I am reading “Croniche epifaniche” by the Italian songwriter Francesco Guccini (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Guccini – born 1940). In this autobiographical book, he describes his childhood spent by his grandparents in the small town of Pàvana (in the province of Pistoia – N44°7’21”, E11°0’6″). The language is a mixture of popular Italian and dialect, not easy to read even for us. But it is worth reading because it is a description that evokes emotions and memories (most forgotten) linked to our own childhood. And I discovered some unexpected similarities between my childhood and his (but we are 13 years apart and more than 300 km.) On p. 13 of his book, he says: «You never go swimming, you go for a bath … Without a swimsuit, which is not necessary, the real bath is naked [he uses the word “gnudi”, like the Michelangelo’s “ignudi” in the Sistine Chapel), better if there are summer visitors around; the panties are allowed, never trunks [and he uses the word “slip” – a word we thought was English], and these, after the bath … will be dried first by beating it here and there with great force on a stone, then leaving it in the sun to dry, while we dry ourselves, and the older ones smoke cigarettes from a pocket of their trousers»
