And so to Barcelona for this year’s Mobile World Congress, the Oscars, Olivia reporting on the snow in the north of Spain, Goodbye from the Pope, Suzy went to Berlin for the weekend and lots of other stories.

With two of my all time favourite colleagues, Jesús and Gonzalo at the Yoigo Cabaret party on Monday night in Barcelona.

Hello again my friends

It is Sunday again and it seems so quiet in contrast to my very active week. There is lots to tell, so let me begin.

I left off last Saturday and just have to include here the story of a 30 year old Spanish girl called Carolina Ruiz Castillo.  On Saturday 23^rd February she made history for Spanish sport by winning the Alpine ski world cup in the women’s downhill race in Meribel, France.  Winter sports are not big in Spain, as you can imagine, so Carolina’s win last weekend was extra special and goes to increases Spain’s amazing reputation as an ever increasing sporting nation.  You might have noticed too this week that Spain’s leading athlete, the one and only Rafa Nadal, is back in action after injuries this year and is winning matches in Latin America.  So watch out Federer and Djokovic.

Carolina Ruiz Castillo who made history for Spanish sport last Sunday

On Sunday morning I was up early to catch the 10.30 high speed train, known as the AVE, to Barcelona.  This was to be my 6^thconsecutive visit to the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC), the sector’s biggest event worldwide with some 72.000 visitors, an increase on last year.  Every time I go, I wonder if it will be for the last time, so each time I get to go I never take it for granted and realize what a lucky individual I am.  What I like most about going is meeting people I know from the sector, many of whom are ex colleagues, so it was a delight to bump into Jesús (ex Motorola) who now lives in Miami and his wife Renata on the platform before boarding.  On the same train as me were many familiar faces, including a big group of telecoms press who were being hosted by Telefónica.

I always enjoy the high speed train which takes under 3 hours to reach the Catalan capital.  But I enjoy it even more now that I have an iPad to keep me entertained.  There was snow on the way and I caught it on my mobile phone camera.  The morning before it had snowed in Barcelona, something pretty unheard of and instead of the usual 15-20ºc, we were in for a very cold week at the MWC. 

Snow on the way to Barcelona, as seen from the train last Sunday

 

Once at the Sants train station I took a taxi to the hotel I was staying at, the Renaissance Hotel on Pau Claris, just off the chic Paseo de Gracia and where I had been booked in by TeliaSonera, Yoigo’s “mother company” and where I have been staying now in the past three or four years.  I just had time enough to settle in before I was off to the first engagement of my stay, lunch with dear Grainne and her son Marcel at Agua, a restaurant by the beach in the Barceloneta area.  We ate outside in the sun but as it was cold the restaurant staff turned on the outdoor gas heaters.  Ours needed a new gas bottle and just as they were changing it, the huge metal heater fell and hit Grainne’s head.  I sort of saw it in slow motion but was so shocked I was unable to warn her.  Thankfully no damage was done, except for the shock.  Later we were rewarded with free starters, drinks and dessert by the anxious restaurant.  We enjoyed a lovely long meal and talked about old times – Grainne and I went to school together.  Marcel remarked once again how he thinks I look like someone called Lidia Lozano.  I didn’t know who she was but later in the week looked her up and found out she is a Spanish celebrity journalist who appears in a chat show on Telecinco.  This is her, do you think I look like her?

Marcel says I look like Lidia Lozano the Spanish celebrity journalist.

As I was entering the door of my hotel later, I literally bumped into some of my TeliaSonera colleagues, including my ex boss Johan.  It was great to see him and Mette, Soren, Oyvind and August, so I joined them on their quest for either lunch or dinner – Scandinavians eat at unearthly hours for me – but could only stomach a cup of tea after my lunch at Agua.  They then went on a sort of pub crawl but I went back to my hotel to have a hot bath – did I mention it was freezing all week in Barcelona? My next engagement was the TeliaSonera Sunday evening get together.  We met in the lobby and walked to the Hotel Petit Palace Opera Garden.  I was the guide for Ingrid, Philip, Anna, Monica, Linda, Urban, Peter, Nicholas and co.  They all had out their sat navs on their phones, but it was my Spanish that helped us find the place on a tiny little street off the Rambla.  I noticed how my Nordic friends were able to tuck in again after huge tapas shortly before but I could hardly swallow a bite.  I suppose it is age that reduces your appetite. 

Some of the people at the TeliaSonera get together on Sunday night, not a good photo but a nice evening.

Unlike a Spanish party, this Nordic gathering finished around 11 and I walked back in the freezing cold with Anna to get my only early night in.

Once back at the hotel I read that Bradford City had been beaten to the ground 5-0 by Swansea at their first appearance in decades at Wembly for the Cup Final.  I thought of my friend Geraldine’s sister who came all the way from Australia to watch the match and who appeared in the local Telegraph and Argus and felt a bit sorry for her.  

