Learning made fun

21 Years of Progress

I AM writing this blog on my daughter's iPad whilst on an airplane and it has got me thinking about how technology has changed in the 21 years I have been running Musical Minis, and in turn how this has affected the running of my business.

When I first started Musical Minis the music was played on tapes and tape recorder. As the years progressed we switched to CD's and CD players and now we are onto MP3 players and speakers. It must show my reluctance to change that I still prefer using tapes! With each stage transferring the music has been easier than changing our Licence with MCPS, the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society, but doing everything legally and paying the correct royalties has always been a priority to us.

Athens - Ruins, Columns And Statues

NEARLY 30 years ago I studied classical civilisation for A Level. Ever since then I have wanted to visit Athens to bring the Acropolis, statues and columns to life. Emily, my daughter, is now studying classical civilisation for A Level too, and she was so keen to visit that we decided on a half term trip.

We had heard that Athens was dirty, boring and not worth a visit so are expectations weren't great! However Rob, Emily and I found Athens to be quite the opposite (except the graffiti everywhere and it wasn't the cleanest of cities).

We stayed at the Intercontintental Hotel, which is slightly outside the city centre. The hotel has a regular free shuttle service into the centre, however, this could have been slightly more frequent - often it was once an hour. We upgraded our stay to include the executive lounge which was definitely worthwhile - this included breakfast and refreshments throughout the day as well as an hour of free Internet use. Drawbacks to the hotel was the concierge service wasn't great - we were dealt with whilst the concierge was taking phone calls and didn't feel we were given full attention. Restaurants suggested to us were really quiet and we felt unsure if the hotel was on commission.

The highlight of our Athens trip was a visit to the Acropolis. The Acropolis comprises of the Parthenon, Temple of Athene Nike, Theatre of Dionysus, Theatre of Herodes Atticus and the Propylaia. All my classical civilisation came flooding back as I identified Ionic, Doric, Corinthian, and Caryatid columns. A visit to the New Acropolis Museum added to my excitement of being able to remember the pediments, friezes, metopes and statues that I studied all those years ago. I'm not sure Rob and Emily found this quite as exciting! I was left with a feeling that the Elgin Marble in the British Museum really should be returned to their rightful owners, Greece.

Other sightseeing visits included:
• A trip to the 1896 Panhellic Olympic Stadium which held the first modern Olympics. There was an audio guide which was an excellent way to explore the stadium. I find it remarkable how the plumbing system used all those years ago has not experienced any problems and is still in full working order and yet our modern system always seems to be faulty! The seats for the 68,000 spectators were created with curvature so everyone could see - remarkable.
• The Ancient Agora, which was the focus of ancient Greek life where business, democracy and trade took place. Today it is an archaeological site made up of ruins but the Temple of Hephaestion is still preserved.
• The National Archaeological Museum which is full of statues, most with missing body parts! It also houses vases, jewellery and other antiquities. Emily was particularly pleased to see Nestor's cup which she had read about in Homer's Iliad. Agamemnon's death mask was also a hit. I preferred the statues as I had studied lots of them but had forgotten which ones!
• We took the open top sightseeing bus tour valid for 2 days. The first day we sat inside as it was pouring. The tour was informative and well worth doing.
• The Temple of Zeus and Hadrian's Arch which again were very interesting and a reminder of my school days.
• We were also lucky enough to be in Athens for the Changing of the Guards on Sunday morning outside the Parliament building. The guards changed every hour on the hour but on Sunday at 11am, there is a much longer ceremony to accompany this.
• We also went shopping to both the touristy and exclusive shops

Restaurants in Athens were everywhere, especially in the Plaka district. We went to a taverna here where we had a great Greek salad together with music and bustle. We went to Spondi, a Michelin star restaurant with great food although slightly lacking in atmosphere as it wasn't very busy. The 5 course meal we had was delicious and worth the price, especially as it came with 3 extra courses plus 2 glasses of wine. The hotel recommended a nearby taverna, Aremis, but although the food was ok the atmosphere and service was definitely missing. We were left feeling that perhaps the hotel was on commission as there must have been many other better places to recommend and 2 staff members had suggested we go here.

I would recommend a trip to Athens. It's remarkable that the ancient Greek life can still be seen so well. Ancient Greeks were so advanced in geometric design, philosophy, drama and democracy - the rest of the world is still catching up! Modern Greece is engulfed in it's ancient heritage and it's fascinating to see the two existing side by side.

Overseas October

OCTOBER was an unusual month for me at Head Office. Apart from a few days here and there I hadn't managed to have a proper break for a holiday since Summer 2009. Running my own business from a home office with no office staff means I never really get the time to switch off and escape. There is always something to be done for the franchise network as a whole or for an individual franchisee. The phone constantly rings and emails always need to be answered. After a manic September with 2 new franchises on board and the launch of our 21st Anniversary photo competition, I definitely felt the need for a break - hence I set off for the last 2 weeks in October to Athens and Nice to coincide with half term.