The lifestyle of the local Oia people and their chats of Santorini in the past

Stelios who with his wife Vassiliki who all year round look after the main church of  Plansani and St George church spoke to me this morning of what life was like before tourism, the simple lifestyle of  Oia and how he now loves to go to his little plot where he has his few chickens and rabbits just to sit there and view life .

Nikos on the right the baker who when there is a church name day will be there to cook the meat or soup for the festival at the church and takes pride in directions to how the food should be cooked to the younger generation of local youth who will carry on the traditions .  

This was a few days ago for the celebration of St Artemis on of the smaller churches here in Oia when the local people come together and in the past was a time when life was hard after working in the mills or fields for the land lords a great opportunity to eat and drink well as times were not like today .   

Stelios told me that in the 50s-60s the villagers shared what they had and meat was not in abundance so after a community chat with each other when it was time to kill their cow or goat they would distribute it and in return some would exchange their vegetable crops.But he said this is slowly dying out as the older generation die off and tourism has affected this too but the local people have found their way to keeping a lovely balance in inviting the visitors to join in with the spirit of learning Oia lifestyle and traditions