No longer able to entertain in the way she once had, she preserves only the most essential of her old connections. At first, her friends kept inviting her to their accustomed gatherings, but had she accepted, she would have had to reciprocate and that is impossible... Occasionally, of a Sunday afternoon, her close friends surprise her with an unannounced visit to Piskopio to spare her the trouble of preparation . Her pride however, does not permit her to receive visitors without ceremony and within half an hour, a lavish tea is served that decimated her meagre budget.

M. Karagatsis, " The Great Chimera", Pages 213-214.

Τhe port of Hermoupolis, once a higly competitive commercial center

"Hastily, she clears the boisy factories and foul streets of the working -class neighborhood on the outskirts of town. The labourers' bold, leering eyes as she walk by uneerve her and as she quickens her pace almost to run. Only when she approaches the neighborhoods near the centre does she slow down to stroll along the harbour torwards the customs house."

"When noon approaches, she sets off for the square, knowing that there she will find her acquanintences, Mrs Papadakis or Mrs Psaltis. They sit together and she drinks another ouzo, chats, laughs. At one, when the offices close, husbands arrive to collect their wives. After a few minutes if chit-chat with them too, Marina gets up.

- You're on foot? kindly Mr Psaltis frets.

- I'm getting on, she retorts lightly. 'Walking helps me keep my figure.'

It is a threadbare excuse, and no one is convinced by it. They protest that the road is long, steep; that she is sure to tire,to fail ill, until they finally prevail on her to accept a ride.

M. Karagatsis, " The Great Chimera", Page 212-213.

Photo of the abandoned textile premises of the Ladopoulos factory, overlooking the port of Hemroupolis.