Jan. 26, 2004

(Dallas) - "Modern" or "new" is a relative term on the ancient isles of Greece. For instance: the "modern" Olympics were revived in Athens in 1896. Today, preparations are moving ahead at a fevered pitch as Greece gets ready to welcome guests from around the world to the 2004 summer Olympic games. A lucky group of travelers will have a chance to take a sneak peak at those preparations during a two-week tour in May co-sponsored by two faculty members - Gus Katsigris and Jimmie Henslee - of El Centro College, which is part of the Dallas County Community College District.

DTA Tours and Travel of Dallas will make arrangements, and El Centro faculty member Gus Katsigris - a native of Greece - will share his expertise, in addition to the comments and knowledge of "official" tour guides. Katsigris went on his first ECC-sponsored tour in 1991 and looks forward to seeing his country prepare for the Olympics this year; he travels to Greece every summer. "We will see five islands and the shore of Turkey, plus six classical sites," said Katsigris. "We're even going to the farm village where I was born. Everyone will experience Greece from the sea to the land."

Tour-goers will depart on Thurs., May 13, from DFW Airport on Lufthansa Airlines and arrive in Athens the next day, where they will stay at the Hotel Olympic Palace. During the first few days, tour sites will include the Akropolis and a guided trip to Cape Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon. The package includes a four-day cruise departing from the port of Piraeus in Athens to the Greek islands of Rhodes, Crete, Mykonos, Santorini and Patmos, plus the Turkish port of Kusadashi and the GrecoRoman site at Ephesus.

The cruise then will be followed by a four-day classical tour to Delphi, across the western mainland to Patras and ancient Olympia, then moving west from the Peloponese to Nauplion in the eastern Peloponese, the ancient Theater of Epidaurus and the ancient city of Mycenae. Tour-goers then will visit Katsigris' birthplace, Leonidion, followed a day later by a short sea voyage by hydrophoil to the Island of Spetses. With a final stop back in Athens and a night at the Hotel Olympic Palace, travelers will depart on Fri., May 28, for their return home.