Learning To Swim Can Be Embarrassing - Childhood Memories

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I learnt to swim in the local swimming pool. This was the only possible way for children living hundreds of kilometres/miles away from the sea or a river which could be used for swimming lessons. (see the link below) When I got to know my husband, an Italian from the island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea, I learnt about a different way. He grew up in a village in the mountains. Many people had vineyards down in the plain near the sea. These vineyards had water reservoirs for irrigation. They are usually five by five metres large and have two metre high walls around them. The boys from the village used to walk to these vineyards in summer and splashed around in the reservoirs. Not all vintners were happy about that - water is a treasure there - and so it happened one day that when the boys, all about eight to ten years old, were enjoying themselves in the water, a vintner crept up to the reservoir and took their clothes away. They noticed this only when they got out and wanted to dress. What could they do? They were naked! They waited until it grew dark, covered their private parts with grape leaves and crept back to the village. Oh, how I would have loved to see this procession!