On Monday I woke up to read about this year’s Oscar awards, now called just The Oscars, the word awards having been officially chopped off.  I was not surprised to hear that Argo had won best picture award.  It was a good film but I don’t think worthy of an Oscar.  It was no surprise that Daniel Day-Lewis was voted best actor in his role in Lincoln and neither was it a surprise that Anne Hathaway won the prize for best supporting actress in her role in Les Miserables, or rather for her interpretation of the wonderful song “I dreamed a dream”.  The life of Pi got best director award and that was one film I wouldn’t have give an Oscar.  Mine would have gone to The Impossible, Les Miserables and Zero Dark Thirty. 

I also woke up to a whatsapp message from Olivia.  She had been sent to Vitoria in the north of Spain to cover the snowfall for her TV programme.  I missed her that day as I had to leave for the fair so was thankful for a photo she sent from a mountain pass called Opakua.

On Monday Olivia was sent to the north of Spain to report on the snow for her TVE `programme

She spent three days in Vitoria and Cantabria covering the story of the snow.  Monday saw her in the mountains and on Tuesday she was in the town of Vitoria.  I was able to watch her on Tuesday interviewing passersby and even eating salt.  You can see her here if you go to 12.40 and 13.51.  Funnily enough another TV channel, La Sexta, found the clip about eating salt funny and included it in their programme of humorous clips of the week.  You can see it here if you go to minute 6.30.

Oli reporting live on Tuesday morning from Vitoria

On Wednesday she was in Cantabria, in Fresno del Río and Reinosa. Again I missed her but was able to see her later here. I loved the first report on dog sleighing(10.20h). Apparently it wasn’t easy to film as the dogs often get entangled, but she was lucky they behaved for the report. And here she is with her colleague and one of the dogs in the snow.

Oli had a grand time reporting on the snow in the north of Spain this week.  This was with her colleague and one of the dogs from the dog sleigh in Reinosa

Her last report that day was one I would have loved to see live.  It was of the dog sleigh owner’s young daughter Alejandra who looks after the family’s ponies.  You can see that here at 12.40h.  To do the interview Alejandra had to leave school for a while but I’m sure she enjoyed her moment of glory.  Later Olivia had some quiet time enjoying these wonderful animals.  We adore animals in this family, so I too would have liked to be in this picture of her with the ponies her colleague and little Alejandra.

In Fresno del Río with her colleague from TVE after reporting on the little girl who is the owner of these delightful ponies.

Olivia certainly enjoys her job and had a great time reporting on the snow in the north of Spain last week.  Good for her!

Meanwhile I had my own job to concentrate on in Barcelona.  A few years ago the girls used to come along with me, but not anymore.  So while Oli was on the television, I made my way to the new congress venue, further out of town in Hospitalet de Llobregat and much bigger than before.  I found it daunting, just too big and too many people with queues everywhere.  However I was impressed with the new NFC badge to enter the fair.

The nifty NFC badge to enter the MWC

I had arranged to meet my friend Julio and visit the stands together, much more fun than on my own. The place is so huge bumping into people you know is hit and miss, so I was delighted to come across my nephew Juan and his boss, my friend Jorge.  They work for Lewis PR, a UK based public relations agency that specializes in technology accounts. 

Bumping into my nephew Juan and my friend Jorge at the MWC was one of the highlights

The stand I feel most at home is Nokia Siemens Networks where I know I will meet up with some of my favourite colleagues.  When I joined Nokia in 2000 it was with the network division (yes the part that makes antennas for mobile phones) and everyone there secretly wanted to work for the mobile phone division.  I later migrated there and ended up doing communications for both divisions, as the corporate communications manager for Nokia Spain.  My experience there was very different, yes the phones were far more fun but the office atmosphere was very different; it was cut throat and bullying was widespread, in enormous contrast to the atmosphere of companionship and goodwill that was the norm at the networks division. Some of my favourite colleagues in all my years in the telecoms industry are from my times with Nokia Networks, including dear Julio of course, but also Augustin, Pepe, Miquel, Pentti, Cristina, Paloma, Felix, Emilio B, Pedro, Pelo Pincho (you know who you are), Jill, Anna, Susana, Oscar, Juana, Nestor, Carlos, Luis, Paco, Roberto, Raul and many more.

Cristina and Paloma manning the NSN stand, the stand I feel most at home at.

After a cup of coffee with some of the colleagues mentioned above who still work with thecompany, we visited some of the other gigantic stands: Samsung, Huawei, Motorola and others and generally marveled at everything going on around us.  Tired of walking around, we took a taxi into town for lunch at one of my favourite places in town, Niechel, a lovely little Relais and Chateaux restaurant where whatever you eat is just delicious.  The owners are a chef from the German part of France, Alsaçe and his funny wife from León, like my husband, who need to be reminded they know me each time I go – that’s my only criticism.

I was then free until the evening. I spent some of my time walking around the main shopping streets of Barcelona but it was so cold I was not tempted by the new spring range of clothing on offer at Zara or H+M. I did however find a lovely piece of clothing at Desigual which is omnipresent in its home town of Barcelona.  It’s a black and white long sleeved t-shirt.  I was flattered that my daughter Olivia loved it and wore it later in the week.

