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2008 Virtuoso Symposium
Delagates of the symposium discovered in the first weekend of March that Athens’ new museum is a must-see
By: Mary Gostelow
An interior shot of the stunning New Acropolis Museum, in Athens, shows how the building has glass floor panels to allow you to see the ancient remains left intact underneath. www.newacropolismuseum.gr
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A visit to the Museum, long before opening, was one of the many highlights - says Mary Gostelow - of the 2008 Virtuoso Overseas Symposium, held in Athens, Greece, February 28 - March 3, 2008. www.virtuoso.com Virtuoso continues to be, without doubt, the leading global consortium of knowledgeable, discerning and helpful luxury travel professionals (far removed from what one could think of as 'travel agents') and, says Mary Gostelow, WOW.travel and its parent, www.kiwicollection.com, are proud and honored to support them.
The 350 delegates were led as always by Virtuoso's larger-than-life CEO Matthew Upchurch, supported by the company's Chairman, Jesse Upchurch; President, Kristi Jones; SVP Hotel & Resort Program Albert Herrera and other staff members. There were many top hoteliers, and, as always, such dedicated travel professionals as Rudi Steele, Ian Swain and Valerie Ann Wilson. Sponsors were the Astir Palace, Hotel Grand Bretagne and King George Palace hotels, plus the Luxury Collection; Air France and Lufthansa; Crystal Cruises, Holland America Line and Viking River Cruises; Classic Vacations; and MasterCard®.
The program was tight, but left plenty of downtime for private meetings, tourism and shopping. Most participants stayed at the Hotel Grande Bretagne, which hosted the main welcome cocktail and buffet dinner on February 28th. www.grandebretagne.gr On February 29th, lunch at the New Acropolis Museum was sponsored by the King George Palace and Classic Vacations. That night, Classic Vacations sponsored a memorable evening at the elaborate farmhouse, with its Byzantine treasures, of Greek-American George Nasioutzik. www.ktimanasioutzik.gr
On Saturday, March 1st, a boat trip to Hydra was sponsored by Starwood, with lunch later at Astir Palace. That evening, over cocktails and a traditional Cretan dinner at the King George, www.kinggeorge.gr, guests were treated to a Cretan 'wedding' performed by hotel employees - choreographer was Tina Daskalantonakis, whose second edition of Tina's Black Book; Spoil me in Athens has just been published. www.tinasblackbook.com
The final night's gala dinner, at the Grande Bretagne, was hosted by Air France, Crystal Cruises, Holland America Line, Viking River Cruises and MasterCard®.
The overall theme of the conference was talent, and where to find it. Speakers included Virtuoso's Kristi Jones and Matthew Upchurch and outside speakers were Dr Jonas Ridderstråle (a Swedish motivational guy, about whom, after two hours of monologue, everyone in the room then knew a lot) and Jennifer Kushell, co-founder and President of YSN Interactive Corp and the online universe Your Success Network, YSN.com, sharing constructive thoughts on motivating the young.
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When the delegates arrived for the New Acropolis Museum lunch, they were ushered into the 200-seat tiered auditorium, and given simultaneous translation headsets. The Minister of Culture of Greece, Michalis Liapis, welcomed everyone to the New Acropolis Museum, entered from the Dionysios Areopagitou pedestrian street. The Minister made, in strong words, an extremely strong plea for missing pieces of the Parthenon frieze now to be returned to their home (only 36 of the 115 panels are in Greece, and among the most famous still in overseas homes are the Elgin Marbles, in the British Museum, London).
Then the President of its Board of Directors, Dimitrios Pandermalis, Professor of Classical Archaeology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, showed an illustrated presentation on the project. Architect Bernard Tschumi has come up with a multi-level structure around a concrete core that has the same dimensions as the perimeter of the Parthenon, only 300 yards away. Overall size of is over 226,000 sq ft and financing for the euro 130 million project has come from the Hellenic Republic and the European Regional Development Fund ERDF.
Tschumi has used steel and gray concrete, with black or light beige marble floors, and mostly bare walls. It could be called austere but it must definitely be described as stunning. At ground level, many of the floor panels are glass, to allow you to see illuminated ruins beneath. Above are two levels with trapezoidal floors. At all levels there are in all over 100 concrete columns. By the time the New Acropolis Museum is open there will be over 4,000 exhibits displayed - and that is before the return of any of the Parthenon frieze emigrés.
King George Palace, Athens, Greece
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