“The parrot had a range of phrases. His own name ('Niko, Niko'), the name of his original owner and now 'Stavros'. Occasionally he would also say 'Panagia mou', which could be an expression of piety but also a gentle expletive, depending on how it was said. With the parrot it was hard to tell. It did not sound pious.”

“After the endless disappointing cups of Nescafé, served as though the tasteless dissolving granules of instant coffee were a delicacy, Alexis felt no cup of coffee had ever tasted as powerful and delicious as this. It seemed that nobody had the heart to tell the Greeks that Nescafé was no longer a novelty – it was this old-fashioned thick and treacly fluid that everyone, including her, craved.”

“They wound their way through a labyrinth of streets, partly following their noses, partly the orientation of the map. Jardines, Mirasol, Cruz, Puentezuelas, Capuchinas...Each word held its magic. They were like brushstrokes painting the landscape of the city, each one helping to build up a picture of the whole.”

“The sun rose, the moon saturated the night sky with its silver light and the stars blazed, indifferent to the events happening below them.”

“De siste ti årene hadde Hellas opplevd minst et dusin statskupp og nesten dobbelt så mange regjeringer, og pendelen hadde fortsat å svinge mellom tilhengere og motstandere av monarkiet. Monarkiets være eller ikke være var et evig tema for stridigheter og debatt i Hellas. I 1920, da kong Alexander døde av et apebitt, vendte faren hans hjem fra eksil, bare for å bli kastet ut av landet igjen to år senere. Han ble erstattet av sin eldste sønn, Georg, som i sin tur måtte tre av mot slutten av det neste året. Kong Georg hadde levd i eksil i nesten tolv år da han kunne vende tilbake til tronen etter en manipulert folkeavstemning.”

“All she saw, down in the cellar well beneath the stoop, was a light yellow feather with a tip of green. And she had never named him. Had called him "my parrot" all these years. "My parrot." "Love you. "Love you."Did the dogs get him? Or did he get the message - that she said, "My parrot" and he said, "Love you," and she had never said it back or even taken the trouble to name him - and manage somehow to fly away on wings that had not soared for six years.”

“There’s an empty shelf here with your name and dates?” “There is. And it was beginning to sound nice. But then I got called in to this meeting. An induction ceremony. Some crazy old man and his granddaughter.” He stands, guides me up beside him. “And I don’t regret it. Now, go home.”