The Desigual top I bought whilst in Barcelona

However, for the Yoigo cabaret party that night I wore my new H+M black and white checkered dress and I have to tell you I felt a million dollars.  The party was at Ikra in the centre of town and was for our bloggers and shopkeepers but also for lots of Yoigo friends, including many of my colleagues from Nokia or Motorola.  I don’t usually enjoy  the parties that I organize but this was an exception. I loved every minute of it, but again because of colleagues who were there who mean so much to me, such as Jesús, Gonzalo, Johan, Felix, Pepe, Pentti, Viivi and many more. 

With my Finnish friends at the Yoigo cabaret party in Barcelona

It was difficult to choose a photo to illustrate this week’s blog but finally it had to be the one of me with Jesús and Gonzalo.  We worked together over 20 years ago at Motorola when mobile telephony was just catching on. In those days there were no blogs, no cameras on phones, no Facebook to share them, not even email, nor any of the amazing devices or applications on show at the MWC.  The sector has developed enormously but the important thing is that our friendship continues.  You can see all the pictures of the cabaret party here on Flickr, which again wouldn’t have been possible in the early 90’s.  

The next morning a miracle happened, I slept until 09.30, something that never happens these days as now in my 50’s I’m an early bird waker.  I woke up to lots of congratulatory messages about the party from so many nice people – thanks friends. I was so happy with the outcome of the party I decided to give credit to the people who made it happen, Bea, Gloria, Miguel and Julia from my wonderful events agency QuintaEsencia and invite them to a slap up lunch.  Only when I rang Gloria did I realize I had no voice, I was completely hoarse after the party.  Thus I went out to a nearby chemist shop to buy the remedy; a throat spray called Angiovax which works miracles and throat lozenges called Angileptol.  I was recommended them years ago by my pharmacist friend Mari Carmen and they have always held me in good stead.  Thus I was able to talk at lunch at 7 Portes, one of Barcelona’s most traditional restaurants.

 I was completely washed out that day so skipped on the MWC and Ericsson’s traditional social event where hundreds gather to eat and drink and mingle at possibly the biggest party held at the MWC.  Instead I stayed in my room working on my emails and when I had done that I watched the episode of Gran Reserva which I had missed that week.  And I did that on my neat little iPad on my soft bed with soft white pillows after another long hot bath – total luxury.

That night many of my colleagues went to watch Real Madrid play Barcelona at the Camp Nou football ground in the semi final match of the Spanish Copa del Rey.  I did not envy them knowing they would be freezing in the unheated stadium and that they would probably see Barcelona beat Madrid.  But I was wrong, in the endMadrid beat their arch rivals 3-1 and I was glad as all the Real Madrid fans were too. Meanwhile I got ready to go to La Venta for our now traditional MWC Tuesday night secret dinner with the teams from my PR agency Ketchum, the events agency QuintaEsencia and colleagues Jesús and Ana Isabel.  It is always the most enjoyable event on my agenda and this year was no different.

On Wednesday morning as Olivia was preparing to report on the snow in Cantabria, I had my most important and last event on my MWC agenda, the annual Yoigo press conference.  It was to start at 10 am and we had chosen the fashionable and Le Pain Quotidien type place, Cornelia &Co on the Calle Valencia, a stone’s throw from my hotel.  We didn’t have much news to offer this year, just our results for 2012 and three objectives for 2013 and I was worried the turnout would be poor because the venue was so far from the new congress grounds.  Each year I worry about the same things and each year I am proved wrong.  This year I was amazed to see some 50 representatives from the media and lots of interest and questions.  The last journalist didn’t leave until 12.30 as a lot of them stayed on to write their chronicles. 

During our press conference in Barcelona

You can see the rest of the photos of the press conference here.

When the last journalist finally left I made my way back to the hotel on foot (I walk everywhere when I can) to do my last minute packing and check out.  I was in a rush as I had a lunch appointment with Anna A. (head of communications at the Mobility Services division at TeliaSonera) at 13h.  Being Swedish we ate early but it was not to be a typical long drawn out Spanish lunch as she had to leave at 14h and I had to catch the 15.30h train back to Madrid.  I chose another traditional restaurant, Botafumeiro of Galician origin where I treated her to a typical dish from the area; lacón con grelos.  I’m not sure she liked it.  The place was buzzing with big wigs from the MWC.  

We parted in a rush and I’m not sure when I will see dear Anna again.  Hopefully it will be at next year’s MWC.  I forgot to take a photo at Botafumeiro but you can see all the photos of my MWC here.

And suddenly it was all over and I was on the train, exhausted but happy as all had gone well.  I was thus able to relax and listen to music on Spotify and I actually fell asleep and when I woke up there was just ten minutes to go until we arrived at the Madrid Atocha train station.

That night at home, we were to be all together.  Olivia had arrived just before me from her snow travels, Eladio would be back soon from his UNED university tutorial and Suzy would also be joining us too.  It was a joy to have dinner with my lovely family.  But it was to be the only meal together for a while as Olivia would be away for the weekend in Valencia with her boyfriend Miguel and Susana would be going to Berlin for a long weekend the next day.

