Robin's Nest ...Crete: Monroe exhibition banners success

Monday, December 5

Monroe exhibition banners success - at last.

IT'S well known by all our friends and family that our son Mark is an avid Marilyn Monroe collector. No matter what, be it a newspaper clipping, painting, video, magazine, television documentary, book, bric-a-brac he will go to great lengths to get it. So you can imagine his frustration when a very special Monroe exhibition was staged here in Crete a week after he returned home from visiting us back in April.

Fortunately for him we were able to go along and photograph every item, obtained a special exhibition catalogue, along with press packs and a copy of the exhibition poster. That would normally keep a collector happy for a long time - indeed he was delighted, all the pictures, more than 100 were put on CD to view and made up for the fact he missed the exhibition, which was German organised and would not be going to England.

Without telling Mark, behind the scenes we made an effort to obtain at least one of the special banners which graced the road leading to the exhibition. There were five designs, with two banners on either side of the road that led to the exhibition centre. Two of the designs were not really that good, however we managed to get the other three,. When the exhibition ended in October, e-mails had already been sent off to Germany and other organisations here in Greece. So you imagine how pleased we were to hear finally this week that we had permission to take what we wanted.

Simple, all we had to do was to go to the exhibition centre about five miles away, except the place is empty until the next exhibition in January. The banners are approx 1m x 3m and were hung from the top of telegraph poles. It took four phone calls and two visits to find the officials and request a ladder. However the ladders at the centre were locked away, eventually we managed to borrow a pair from an electrician working at a nearby taverna, who thought we were mad.. A lot of climbing, and we have something that nobody else will ever have, three exclusive banners - a result for Mark, however we have not told him we declined one other banner, well it was 3m x 6m in size and halfway up the exhibition centre wall!!

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LIFE IN GREECE

WE NOW live in a traditional village, with tavernas, a butcher, baker (no candlestick maker! and three kafenions and three tourist shops, and currently just the one mini-market, so it's a short trip to the main part of Hersonissos for groceries. Although away from the busy towns, we are only minutes from Hersonissos and 15 minutes from the capital Heraklion, where there are big markets on Tuesdays, Wednesday, Thursdays and a massive one on Saturday, as well as major stores and airport. Retired from a busy lifetime in newspapers, marketing and hotels, to set up an independent marketing and consultancy for local businesses, but in a very part-time fashion Now we are fully retired to a beautiful island where there is always something to do, and visitors to entertain. Of course the weather helps, we are able to swim from May 'til October, and venture out to explore the countryside and tee-shirts still in late November! The local social club for seniors, invited us to join, a good choice (KAPI) arrange many events and activities throughout the year. They also arrange holiday opportunities, and excursions to parts of the island which we would never normally see. Winter is quieter, but our village square still remains open, but without the tourists and there always seems an event or party to attend every week, the places that stay open also have fires during the colder months, so there is always a warm welcome.

FRESH & DIRECT

THERE is something special about Greek villages, and our village, Pano Hersonissos is no exception. The services that brings fresh food as well as clothing, shoes, fish and cheese, is always welcome in the village, but you never really know what will come, or even when, we also have one that sells pots and pans alongside tools. Sometimes it's sold from the back of a van, or car, sometimes it's on a barrow pushed through the village.

Recently we were in the village square having shopped in the main town, and were relaxing over a coffee, when a scruffy looking pick-up pulled up. The old man got out and started to shout about his wares. This time it was fresh fruits and cheese, all of which you are invited to try first, some he grows, others he buys, and sells for a little profit.

We usually have fresh orange juice everyday, so we buy oranges from the trucks that come round - 10 kilos for 5 euros, and usually a few more added for good measure! That's about 20 pence a pound.

Within minutes along came a second truck, this time with fish straight from the local harbour, while already at the top of the square there was a woman with a push-along cart, piled high with clothing. The village shops do not appear to have a problem with these traders, and are often the first in line to buy.

We were in the square one day, when suddenly a man appeared at our side, plate in hand with huge chunks of his own local cheese to try. If you liked it, you bought what you needed, it's a free and enterprising market, and they take advantage of it, but the customer always knows that the food is fresh, and if you miss one, another will be along - some time.

Now on Sundays were have flowers and plants from a local man whose friends now come along with their own local cheeses, as well as speciality sausages. They cook up some to sample knowing that the smell attracts the locals - subtle marketing.

WORLD-WIDE INTEREST

MANY THANKS to all of you around the world who have now visited our Blog, so far we have been seen in no less than 90+ countries, which is staggering. So we can only say: Welcome, velkommen, Добре дошли, vítejte, welkom, bienvenue, willkommen, καλωσόρισμα, benvenuti, bienvenida, and hoşgeldin - which takes care of most!! We never intended the Blog to be a daily event, it was primarily for family and friends, but they are already scattered around the world. We have been most impressed by the range of the countries, and still remain. grateful for those who come back time after time. Hopefully most read the Blog in English, but we understand that the translation tool is a valuable asset. We have asked a couple of friends who are not English if the translation is good,and their verdict is "mainly ok, and that it helps if they are stuck with a certain passage of writing" We shall hopefully continue with the style and flavour of the blog along with our news and photos, as and when things are of interest. Photographs and now a recipe section will now have their own tabs at the top of the main page, we encourage you to try the recipes.

Robin's Nest ...Crete

Monday, December 5

Monroe exhibition banners success - at last.

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