I followed him to his apartment. In front of the door, he turned around and pronounced the ritual sentence:
"Don't mind the disorder. You know how bachelors are."
He led me into a room where a whole wall was covered by a fresco. It represented-in a certain kind of very bad taste-a Greece of the imagination, with an exaggeratedly blue sky, the Acropolis on the right and a landscape of olive-trees and stones, gorged with sun...
"It is beautiful, isn't it? I painted it, three days ago to deal with some issues and catch up on wasted time..."
He sighed and shrugged.
"Do you like it, at least?
"Yes, yes, very much so. It is very realistic, you know! ..."
"Really? Oh, that makes me very happy. I have never seen Greece. I almost always paint using engravings or photographs."