Yeah, Suzy went to Berlin with her friends, the two sisters Elena and María and their boy cousin.  Elena and Susana studied together and are now neighbours in the same block of flats.  And it is with Maria (an of work Spanish nurse) that Susana will be going to London with to seek their fortune in May. They are staying at the Hotel Lebensquelle which is bang in the centre and I have been following their travels via photos from Susana on Facebook and on whatsapp. 

Suzy second left with her friends and some pretend soldiers at Check Point Charlie in Berlin on Friday

Thursday was a fast day for me, after having skipped my Monday fast day – too difficult to do in Barcelona.  It snowed that morning where we live and was cold and rainy the rest of the day, so much so I skipped my walk whilst Eladio went to his class. 

Meanwhile the worlds’ eyes were on an 85 year old man in Rome.  Thursday 28^th February 2013 will go down in history as the day Josef Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI stepped down and resigned as Pope, the first Pope to do so in hundreds of years.  He departed the Vatican City in a dramatic fashion.  After saying goodbye to the crowds he was taken away by helicopter to Castel Gandolfo where he will spend his next two months before he goes to reside permanently in a monastery at the Vatican.  There he made his final public appearance as Pope.  On a balcony at the famous papal residence he said “You know this day is different from my previous days.  I will simply be a pilgrim on the last stop of my pilgrimage on this earth.  His last words were just “thank you and goodbye”. And then he disappeared.

The end of Josef Ratzinger's papacy on Thursday 28th February at his last public appearance

Afterwards at 8pm sharp, the official end of his papacy, when Josef Ratzinger was no longer infallible, church officials sealed the papal apartments which will not be reopened until his successor is chosen.  And now there will be speculation for weeks as to who it maybe. But until the secret conclave takes place where the cardinals who are under 80 years old vote we can only guess.

Friday was 1^stMarch and finally the sun came out.  It was also St. David’s day in Wales which doesn’t mean much to me.  The highlight on Friday was dinner with our friends Pedro Delgado (ex winner of the Tour de France and a cycling legend in Spain) and his wife Ludi from León, like Eladio and their friends Enrique and Lola.  Ludi always chooses the most in places in Madrid but this time it wasn’t new to me.  I had actually been to Ten con Ten before in the heart of Madrid’s “barrio Salamanca”.  All the beautiful people congregate their and it is apparently a favourite with Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo.  But I have no idea whether he was there that night as the place was so full and extremely noisy.  I was amazed to see a stretch limousine parked outside, something you don’t see often in Madrid.  The food was great, really great but the place was far too noisy. 

My favourite dish at Ten con Ten - oxtail burger delicious and I can assure you it contains no horse meat haha

I was hesitant to talk to Pedro about Lance Armstrong’s famous interview with Oprah Winfrey but he had no problem talking about either Lance or the Operación Puerto.  He told me that what annoyed him most was when Lance said that all Tour de France winners had taken drugs to win.  And I understand his annoyance as he felt directly accused.  I have known Pedro since the Motorola Cycling team days of course when he was a famous rider himself.  Today he is a successful cycling commentator for Spanish TVE and it is thanks to him that Olivia works for TVE as he was instrumental in getting her an internship there when she finished University. Of course she had to prove herself but I will always be grateful and remember how it was thanks to him that she had the opportunity.  

The weekend has been quiet without the girls.  On Saturday after our night out on the tiles – so to speak, but we were back late at nearly 2 in the morning which is very late for us, we were up later than usual. In the morning I dragged Eladio into giving the dogs a bath.  First into the bath was Elsa our Labrador who, unusually for her breed, doesn’t really like water, but I suspect she enjoys the warm water and the attention from her favourite person, my husband.

Elsa having a bath on Saturday

Next came Norah our beagle who likes water even less than Elsa but stoically puts up with the ritual, knowing she can’t get out of it.

Norah's turn for a bath on Saturday

We had couscous for lunch cooked by our Moroccan home help Oufa and afterwards slept a very long siesta.  In between our siesta and walk with the dogs, Madrid were playing Barcelona again in a match which was unimportant for both as the Catalans are many points ahead of their rivals in the Spanish Liga football championship which is already decided.  It was important though for Real Madrid’s morale when they take on Manchester United on Tuesday in the Champions League.  When we came back from our walk I found out that the final score was 2-1 to the Whites. At last the tables have turned I thought as usually it is Barcelona who has the upper hand. Let’s see on Tuesday how they play in Old Trafford and if their luck holds.

Last night too we went out to dinner again, this time with Eladio’s beloved brother José Antonio and our sister-in-law Dolores.  They had booked a table at Nuevo Gerardo in town because of the promotion it offered thanks to Madrid Restaurant Week.  Funnily enough we had been there last year in March with our fellow diners of the night before, Pedro Delgado and his wife Ludi, where we had taken advantage of the same promotion.  It’s a nice place and the food is good, although nothing like Ten con Ten.  But at least we could hear each other this time. 

