3GSM in Barcelona

I spent the week at the 3GSM conference in Barcelona, along with about 60000 other people. I tried to take pictures of other things, less, boring for normal people :-) too. Let's see. Barcelona itself is an incredible city, and the surrounds (Fira) for the conference were quite fantastic, too. The SonyEricsson guys had great visibility, having their people move around with SegWays outside the conference. Inside the conference there were quite imaginative stands, too.

One of the great things during the week was seeing one of Gaudi's great works, Casa Batllo, from the inside. And the view to the outside wasn't too bad, either. The amount of details in that building is just breathtaking, and the different "rooms" are quite amazing. This one wasn't there permanently, though :-) The members of the press sure had a great night there!

Thanks to Antoine I got to see another great building, the National Art Museum of Catalonia. It's situated on a hill vith a view of the city, and when walking in through the doors you could see that it was something special. Coming in to the main hall there was a church organ and some spectacular chandeliers. Walking to the second floor, there were some fantastic paintings on the ceiling.

I had some time walking aorund the Ramblas and the Gothic area on the last day, when it was sunny and the temperature was an (for the time of the year) extraordinary +23C. I hust have to get back here, with some more time! I also wish I had recorded the guy playing, since he was playing some great music on that simple instrument! For Finnish-speaking people this one might look somewhat funny...

One can not leave Barcelona without having some great food. One of the many places I "tested" was Tapeia Passeig de Gracia (at 15), where we had a great tapas dinner, where every dish was actually the size of a normal dinner. And a great Tempranillo with it. The water I had on the airport tasted OK, but for the Finnish-speaking the name might look a little odd.

Speaking about the airport, the only negative thing I can remember form the week in Barcelona is from the airport. It is actually the most stupid arrangement I've seen on any airport in the world. You fill and carry those plastic boxes long before you go through the xray, and then you're exhausted and sweatty when you finally get there. Where's the logic? But apart from that - Barcelona, I'll be back!

Yearly Raclette

It has become a tradition that once a year, this time of the year, Frasse and Kisse invites us, as well as Anttu & Sari to their place in Sibbo for dinner. And the dinner is always in the form of raclette, which is very, very yummy!

Some things were not "the same procedure as last year". One thing was that Sirpa didn't have a hangover, which has been something we have always been able to rely upon. The other was the weather. One year we had a a really terrible snowstorm, so Sirpa & me actually got stuck in the snow. Twice. Almost in front of our house. This year there was snow (finally), but nothing alarming.

Lindis and me (kids like kids :-) spent quite a lot of time together, listening to Sås & Kopp, which lots of "older kids" like, too. But she did prefer to spend time with her dad, in the end.

Anyway, it was great to meet and dine, so thanks Frasse and Kisse for hosting this - once again!

Archery

We had a team-buiding event in a place called Krapihovi, which is is situated quite nicely close to a lake and in great surroundings. It's also situated in Tuusula, so I guess what I just said has to be an oxymoron :-) Anyway, as part of the programme we had a quick course in archery, something I hadn't tried before. It turned out to be really fun, and it was quite amaxing how easy it was to hit the target.

It was also bit scary to see how deep into the target the arrows went. You could definitely use this asa very effective weapon, which of course our ancestors did. Since it was so dark, we were inside, but I'd like to try it again somewhere ourside where it's warm and sunny. Well, I wouldn't need the archery to be included in that, actually :-)

Maya and skating

We had a good dinner just a couple of days later, in Restaurant Maya. They have a great selection of tapas, as well as some great desserts. And the place itself is quite cozy. And it is easy to find, just next to the National Theatre. We had actually planned to go to the movies that night, too, which was one reason why we went to Maya. It happens to be very close to the movie theatre in Kaisaniemi.

Almost in front of Maya, next to the Railway Station they have done the "Rockefeller Center" i.e. there's an ice-skating rink right in the middle of the city. Great idea, and it's really popular!

Test drives

I drove two cars with the same 3.2l engine and automatic grearbox (DSG, called S-tronic in the Audi) on consecutive days. They were also both 4WD, but in the VW they are using the Haldex system, and in the Audi they are using the Torsen. It wasn't really that slippery in the beginning of January (we've had a warm winter), but I got some feel of the 4WD.

They've used lots of aluminium on the Audi TT, so it's almost 200kg lighter than than the VW Golf R32, and you can feel it when accelerating. The TT actually feels quite fast, and it's a great ride. On the downside it's really tough to see anything from the car, and the automatic back spoiler has definitely not been development with snow and ice in mind... And no back seat, in practise.

Stepping in into the R32 felt quite familiar, since I happen to have a GTI myself. And they've done something great with the exhaust, since the sound of the engine when accelerating is just beautiful. On the downside the R32 is a lot heavier, so it doesn't feel any faster than the GTI, sometimes almost slower. But from the lights it's of course fast, due to the 4WD.

So, if I were to choose between these two, it would still be the R32, although I'd prefer it with the 2.0T engine, potentially tickled a little.