Among the many medical certificates you need in order to
obtain a Seaman's Book in Italy, you also need to pass the so-called
"Swimming and Rowing Test". The swimming part was just showing that
you can swim and float: I always thought that somebody who can swim must also
be able to float, but apparently it's not so automatic. And there actually was
a girl who swam quite normally, but once she stopped to float Sshe sinked
almost to the bottom, saved by the lifeguard. The second part was much better,
and consisted in rowing in a boat down one of the channels in Venice, trying to
avoid taxi drivers and police boats going by. When the first boat leaved, they
came back much later and the comment was: "We went left at first, but there
were too many rats, so we had to take an alternative route". Too much fun!
When I'll finally settle down here for living, I will surely join one of the
rowing teams in Venice!
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