Nuevo Gerardo, the restaurant we went to on Saturday night with José Antonio and Dolores

Of course we talked about our children, all of whom are now grown up.  I was particularly interested to know how their daughter Sara was getting on in China where she travelled to in January to spend a year brushing up her Mandarin.  So it was good to know she has made her home in Xiamen, a big town in the south and on the coast.  She has also found accommodation with two girls from Germany and Holland or that’s what I think I heard and will be starting a 4 month course at the University on Monday.  I wish her lots of luck.

Today Sunday has been quiet.  The family highlight today is about Olivia who together with her boyfriend Miguel ran in the quarter marathon race which took place this morning in the town of Oliva.  She ran 10 kilometres in under an hour at a speed of 5.30km per hour.  Well done Oli.  I was happy to hear they compensated the loss of calories afterwards with a big Valencian paella.

Olivia and Miguel just before the 10km mini marathon they ran in today in Oliva near Valencia

It’s time for our walk now and soon Olivia will be back and Eladio will be picking her up at the station and hopefully we will have dinner together at home and it will be the end of this week. How fast they fly, we are now into March and soon it will be spring.

So my friends that’s it for this week and an action packed one it has been.  Next week promises to be much quieter.  Meanwhile, all the best from me until then.

Masha

My Oscar goes to … , this year’s Mobile World Congress, home again, a visit to Suzy’s new flat, farewell Gustavo, the week I discovered Jackie Evancho, Spanish treasure, and other things.

Me at this year's Mobile World Congress

Hello everyone,

It’s Sunday again, another week has gone by and it’s nearly spring.  My week has been great but exhausting and I am still feeling tired after this year’s participation in the biggest mobile fair in the world, a sort of huge circus that takes place every year in Barcelona, the Mobile World congress. 

This time last Sunday I was on the high speed train to Barcelona, along with many other Spanish participants, including my best friend Fátima with whom I worked both in Motorola and Nokia.  That night, while we were having dinner at one of my favourite places, El Merendero de la Mari in the Port Vell, this year’s Oscars were being awarded.

And the Oscarfor best actress went to Meryl Streep, as most people had predicted, for her magnificent role as Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady”.  I was pleased for her as I always am for women stars in their 50’s and 60’s.  They all look so good these days and are a sort of role model for me, to keep on looking good. I had lots of compliments this year in Barcelona for my new figure and looks where a lot of thanks are due to Dr. Dukan but also to my other role models, my beautiful young daughters. I for one, hope to look as good as Meryl Streep when I reach 62.

The eternal Meryl Streep won this year's Best Actress Oscar for her role as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady

As also predicted The Artist, that funny French silent film in black and white, won 5 of the top Oscars.  Hugo, by Martin Scorsese, won another 5.  One film which didn’t win an Oscar but had many nominations was War Horse by Steven Spielberg.  I went to see it with Eladio on Friday and loved every minute of it, but then I am a sucker for animals and war films.  You could call it “cheesy” but then I love sentimental cheesy films.  It was a wonderful creation, the story of a beautiful horse called Joey, set in Devon in England and its adventures in the cruel World War I.  It now belongs to my top ten films, the type you can watch over and over again.  So, my Oscar this year goes to Joey and his wonderful young owner Albert, played by the young English actor, Jeremy Irvine, in this epic film by Steven Spielberg.

War Horse by Steven Spielberg got my Oscar for this year's best film

I have digressed writing about the Oscars and should tell you about Sunday, our first and most relaxing day spent in Barcelona last week.  Upon arrival at the train station we took a taxi to our hotel, the Diplomatic where all the TeliaSonera delegates had a room.  The hotel is run of the mill but fine, the sort of hotel which could be anywhere in the world. Its salient feature is that it’s very central, on Pau Claris,  a stone’s throw from the Paseo de Gracia street, possibly Barcelona’s most elegant thoroughfare where all the best shops can be found and some wonderful buildings such as Gaudi’s Casa Battlo and Casa Mila, the city’s most well known architectural gems. 

As soon as we had settled in, unpacked and connected our pcs to internet (via my modem as the hotel’s wifi signal was very weak), we took a taxi to Port Vell (old port) to the area by Pau Villa where there are a string of wonderful open air restaurants.  The sun was shining and the place was bustling with people, both local, as well as tourists and many delegates from the Mobile World Congress (MWC).  Thus we didn’t get a table at Cal Pinxo until well past 15.30 but we didn’t mind as time that day was not a constraint.  We had the first of the three fidueas I was to consume during my stay.  It’s a dish very similar to paella but made with thin noodles and boy is it good. 

Fideua, a delicious sort of paella made with noodles

To work off the wonderful lunch, we decided to walk to the Fira to register for our MWC badges.  The crowds grew thinner as walked our way up the Paralelo Avenue and were amazed to see that we took nearly an hour and a half to do so.  Just as we reached the Plaza de España where the Fira is located we came upon the huge Yoigo building poster featuring my phone, the excellent Samsung Galaxy S2, so we had to stop here for a photo session to mark the happy moment.  My mind took me back to the first time I came to the MWC with Yoigo, 5 years ago when we were just starting and were a very small player in the market.  Who could have predicted then that just 5 years later we would be a profitable company with over 3 million customers?  The huge poster made me smile at the success story of the great little fighting brand operator I am proud to work for.

