Milan!!!

You Belong in Milan

Stylish and sophisticated, you want to enjoy a truly European life - away from tourists! Milan fits you perfectly. Great shopping, high quality food, lots of culture... with very little hype.

What European City Do You Belong In?

I knew it!!! I should start thinking about that, seriously!

One Year Ago... We All Met!

I still remember... and i still miss you!

Caldas Late Night

Since 1997 the students of ESAD (art and design school), have started an alternative project to the regular students parties – Caldas Late Night – with lots of artistic activities, and experimental and free subjects, based on the quality of the students work and a deep critical sense implied.

Caldas Late Night is about sharing, it’s spread all over the city, and by the own students houses. And each one shows their own perspective about this event. The students can use all kind of artistic ways to show their work, like: acoustics, silent, instrumental, theatre, graphic, exhibition, performance, and others.

At the beginning it was just one night in May, but since 2004 its all week, but the big night it’s always on Friday. In this big night people start to check things out all over the city at 7pm, at 1 am they all gather in a square with some pubs, at 3am everyone is at school to start a big big party, with 3 different kind of music, lots of drinks and some food also. And at 7am the party is over and everyone goes to bakeries to eat something before sleep.

This was my last year as a student…at least, I hope so! I also did something in this event, as soon as possible I will put it here, so you can see it. But here it is some things that happened in those nights.

Someone’s flat with drawings in the wall and a mail box (correio) with a green light.

A coffee balcony all covered with flowers.

Some electronic spiders with their nets… a dangerous room :)

A strange strange guy cover himself all over with chocolate and there was fruit, cream and coco, so you could make your chocolate fondue… but that was too disgusting for me!

This is permanent, it’s painted in one of our streets and I love it, a friend took a picture, so now here it is. It says: with this, John became a better man… and this opened the doors to his happiness. (he says) Thank you, Lídia, without you I had poisoned myself with rage. (she answers) Oh, John! I always had faith in you, honey!

Three chicks dancing on the top of three high chairs.

People watching something not so interesting in a small place.

This is the statue of one of our queens, and next to it is a paper king and you could climb and put your face in the hole. It was called “king for one day”.

There were several bands playing in the street or in specific points in the city. There was also this opera concert inside a small chapel, the girls didn’t sing, but the guy was amazing

Some friends made silhouette of stripers, dogs, little child’s, bicycles… and they put them in traffic signs as you can see. They put the stripper in the best place… where the old men spend their days… they were crazy about it, and in the end of the night the stripper was gone.

"Rasganço"

Here in Coimbra we have one of the oldest universities in the world, it was established in 1290. There are old traditions and some stupid ones as well. But this one that I’m going to talk about is funny, at least I think so. There is a typical suit for students, but it’s really a suit, it’s completely different from Finland (the Finnish one looks like a metal worker suit, but with different colours).

Finnish suit for students

This suit was created so the poor and the rich students could be evaluated in the same conditions, only about their knowledge. And students used to use the suit every day. But now most people just use it for the big party in the end of the academic year. This party it’s called “Queima das Fitas”, in English it’s “Burn the Ribbons” and it’s a symbolic act to finish studies, something like graduation day. It starts in the first Thursday night of May, at midnight, so it’s more like Friday, with a big “Serenata” (it’s typical “Fado” songs, made about love, to sing for girls, while they are on the window, and the boys down in the street with a guitar) and this guys are singing it in the front door of the oldest church in Coimbra, and all the 35 000 students around watching in silence. After this night there are eight nights of concerts in a proper place, lots of sport competitions and a big big parade with more then 100 trucks all covered in flowers with students on the top and giving free beer and food for everyone. This is the party where more beer is drunk in the whole world, even more than in beer party.

So after you finish your studies, you don’t need your suit anymore… soooo… they tear it apart. Girls only can be tear by girls, and boys by boys, but everyone could watch it. They make this in the main street of the university and they throw the pieces of fabric to the trees near. Usually boys end up naked, running after the guy who was the only piece that is not torn. Girls can keep some of their cloths, and it depends on the girl if she wants to be more or less dressed in the end. This “ritual” is called “Rasganço” in English something like “Torn”.

So I will put here, some photos and also a video. If you have some doubts just ask.

Carla and Carolina before... this is the typical suit

Carla and Marta before

Marta after

Marta after

all the girls after

Happy Birthday Jasmin!

Happy Birthday honey! where it is, the video i made for you!

I wish you a great day, and also a great next year of life. I love you, ma petite Jasmin!

Happy Birthday Napoleão

Today it's Napoleão's 15th birthday. So here there are some recent pictures of him.
I know some people say that his eyes are strange and he looks like a crazy dog because of that... but i love him just the way he is.

Easter in Figueira da Foz

As some of you might know I was born and I lived almost all my life in Coimbra. But some years ago I went to university in Caldas da Rainha, a small city with the best school for Design in Portugal, so, from Monday’s to Thursdays I’m there, and the long weekends in Coimbra. As you can see in the map both cities are really close to the ocean.

This Easter I went to Figueira da Foz with Nuno. The sun was nice, but it was a little bit to windy. We had lunch in a typical Portuguese restaurant, and we eat grilled fish. The best thing in these restaurants is that the fish is always fresh (fished in that same day). It’s great!

But after lunch me and Nuno went to the beach and we felt asleep for a little bit. And afterwards we went to a mountain near the sea cost and as you can see the landscape is also great.

In the map you can also see that Coimbra is quite near Porto(Mariana and Hélder hometown) and Lisboa (the capital).

I'm looking forward to having you in Portugal, to showing you all these things, and much more.

Lunar Eclipse

Room with a view at night

Carnival 2007

Last night me and some friends went to Lisbon to see the baby of a friend couple and also to go out and have a carnival party.

After dinner we went to a nice and small club, “Jamaica”. The music was good. The Cure, some Portuguese classics, The Strokes, The White Strips, Guns ‘n Roses, The Doors, Pearl Jam, Jimy Hendrix, Depeche Mode… a lot better than Onnela or Passion Club in Kuopio.

I will put some pictures here so you can see me there.

Room with a view

This is the picture I just took one hour ago, at 5 pm, from my balcony.

Weather Forecast

Last year, for the second time in my all life i saw snow and snowing. The first time I was just 2 years old. So as you can imagine I was very happy. I went outside with Pascal and a couple of Portuguese friends, Sandra and Sérgio, and I made small small snow balls. Of course Pascal catches some of those with his face and body, but it was funny. At that time we took some pictures.



And a few weeks later I made a movie and it’s all about snow. Jiri, a Czech friend, saw that movie and he didn’t understood why… so he asked Kerstin who explain him that I’m not that used to snow.
And now there is even more snow in Finland. All is white, and I’m here stuck with sun and the same boring weather, as usual. You can see here the weather forecast for Kuopio, Coimbra and the snow depth Finland.




And this is just one of all the things I miss about Finland.