"My name is Chris Zampouras, but people here in Plastiras Lake know me as Zampetas. I decided to live here when I saw an advertising leaflet with pictures of the lake. I started a farm with horses, cows, semi-wild bunnies, sheep and other animals. I have Thessalian horses, which is the best race after the Arabian horses".
"As children we used to play in the family's bakery and through our games came knowledge. We felt the true meaning life in here. Our father used to warm up the wood at night in order to dry them out from the humidity and burn them at the bakery in the morning. The place we live at is full of almond and olive trees, the two best kinds of wood, of which leave their scent on the bread".
"I have been carving wood ever since I was a boy. What designs do I make? Whatever crosses my mind. At first I used to make ladles and canes, but then I was often asked to make more ashtrays and troughs. At night I think about what I am going to make in the morning. My wife wants me to stop, but I work because I want to be able to offer my grandchildren potato chips every day. I work on Sundays, even if I earn nothing. It helps the time pass; I don't even understand when the morning or the evening comes".
"Mussels are sensitive to temperature change. The heat kills them and the cold delays their growth. The 'kokoretsia' (the rope where the mussels are grown) must reach the bottom of the seabed, so that crabs can go up and eat the spawn that covers the mussels and clean them. Crabs weigh over 400 grams and have claws that can cut a whole fish in the middle".
Around 1865-70 Fotis Mastoridis, a seaman from Symi aboard an English ship, saw how shipwrecks are pulled up from the bottom of the sea at the Cape of Good Hope. A diving machine used supplied air to the diving suit via a rubber tube. The machine was operated by two people, who rotated an iron wheel connected to a pneumatic drill. That was when the Greek seaman came up with the idea to use this machine to collect the sponges around the Island of Symi.
"Being a shepherd means no feasts and holidays, that's why young boys can't stand it. It is financially rewarding, but it is very binding. My son is a linguist in Serres and my daughter an accountant in Thessaloniki, there is no way they would ever consider continuing my work. The herd will exist only as long as I do".
"Our trademark was created in 1863 and was named Apalarina, after the nickname given to my great grandfather. Back in the day, our shop used to work not only as a distillery but as a café as well. The customers were few and each one of them used to have their own table. The tourists who visited the café immediately left their tables when the regulars came in. Among the regulars there were fishermen and huntsmen, who used to tell tall tales in order to pass the time".
“Every morning Mr. Stavros used to come to our shop around the time when we were cutting the delight on the pans. He used to take the remains from the edges and put them into buns he'd bought from the bakery in order to sell them to the factory workers. Mr. Stavros kept the rolls hot inside a little transparent, glass chest and a drawer filled with burning coal”.
“I’ve been photographing people visiting the island for 44 years. Back in the old days no more than 10 tourists per day came from Rhodes to Symi. The last couple of years, however, thousands of them come to visit. They stay for an hour and they leave again by boat. I hurry up to have them photographed as soon as they reach the harbour and instantly print the photos. I place the photos on benches for them to see as they leave and buy them as souvenirs. I also get some help from my son Michalis, who is a photography school graduate. Since he was 8, he has been hanging pictures on tenters with me”.
"I once used to work as an engineer in a trader braccera of 150 tones. It was called "Saint Spyridon" and belonged to Dimitris Mpinotsis. It had a Greek "Axel" engine with power of 120 hp and we used to route Rhodes - Symi - Piraeus with eight miles per hour. It was a real wooden sea boat, thirty metres long".
"Like all men don't wear the same size of clothes, animals need different kinds of saddles as well. In the previous years, animals used to get sweat and hurt by heavy loads. The animals experienced poverty just like people did. People couldn't get enough of food, how were they supposed to feed their animals? Few people used to feed them, the rest of them just left them in their fate, wandering in the mountains looking for food".
"At first I used cowhide (red and black leather) to make strong shoes for mule riders. They had nails in the soles so as not to be worn out too quickly. Then I used to make sewn shoes as well, which were fashionable for grooms. Nowadays there are still some aficionados who insist in ordering sewn shoes. They seem to like them and pay good sums of money for them. In the last few years though, I was hardly making by with my job, as the price of leather shot up because of the appearance of industrial shoes. From 30 drachmas per kilo it reached 15 euros and counting".
Women are gathered in a warehouse at St. George Sykousis in Chios and are plucking red roses. They're moving their hands quickly as if they were jugglers and they are picking up all the petals that are destined for the preserves. They don't work silently. They sing, joke and laugh out loud. They are restless women who are not content only doing the housework and they work with preserve industries in order to make some extra money.
“A judicial officer serving in Nafplio once came to my shop, but he didn't mention what his occupation was. In order not to ruin the dye I was making, I had to keep him waiting for a few minutes and he got angry. ‘Do you know who I am’, he told me, ‘I am the public prosecutor’. ‘And why should I care, I am the shoeshiners' prosecutor’, I answered. He was impressed by my prideful answer, and from that moment on he became a costumer and a friend of mine”.
