Do you know what RS:X Class is?  Neither do I, but it is going to be big on Paros between 25 April and 4 May.  Nea Chrysi Akti, better known as New Golden Beach, is the site of the 2009 RS:X Youth European Championship.

So this is an RS:X windsurfing board being ridden by Laura Linares of Italy.  She is the 2008 Youth European Champion and a Five times World Youth Champion.

Rather than me blather on about something I know little about—I go windsurfing once a year, weather permitting—check out the official site at http://www.rsxclass.com/events/index.php/rsx-events/rsx-youth-european-championship

All you really need to know is to head over to New Golden Beach during those dates to see world class windsurfing by young men and women.  I suggest you park at Golden Beach and walk the 5 minutes to the venue as the road is narrow with very little parking.

Or I have a villa to rent that is about a 15 minute walk.  See http://www.parosparadise.com/Angeliki

Technorati Tags: Rs:x,wind surfing,youth,Greece,Paros,beach

Last month in the TravelPod Forum I wrote a bit about Greece wines and asked readers to vote in a poll of Where were you when you tasted the best wine?

I commented:

Regardless of the quality my main premise when I write about wine is that you must taste the place. That is the scenery, the light, the smells, the touch -- all your senses affect the enjoyment of your drink.

Not many have voted, so please do me a favor and go to TravelPod and vote for your favourite place to drink wine.

You might even enjoy browsing through the other Greece posts.

Cheers,

Sunday was a delightful day so we took a short walk in the hills. I was going to share a photo or two here but Karin beat me to it by composing another of her photo journal albums.

I think she has created an ideal illustration of how much better it is to get to know an area in depth rather than just pass through as a tourist. To me the scenery and photos are more ordinary than spectacular yet her account is very . . . evocative !

See for yourself: Just click on the photo.

I like to quote an Aliki hotel owner:  "Few people find their way to our village but those who do, don't want to leave."  The same thought applies to the Folkloric Museum of the Cyclades located near the airport in Aliki.  This collection of re-creations of Greek history has been open for many years.  We enjoyed visiting it about six years ago and our guests who have taken the time away from sun, sea and sand say it was well worth the visit.

Every visitor to Paros has seen the Venetian Castle in the town skyline near the port.  It is constructed from pieces of ancient temples and local stone.  At the museum in Aliki you can see what it looked like in it’s 15th century heyday.

A very small percentage of Paros visitors have even known the museum exists.  That will change now due to a new web site by the founder’s daughter, Katrina.  She is a talented artist who has done an excellent job of describing her family background and picturing the development of her father’s accomplishments into a major attraction that is waiting to be discovered by a wider audience.

The founder, Benetos Skiadas, is an unparalleled artisan and craftsman who has poured his whole life into creating museum pieces of stone and wood.  To me the overwhelming feeling was how could one man do so much of such variety.

On the left is a close-up of one of many ships.  Each piece is assembled individually, all the lines to the sails actually work in their tiny pulleys!

On the right is an historical well and other exhibits in the background.

Words can not do it justice, you must tour the web site now and the museum when you visit Paros.

I have been in the private villa rental business about four years now and have seen it grow from strength to strength.  This year the travel business in general, especially into Greece, appears to be down substantially from previous years.  Yet I see article after article about how private house hires are increasing.  This is attributed to two causes:  1) More people are discovering the accommodation alternative through the internet and 2) a family or group of friends can get superior facilities for less money than the traditional resort hotel.

In addition to my full service Paros site I am also an affiliate for VillaRenters with a separate web site for renting private houses anywhere in the world.  Take a look at http://www.GreekIslandTravelGuide.com 

Last week I saw a press release from a competing company that really impressed me.  It featured a villa on our neighboring island of Antiparos.  (I have been blogging a lot about Antiparos lately.  Does that tell you how much I like it?)  So for the sake of journalistic fair play I will give a plug to the company.  After all this Windmill Villa accommodates up to 14 people and rents for a seasonal range of £8260 to £10,780 per week.

If your holiday budget is a little less than this then take a look at my villa page.  We range from 420 to 1,545 Euro per week.  The latter is the high season rate for 4 bedrooms, 2 baths at the beach accommodating up to 10 people.  It is a remodeled Greek farm house and includes broadband.

Don't procrastinate, however.  Despite the slowdown our high season is almost fully booked.  We have plenty of availability for June and September which is the best time to visit the Greek islands anyway.

See you soon!

P.S.  For a follow-up to our traditional kite flying on Clean Monday see Karin's photo essay on Picasa.

The rain ceased, the clouds parted and we celebrated.  This morning I awoke early due to the sun streaming in our bedroom window.  So I got some work done early and then went out before noon to take photos of people gathering for a parade.

Someone in Aliki must like to organize festivals because they just added a new one to the year's calendar.  This one is obviously strictly local, just a neighborhood gathering.  In the USA it would probably be called a block party.

Anyway we had a good time.  Tomorrow we go fly a kite.

The link is:  http://www.ParosParadise.com/ParosFestivals.htm