobs didn't leave me with many days to take off as holiday but nevertheless I managed to travel a little bit. For those that have read this blog may have seen posts about Tenerife, Amsterdam, Brugge and Copenhagen. Not to mention visiting Portugal a few times and other places in England (Brighton and Weston-super-mare).

I don't yet know what 2016 will bring, but signing up to the gym is definitely on my list!

Happy New Year,
Ana

Há duas semanas atrás fomos visitar Bruges e Copenhaga. Planeamos esta pausa há alguns meses atrás mas demasiado tarde para sermos mais ambiciosos. Eu pessoalmente gosto de viajar no inverno mas pode ser um bocadinho mais complicado para estar devidamente preparado para o frio.

Decidimos partir de Londres (usando o Eurostar) para Bruxelas, daí apanhar um comboio para Bruges e voltar dois dias mais tarde a Bruxelas para apanhar um voo para Copenhaga.

Copenhaga é uma cidade particularmente interessante, no entanto não me cativou como Bruges. Eu prefiro cidades "paradas no tempo" onde posso sentir que estou também a viajar na história. Com grandes e belos novos edifícios, Copenhaga é excelente para apaixonados por arquitectura, mas é um pouco mais moderna do que esperava.

Dois dias não foram suficientes para fazer tudo o que queríamos. Fizemos tours de autocarro e barco mas infelizmente as nossas visitas a museus foram muito limitadas (o que é pena dado que os museus em Copenhaga são, na sua maioria, gratuitos).

Passamos uma tarde no Tivoli: um dos mais antigos parques de diversões.

Recomendações:

• Comprar Hop on - Hop off tours (autocarro e barco) - se visitarem numa altura em que os canais estão congelados pode não ser a melhor ideia;
• Visitar o Tivoli é mais caro às sextas-feiras - informem-se antes de visitar;
• Não visitem o Guiness world records!

Comida e bebidas (esta lista foi feita por um amigo meu que viveu na Dinamarca):

• http://cofoco.dk/da/restauranter/hoest/
• http://www.madklubben.dk/bistro-de-luxe/
• http://halifax.dk/restauranterne
• http://torvehallernekbh.dk/
• http://llamarestaurant.dk/
• http://cofoco.dk/da/restauranter/oysters-and-grill/

Bruges is a small city in Belgium it might be a little bit more known because of the movie In Bruges but it is also a very popular destination for a small romantic break. In every canal and chocolate shops there is a piece of history and it is really easy to fall in love with the city.

Recommended bars and restaurants:

• 't Brugs Beertje (Bar)
• De Belleman (Bar)
• Bistro Den Huzaar (Restaurant: kitchen closes at 20h)

Recommended activities:

• Belfort (I have vertigo so I couldn't go to the very top - but I recommend! PS.: everyone who is under 26 has a discount);
• Historium (immersive experience! Great to learn about Bruge's history. PS.: our hotel gave us a map that included a discount for this tour);
• Horseback carriage (find them in the main square. They will take you on a romantic tour to the old city - 44€);

Since our visit was in November, the canal boat tours were not operating but the city was full of Christmas decorations and Christmas markets (which made the city even more beautiful). Sadly it is a very expensive city and it is very easy to spend a lot of money (especially in food and souvenirs).