8
NOT MUCH LATER, the bus turned off the main road, as much of a goat track as it was, and went up the drive of what looked like an ordinary farmhouse.
The sun had risen about a hand’s width above the horizon. The sky was a bit dusty but otherwise cloudless and the low light edged rows of grape vines in a golden glow. The plants had no leaves because it was winter, and the soil in between the rows was stony, dry and fallow. I had suspected that we were close to the Exchange enclave, which included Athens and its immediate surroundings, but it now became clear how close. Between the hills I spotted a small section of a fence. It was at least three metres tall, made from wire mesh with barbed wire on top. This was likely why the house had been abandoned: none of the locals liked living clo