Yoigo's presence was certainly noticed at this year's MWC

We took a taxi back to our hotel and spent the rest of the afternoon working.  Later I joined my other TeliaSonera colleagues at the traditional get together which took place this year at Taller de Tapas.  However I didn’t stay for dinner as that would have meant leaving Fátima all on her own.  So as I said earlier, we had dinner at El Merendero de la Marí, right next to Cal Pinxo.  We were in bed early as we would both be in need of a good night’s sleep to face the busy few days coming up.  Fátima was staying in my room as she had been unable to find accommodation until Tuesday night.  It was great to be together again and reminded us of our cycling tour days when Motorola had a team, starring none less than the Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong.  However I was not to get much sleep thanks to my friend’s very heavy snoring.  I am a very light sleeper anyway and any noise, however slight, will keep me awake so the nights were torturous, despite the foam ear plugs I had brought with me.  The next day I bought some wax ones which worked slightly better.  But it wasn’t until Tuesday night that I got some decent slumber. 

Monday morning was spent working from our room.  Well not quite.  At one stage I took the opportunity to get a hair do as well as the luxury of having my nails painted, red, of course, after which I ventured into my favourite shop Zara where I bought two lovely jackets, one white and one pink.  It was very warm in Barcelona and the clothes I had brought were far too wintery.  Any excuse will do for shopping in Zara is the actual truth!

The pink jacket I bought at Zara in Barcelona this week

Every time I bumped into acquaintances or friends they often remarked how busy I must be.  In actual fact that wasn’t true as most of the work had already been done before getting to Barcelona and in a way I was there just to see it executed.  The activities I had prepared were multiple.  First we had a blogger group hosted by Yoigo and accompanied by my team from our PR Agency, Ketchum, then we had a Carnaval party organized for the bloggers and Yoigo shop owners on the Tuesday and lastly on the Wednesday, we were to celebrate our annual press conference, possibly our most important media event of the year. As all the work was done, previous to coming, I was able to relax and just see the activities roll out to perfection, thanks to good organization and two wonderful teams of people from our PR Agency, Ketchum and my events agency QuintaEsencia.  

For me the Mobile World Congress is all about meeting old and new colleagues and Monday lunch was a highlight as I had a date with Keka, a colleague from Nokia who I first got to know when she started as a very young trainee and I was able to help her in her beginnings.  Being a very clever and pretty girl, Keka went on to shine professionally when she went to live in Finland and then London.  After leaving Nokia she had a stint in Nepal and India, countries that have left a mark on her and today she is living quietly in her native Santiago as a writer, author and coach.  It was great to see her again after so much time and catch up on our lives over another wonderful fideua again at El Merendero de la Mari.

With Keka at lunch one day this week at the MWC

I was to see her again that night, this time at the fabulous Yoigo Carnaval party held at Cachitos, a great little bar on the Rambla de Cataluña.  I think you know I hardly ever enjoy my own professional parties but this time it was different.  I enjoyed the whole evening, talking and mixing with shop owners, bloggers, colleagues and contacts from some of our suppliers, as well as friends like Keka and also my dear Turkish engineer friend Berk whom I once dreamed would marry my daughters. But that was not to be. You can see what a great party it was if you click on this link to see the photos.

With Gloria (left) and Bea (right) at our Carnaval party in Barcelona this week. I remarked we could have been at a playboy party instead because of our head gear hahaha

On Tuesday morning I worked again with Fátima from our room but soon had to leave to attend the TeliaSonera press conference at the Fair.  It was to be hosted by my old boss Thomas J, from Nokia who today is head of external communication with TeliaSonera.  Isn’t the world a small place?  I felt sorry for my TeliaSonera communications colleagues who fell foul to a breakdown in electricity and thus the whole press conference had to take place without the use of microphones or power points.  If that had happened to me, I would have “died” but the Swedes seemed to take the whole situation quite philosophically. 

Because of the lack of electricity the press conference was cut very short and I was able to get away to have lunch with my two best friends and ex colleagues, Julio and Fátima.  This was to be my last fideua at Cal Pinxo.  If you are worried about my weight, don’t be as I am back into the Dukan diet fold this week hahahaha.

It was on Tuesday when I got to see some of the fair.  In the morning I made a beeline for what feels like home when I’m at the MWC, the Nokia Siemens Networks hall.  Here I greeted old colleagues like Antonio, Julio, Pentti, Paloma and dear Emilio B.  It’s always great to see them.  In the afternoon I visited the Nokia stand and was happy to see they were back at the fair after a few years absence.  Here I greeted Kaisa, Solange, Kristina, Mark, Claire, Xavier, Anna, Ben and it was lovely to see them and catch up on how things are today in communications at Nokia.  But it was even lovelier to bump into Jesús S, my dearest colleague at Motorola who now lives in Miami. Fittingly my dearest colleague from Nokia, Julio, took this lovely photo of us both. Jesús who turned 50 this year, remarked that when he first joined Motorola he was just 29.  Wow that takes me back a while.

