Later that evening, the taxi dropped them at a rank in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere about two miles from Zanthos. ‘Excuse me,’ Nell asked an old man sitting by the side of the road with an equally ancient dog. ‘Where is Lefkas?’

He pointed down the road.

They walked for about a hundred yards until they turned a sharp corner revealing an entirely new town like something from a futuristic film. Down one side of the road, giant screens seemed to be showing football games or pop videos at maximum volume under flashing neon signs offering slot machines or cut-price cocktails.

‘Oh my God!’ Moira clutched Nell’s arm. ‘Look at that aberration! How could anyone create such a monstrosity?’

There, in front of them, in shiny plastic bricks, was a miniature version of the Acropolis, so brightly illuminated they had to shield their eyes.

At the end of the newly created road was a beach. Gratefully they made for the shore, where they hoped to sit and have a quiet drink. There seemed to be a small crowd of people standing in the sea, chatting and drinking bottles of beer. As they approached Penny let out a muffled shriek.

Mainly over sixty, the men were round and pot-bellied, the women leathery and tanned. And they were all entirely naked.

‘What do you know!’ Dora shook her head in startled disbelief. ‘I think we’ve discovered Lefkas’s nudist beach at happy hour. What a very edifying sight.’

In the end they bought a bottle of wine and took it back to the house with some hummus and olives. Thankfully all the tour groups had returned to their ship, and the car park was quiet and empty.

They settled themselves into comfortable chairs on the rooftop terrace and Nell opened the wine just as the cruise ship turned round and began to depart from the harbour, making way for another two ships which had been waiting for entry.

As they watched, a terrifying flash of blue lit up the horizon, followed by a deafening and almost instantaneous crash of thunder. After that, the whole sky seemed to erupt in a kaleidoscope of colours and sounds so dramatic that they had to run for cover, just as the heavens opened and sheets of driving rain swept across the patio.

‘Do you know, girls –’ Dora held up her glass towards the multicoloured sky from the shelter of the nearest bedroom – ‘I think Zeus is sending us a message. Time to abandon your lost dream and return to Athens, where people wear clothes and the Acropolis is made of real stone. As it happens, there’s a boat leaving tomorrow, and I vote we get on it. What do the rest of you think?’