Within almost spitting distance of our hotel room, there were two conflicting ways in which to get rid of quite a lot of my lottery winnings.

It was the end of the season so the very big yacht/boat/whatever/, was all alone against the jetty and watchable from our hotel bedroom window.

Indeed so close were we that – if we had only had the right passwords – we could have logged onto to crew, captain’s, owner’s or guests’ wifi.

It is called Apogee which I thought, perhaps a little optimistically, meant that its owner had a sense of humour.

It turns out that its owner wants rid – perhaps, I thought, indeed it had been the apogee, and then things had gone downhill for him.

(The price has been reduced by $500,000 and it is now going for $24,950,000.

Or you can charter it for $275,000 per week.)

But no, a little research shows that the owner is someone called Darwin Deason ( yes he is American) worth some $1.45 billion dollars so he can probably live with the current disappointment of no sale.

I looked up what we might get for that amount of winnings and the specs were indeed impressive – if, I have to say, tasteless.

The main salon is panelled in mahogany and has white carpet and brown furniture.

Well, white carpet is so James Bond circa 1970s and completely impractical ( for the cleaning crew.)

And if I was out and about in Med on a boat like that, in the sunshine, why on earth would I want mahogany and brown furniture – I could get that in Furniture Land in Croydon.

Mind you, the spec says, guests can converse there in comfort whilst waiting for their dinner to be served at the 10-seater dinning table – indoor one or outdoor one, so that is all right.

The master suite has his and hers bathrooms, a walk-in wardrobe, and office and a sitting room.

And of course there are guest rooms though one of them has a double sofa bed which hardly strikes the same note of luxury – I had one of those in my first student flat.

There is a gym, jacuzzi and two bars – one each side so you can shuttle across to see a different view, or oscillate between sun and shade.

There is an indoor pool and an area at the bow ‘to store motorised toys’.

Now I didn’t think they’d be posh rubber rings and indeed they aren’t…..

‘Two Nouvurania tender dingys with a 300 hp & 230 hp engine respectively, four 3 person Kawasaki water bikes, various scuba diving equipment, water-skis, fishing gear, underwater aft lights, two see through bottomed Explorer kayaks.’

All this is courtesy of a 2013  -refit which is something my other choice to spend my lottery millions, did not have.

This was the home of an artist.

It turns out – there has been time to do quite a lot of research given that we have been somewhat rain-confined to our holiday rental – Angelos Giallinas 1867-1939 was one of the last of the Heptanese School of Art.

That got you sitting up straighter didn’t it?

So, to quail your beating heart, here is the information you need and I am sure you will feel better for it:

‘The School of the Seven Islands, (Hepatense) also known as the Ionian Islands’ School succeeded the Cretan School as the leading school of Greek post-Byzantine painting after Crete fell to the Ottomans in 1669. Like the Cretan school it combined Byzantine traditions with an increasing Western European artistic influence, and also saw the first significant depiction of secular subjects. The school was based in the Ionian Islands, which were not part of Ottoman Greece, from the middle of the 17th century until the middle of the 19th century.^’

So, Giallinas had painted murals at Sisi’s palace in Achelleion – where we were just today but I hadn’t known that when I visited – how exciting…..

(I am leaving it to you to do the research on Sisi and her palace and rather tragic history.)

I read that Giallinas, after studying in various places, decided to specialise in watercolours and had his first solo exhibition in Athens in 1886 where he met the British ambassador Clare Ford.

Then I got a bit carried away.

I was going to make sure this lovely, neglected building was restored and what is more, not just made beautiful (with no white carpets and places to stow your ‘water toys’) but into a (tasteful) place where he and the female – because what a shock, we had a female, yes female, ambassador in the 19th century – were celebrated.

I had salons planned, rooms, other rooms, gallery spaces – and though I am not a fan of 19th century watercolours  I was willing to be liberal and show them off – and did I mention rooms? – a very nice set of rooms for friends and family.

(Not mahogany and brown upholstery but something much more light and airy and suitable and yes, in better taste.)

And what is more, I planned a celebration of this unknown female ambassador. 

I would track down her history, her letters, her relationship with Giallanas……

Then, I did some more research and found that Clare Ford had commissioned our artist to paint landscapes in Venice, Rhodes, Istanbul and had arranged an exhibition in London and introduced him to London society.

Well done that woman, I thought.

Clare Ford, it turns out, was Sir Francis Clare Ford.

My Best Beloved and I spent the evening thinking of colour schemes, but I am not sure the millions are yet decided.