OLIVER AMES STUDENTS TOUR GREECE

EASTON -- The 61 students in the International Travel Study Program at Oliver Ames High School spent the April school vacation in Greece.

The group, which also included 11 adults, was the largest since the program began in 1990.

The trip was organized by Eveline Johnson, a history teacher at the high school, through the American Council for International Studies, an educational travel agency.

This was the 13th trip to Europe for the program and the fourth to Greece. Other destinations have been England, Ireland, France, Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Russia.

All costs for the program were paid by the students and their families. The students attended meetings to prepare for the trip and to research Greek art, history, geography, culture, customs, fashion, sports and mythology. They will receive academic credit for meeting all requirements.

This year’s trip began with two days in Athens, where the students stayed near the Acropolis. Their city tour took them to the stadium where the modern Olympic Games began in 1896, to the National Archeological Museum, the Parthenon, Syntagma Square, Parliament and the Presidential Palace.

The students learned to use the subway system that opened in 1999, and they took in a panoramic view from atop Lycabettus Hill, the highest point in the city. One night they enjoyed a traditional dinner in a taverna that included Greek song and dance. They also spent time in the Plaka, a sprawling maze of shops and restaurants.

The students and chaperones took an early morning ferry to the Aegean island of Santorini, renowned for whitewashed buildings huddled together atop breathtaking cliffs blasted out 3,500 years ago by a volcanic. The explosion obliterated the center of the island and created the world’s largest caldera.

During a two-day stay, they visited the picturesque villages of Fira, Oia and Pyrgos and the Archaeological Museum of Prehistoric Thera, which houses artifacts from Akrotini, the ancient city buried by the volcano.

Among the highlights of the stay on the island was a donkey ride up the side of the cliff below Fira. The group also experienced the sirocco, dry gales that carry dust from the Sahara across the Mediterranean.

They returned to the mainland for two days in Nauplion, a quaint seaside village of shops, cafes and a stunning mix of Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman architecture on the east coast of the Peloponnese peninsula.

Many students and a few parents climbed the 857 steps to the Palamidi Castle, an imposing fortress built by the Venetians in the early 1700s, while others chose the easier hike to the top of the nearby Akronafplia Castle. Some also took a short boat ride to the Bourtzi, a 15th-century island fortress at the entrance to the harbor.

The group also saw the buildings that served as the seat of the national government from 1829 to 1834 while Greece was fighting for its independence from Turkey.

Their Nauplion visit included day trips to Epidaurus, site of the best-preserved theater of ancient Greece and the sanctuary of Asklepeios, the god of medicine, and to the ruins of Mycenae, mainland Europe’s oldest city.

The students and chaperones visited the 2,000-year-old ruins of ancient Corinth and the Corinth Canal on their return to Athens for a final day. They flew back to Boston on April 22.

Students participating in this year’s trip were Kaitlin Allen, Rebecca Allen, Yara Assaad, Marissa Athanasiou, Lauren Barry, Adam Belanger, Elizabeth Benson, Margaret Blair-Lamb, Kylie Blanchard, Katherine Cannon, Marla Cavarretta, John Copell Jr., Bridget Corbett, Jennifer Covett, Kevin Curran, Meghan Curran, Allison Donahue, Erin Drummey, Adriana Farley, Shannon Fitzgerald, Kathryn Gammons, Sarah Hadge, Alexis Honigbaum, Lacey Jetter, Ariana Kampanelas, Alexandra Karavetsos, Kimberly Keith, Heather Kelly, Stephanie Kenney, Ashley Klane, Laura Kligler, Courtney Laporte, Thomas Lavin, Thomas Maga, Christine Malone, Sarah Maloney, Alexandra Marcus, Donald Martin, William Matteson, Katelyn McCormick, Jessica Miller, Jacqueline Oates, Alexandra Papagno, Jessica Peterson, Erica Pires, Amanda Prince, Nikolas Psikarakis, Jessie Ratcliffe, Shannon Reynolds, Colleen Rooney, Courtney Searles, Matthew Solov, Michele Spiegel, Nicole St. John, Evan Stone, Jennifer Tanner, Bethany Tighe, Alicia Whalen, Sarah Zaharoff, Candace Ziino and Matthew Zussman.

Adults accompanying them were: Eveline and Ken Johnson, assistant group leader Susan Hadge, an English teacher at the high school, and her husband, William, Margoe Honigbaum, John Copell, Sheila Fitzgerald, Barbie Jetter, Janet Kelly, Ann Marie Martin and Karen Stone.

Planning is under way for a trip next April to Ireland and England. More information is available from Eveline Johnson at the high school and is posted on the website for the International Studies Program, http://home.comcast.net/~kmj53/2006trip.html.

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