Geneva Car Show 2010

After 3 years, it was nice to return again to the Geneva Car Show to check out what did the manufacturers in these 3 years. Well, it appears no one gets away w/o a hybrid at their stands (even if its a "hybrid" in the sense of a 15HP electric motor coupled to a 300HP combustion engine like the Mercedec S which they are not ashamed to call a "Hybrid") and a couple of electric car concepts.

A new trend that we observed is that most sport-car makers seek to get on the family car market with cars such as the Porsche Panamera:

From 2010 - Geneva Auto Show

, the Aston Martin Rapide:

From 2010 - Geneva Auto Show

or the Bugatti Galibier (sorry no photo, there were just too many people around), all relying on the success of the Quattroporte.

Other than that, we saw a few new models such as the new  A8 or 5-er BMW, or Volvo S60. Nothing ground braking on that side.

Our vote for the BEST STAND goes for PEUGEOT:

From 2010 - Geneva Auto Show

But definitely the most fascinating were the concept cars, which we will most likely never see on the road in this form :-(

From 2010 - Geneva Auto Show

From 2010 - Geneva Auto Show

From 2010 - Geneva Auto Show

From 2010 - Geneva Auto Show

From 2010 - Geneva Auto Show

From 2010 - Geneva Auto Show

And finally the star of the show, the national pride of Romania: the new Dacia Duster:

From 2010 - Geneva Auto Show

Enjoy the rest of the photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/emese.gyenge/2010GenevaAutoShow#

Art on Ice 2010

It's time to talk about arts... typically not our favorite topic, but THIS type of art is one of the most amazing and enjoyable ones. For those who don't know: Art on Ice - it's an ice figure skating show with the most successful and best skaters from all over the world. They dance on the ice to the sound of live music from huge stars. The tickets were my Christmas present from Zoli (for last Saturday's performance in Hallenstadion Zurich) and I was very excited about this show. This years's performance was not a just one of the typical Art on Ice shows, but the 15th Anniversary Gala.

On the stage: Seven (one of Switzerland’s most sought after music stars these days), followed by David Garrett violinist and pop-soul queen Anastacia, guest stars of this year's Art on Ice show. On the ice, Olympic gold medalist 2006 and superstar Jewgeni Plushenko appeard alongside his longtime “rival”, the Swiss favorite - Stéphane Lambiel. Two of the best figure skaters of all time and world famous musicians... wow...it was absoutely wonderful to watch!

Other outstanding performers were:

• Sasha Cohen, silver medalist at the Turin 2006 Olympics,
• Kurt Browning, four-time world champion,
• two-time pair skating world champions Aljona Savchenko & Robin Szolkowy,
• two-time European silver medalist Sarah Meier or
• Isabelle Delobel & Olivier Schoenfelder, the ice dancing world gold medalists in 2008.

From 2010 - Art on Ice

For the first time, 2010's performance also featured motorbike stars, the Kourbanovs from Russia, which was nothing we've seen before. We don't even attempt to describe it, it was such an unusual type of 'art'.

Just like we don't attempt to raise anyone's interest with the few (and not-too-good-quality pictures and videos we managed to take) as this is truly a "must see with your own eyes" experience, a combination of art, sport and show with pretty impressive sound and light effects. The concept of creating an interplay between figure skating and live music, with world-class athletes performing on the ice and top music stars on the stage, is absolutely amazing...