With Jesús S, one of my favourite Motorola colleagues on the Nokia stand at the MWC this week

As to the fair itself, at the beginning of this week’s post, I referred to it as a sort of giant circus and that is literally what it is.  Some 60.000 delegates attended this year and goodness knows how many firms, some known some not.  The noise around the fair and the bustle are at times a little too much.  I think what most caught my attention was the Pegasus horse made of mobile phones.  If you looked closer you could see it was made by the Chinese manufacturer Huawei and it is really a work of art.  I had my picture taken with Pablo X who heads up sales at Huawei Spain and is Chinese.  I think it was the most photographed thing at the fair.

The amazing Pegasus horse made with mobile phones with Pablo X from Huawei

Most delegates, and they were from all over the world, with many representatives from Asia, were busy snapping at all the tablets and mobile phones on display.  As you can imagine, the latter don’t really seduce me after so many years in the sector.  What I thought worth photographing were other things, such as the enormous taxi queues, a Japanese lady dressed in a kimono, promoting her restaurant in town, anti capitalist demonstrators, a bit like at Davos, a woman shouting against the use of coltan in mobile phones and funniest of all, two elderly gentlemen offering accommodation in far away Sitges for 150 euros per “nigth” as they spelled it. It seems there are enormous parallel activities trying to cash in on the well off delegates.  They were a sight to see and hear.

Everyone gets on the MWC bandwagon in Barcelona.  Here, two elderly gentlemen offering accommodation in far away Sitges for 150 euros per "nigth" hahahaha

Tuesday was all about meeting people; thanks to Julio I even met the General Manager of Google Spain who has the same name as Spain’s last President, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and causes havoc when he makes a restaurant reservation.  It was also full of social events.  At 18h I had an appointment at the huge Ericsson hall where I was to meet up with our bloggers before the annual party started.  Here I met three charming Indians from Kerala who now live in Stockholm working for Ericsson.  They have developed communication via the human body and showed me how when they took a photo of me with a phone, just by my touching the back of it, the picture showed up on a screen behind us.  That was mind blowing and I was delighted it had been invented by the three delightful Indians whom I told I loved their country and remembered to say “Namaste”. I’m not sure whether they thought I was mad as a hatter.

Three delightful Indian engineers who work for Ericsson.

A little later I escaped from the party and left the Swedes and their colleagues beginning dinner at the unearthly hour of just past 18h, to get ready for a private dinner I had arranged for my team from Ketchum, QuintaEsencia and other Yoigo colleagues at the more reasonable time of 21h (no one has dinner earlier in spain).  We had the most delicious dinner at La Venta at the top of Barcelona in an area called Tibidabo at what turned out to be the most enjoyable and relaxing event of the week, so much so that I even forgot to take any photographs.

On Tuesday night I got my best night’s sleep as Fátima had left, so I was up feeling fresh and full of energy the next morning which was good as our press conference was taking place at 10.  It was great to arrive just after 9.30 to find everything ready and beautifully prepared by my teams from Ketchum and QuintaEsencia.  We held it at lovely bar called Mordisco and the setting was perfect; a lovely glass roofed room with a table in the middle heavily laid with fabulous fruit and other breakfast delicacies. 

Everything was perfectly prepared for our press conference on Wednesday at Mordisco in Barcelona

Soon the place was heaving with colleagues, bloggers and journalists.  Thankfully the turnout was excellent with some 35 representatives from the media.  If you consider the size of the fair and the amount of information shared by all the exhibitors, we were lucky to get our own share of voice in the middle of such bedlam.  That day we were announcing our objectives for 2012, some great new flat tariffs, but the most important news was the launch of a mobile voice over IP voucher.  For just 6 euros a month our customers will be able to use applications like skype or viber on their mobile phones, for the equivalent of 1 cent per minute, a bit of a revolution in the sector and something very new for Spain.  I was very pleased to follow the online coverage after the event which continued through the day and offline the next day.  As we are very innovative in Yoigo we also tweeted and posted the news on Twitter and Facebook (and on Google+ and Tuenti) during the conference itself and as we did it I thought just how the way I communicate has changed since I first started in the trade.  Everything these days is fast and immediate.

Our journalists hung around for an hour or so after the press conference, talking to us and writing the news and enjoying the food.  In a way it was a bit like a party.  Something happened on Wednesday that has never happened before; the journalists and bloggers actually clapped when the conference finished.  I think they enjoy themselves thoroughly when they are with us.  Why ever they did it, it felt good.

Soon I was rushing back to my hotel to pick up my three pieces of luggage to take a taxi to catch the 13h high speed train back to Madrid.  As on the outbound journey, I coincided with many colleagues and other familiar faces on the way back.  I spent most of the journey working, sending out the releases to the staff, uploading photos, replying to emails and the 2.45h trip went past in a flash. 

I was home just after 16h where I was greeted by Eladio, Suzy and my Father.  Very soon I was off with Suzy to see her new flat in nearby Villanueva de la Cañada. She and Gaby will be living in a very modern block of flats built specially for young people and subsidized by the local authorities.  They reminded me of student accommodation in the UK, the difference being that these colourful Lacasito (name for the equivalent of smarties in Spain) flats are spotlessly clean and have all the latest finishings. 

