Wholesale From Crete to Istanbul - Ancient Wisdom - Giftware and Aromatherapy Supplier

Greetings from Istanbul, Turkey

We just arrived after what should have been two short hops, an hour from Crete to Athens and an hour and ten minutes from Athens to Istanbul. But unfortunately the first flight was delayed, we missed the connection in Athens by 5 minutes and then was rescheduled on a later flight 8 hours later (which was then delayed 2 hours). We didn't make it to our hotels in central Istanbul until 3am. But this is peak season and the airports are full stretch.

This is life, no point in getting stressed...

We found ourselves at the departure gate - outside the Schengen area - with no flight.. and need to go back to Greece to rebook a flight.. a very nice guy took us personally through the back lanes of Athens airport, found a policeman to un-stamp our passports, located our displaced luggage and then delivered us to the ticket counter. There are kind people everywhere.

Last week I was telling you about the amazing hippy town of Matala, if you missed it you can catch up here: Today is life - tomorrow never comes.

After a delightful few days it was time to move on, and hopefully do some business in a different part of Crete.. We have been chatting to Nikos (the King of Sponges) on and off since before the pandemic. Now seemed a good time to meet and see if we can plug a rather large gap in our Bathroom Heaven product range.

Yes still kind of on holiday, but actually working much of the time. WFH in our case is - Work from Holiday and a whole lot more fun.

I was comparing the island of Crete with the island of Bali.. both are heavily dependent on tourism for the economy and both islands cater for around 4 million visitors a year.

Which is the biggest by area? Crete is a bit bigger. Which has the biggest population? Crete's population is only about 700,000 whilst Bali has about 4.5 million.. Very different places, and yet some things in common - a thriving handicraft industry built up to serve the tourists but also exported. In Bali some estimate that up to 1 million people work in the creative craft industry, certainly almost every (decent) gift shop in the western world stocks something from Bali or Indonesia. In Crete not so much.. there is however a thriving cosmetics and skin care industry, of course olive oil is famous.. and many shops sell gifts made from olive wood. I'll tell you a secret.. quite a lot of what passes for olive wood is actually Indonesian teakwood.. although I'm sure if you ask they would tell you the true source.

One thing that is indisputably associated with Greece is the Aegean Sea Sponges. Expensive but the best quality sponges are found in the Aegean Sea.

They make a perfect gift, and are absolutely ancient wisdom.. used by ancient Greeks and Romans for over 3000 years. There is something slightly decadent about soaping yourself down with a real sea sponge, nothing quite feels the same. The last time we was in Crete (4 years ago) Coco bought sea sponges as gifts for her family back in China and they are used daily and still in use..

We made friends with the, Nikos, the king of sea sponges and his lovely Yorkshire wife.. from a warehouse and factory high on a hill looking down on that blue Aegean sea, they showed us the secrets of sponges. Bought from sea sponge fishermen, they have to be cleaned, sorted, trimmed and graded. Then packaged labelled, often vacuum (to save space and shipping cost) packed before being shipped all over the world. The far east is a big market.

Obviously we need to be sure we are buying sustainable and good quality sponges. Interestingly the sponges when harvested correctly grow back better and stronger.. bit like cutting a privet hedge. An interesting thing is a sponge, not only all that ancient wisdom, but a fascinating creature. Not plant, but not exactly an animal, they have no heart or brain, but grow mushroom like. Heck there is a lot to learn about sponges. Anyway, I think we have a deal and we should be able to bring you best in luxury quality sponges fairly soon.

It's Coco's first time in Istanbul, and I'm keen to show her around, she will meet our agent here.. lets see what happens.

A full report next week.

Have a lovely weekend.

Take care.

David