Suzy outside the colourful block of flats she will be living in in Villanueva de la Cañada

The flats are small but cosy and have lots of light because of their enormous windows.  They have a kitchen come lounge, one tiny bedroom, one larger bedroom and luxury of luxuries, two bathrooms, as well as lots of cupboard space.  They are not furnished so Suzy and Gaby probably won’t be moving in until the beginning of May as they need to get all sorts of things before they finally make the move.  I can feel from Susana that she is very excited about going to live in the new flat but at the same time a little sad about leaving home.  I think we all share the same feeling.  You can see the rest of the photos I took of our visit to her new flat here.

The next day, Thursday, I had to go to the office for an important meeting which kept being rescheduled to 30 minutes later which meant I missed lunch at home.  Thankfully though I was able to go for a walk with Eladio, the only one this week unfortunately, unless you count last Sunday with Fátima in Barcelona.

On Friday I was finally able to relax.  I went food shopping with Eladio in the morning and then I had another lunch date. But it wasn’t any lunch date, it was a goodbye lunch for Gustavo.  Gustavo has worked for me as the head of the PR team at Ketchum since the summer of 2006 since when he has grown professionally into the best PR executive you could ever dream of if you are a Communications Director like me.  He is leaving to work for another agency where he will head up the account for a big car manufacturer and I don’t think he knows just how much I will miss him.  He is not only a good professional but a lovely dependable and reliable person who never loses his nerve whatever the situation is.  So he deserved the best kind of send off we could give him.  With the help of the girls from QuintaEsencia and Carlos from Ketchum, we devised a lovely goodbye kit and an album of photos of his times on the Yoigo account. 

Gustavo's (in the middle holding the album) goodbye lunch on Friday

We went to a great place called El Bogavante de Almirante (lobster joint) and one of my surprises was a pack of party poppers.  Needless to say the table looked a picture at the end of the lunch.  Luckily Carlos will take Gustavo’s place and Isabel too will continue to work on the account.  Of course, they will miss him too.  But as he said in a lovely message he sent to me afterwards, he will miss me as a customer but has gained me as a friend.  I too have gained a friend.  Farewell Gustavo, I wish you all the luck in the world in the next step of your career.  You can see the other photos I took at the lunch here on this link.

The lunch didn’t finish until past 5 and I had to be home on time to go to the cinema with Eladio to see War Horse which was starting at 7pm.  Because of an accident on the way home, I had to take another way and ended up getting lost.  Thus I was home a little late and we got to the cinema just as the wonderful epic film was starting.  Afterwards we went to dinner to Fosters Hollywood, as our favourite, La Alpargatería has closed down.  It’s a poor substitute I must say.

Saturday and Sunday have been very quiet but there have been nice family lunches and it’s great to be home again.  I needed the peace and quiet in order to recover after so much activity in Barcelona from where I came home exhausted.

So, yes the week has been great.  However I am grateful that next week there are no trips planned and I can enjoy a few days of routine.  

It has also been the week I discovered a star, a 10 year old girl called Jackie Evancho who sings like an angel.  Whilst we were listening to my favourite songs on Spotify in our room in Barcelona, Fátima mentioned her.  Jackie Evancho, a beautiful, well mannered little girl from Penssylvania became famous after singing on the America’s Got Talent show last year where she came surprisingly number two and not number one. Since then she has gone on to make various albums and has sung none other than for President Obama.  Her style is what they call classical crossover and I love it.  She reminds me of Charlotte Church, although Jackie’s soprano operatic voice seems even stronger.  You look at this little girl and wonder how she can have the voice of a 30 year old opera singer.  If she can sing like this at the age of 10 or 11, I cannot begin to imagine what her voice will be like when she reaches 30. If you haven’t heard of her, just listen to her here on You Tube and I know you will agree with me that a star has been born. 

This was the week I discovered Jackie Evancho

Apart from being the week I discovered Jackie Evancho, it was also the week treasure returned to Spain and not just any treasure. Last Saturday saw the end of a journey that the Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes ship started towards Spain in 1804.  The ship sunk after an attack by English ships when it approached the Portuguese coast.  200 people died and the sea swallowed its huge treasure of gold and silver that had come from Peru. Years later the 600.000 silver and gold coins were salvaged by an American treasure hunting ship called Odyssey who thought the treasure was theirs for keeping. However the Spanish authorities entered legal proceedings and in a way won the Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes last battle when the treasure was returned to Spain.  I had hoped that it would help to improve the Spanish economy as it is worth thousands of millions of euros, but apparently not.  It will be considered historical heritage and as I write is being cleaned and polished and restored for later exhibition in some maritime museum.  The story has been in the news for days and the main angle is that Spanish treasure is being returned to its right owners.  But I ask myself whether that is really so and that perhaps the Peruvian authorities may think otherwise. 



The treasure from the Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes ship, sunk in 1804 was finally returned to Spain last week

And on that note of a tale of naval history, I end this week’s blog.  I wish you all a great week and will be back next Sunday.

Masha

PS You can see all my photos of Barcelona here.