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When I was just 18, my friend Maria and I decided to visit her parents' house in Italy for the summer.

We drove all the way there in a vintage Ford Fiesta with go-faster stripes that I had been given for my birthday. The car had no air conditioning and we kept the windows open, but still the heat rushed in as we drove through the countryside.

We made our way through France and when we reached Monte Carlo, we brazenly talked ourselves onto a yacht that was moored in the port by telling the captain that we knew the owner.

Apparently the confidence and charm that comes with being 18 was persuasive: he let us stay the night. After that victory we were keen to see what else we could get away with during our holiday.

I suppose we were young and a bit mad from the heat and the long lazy days

By the time we arrived at her family's palazzo, a grand old castle at the top of a village, about an hour outside Rome, the car was strewn with old boxes of food, cola cans, maps and bottles of water. The engine was tired and noisy.

We quickly settled into a lazy routine, picking figs and making pasta. We drove to the reservoir in the day and drank Campari in the village bar at night.

But one very hot afternoon, we were bored with lying around and going to the reservoir, so we dared each other to drive into the local town naked.

It was a crazy idea. I suppose we were young and a bit mad from the heat and the long lazy days.

We got into the car naked during the sluggish siesta hour and set off. We giggled all the way to town, screaming and driving as fast as we could.

Because it was siesta time not many people were about, luckily. When we got to the town, it was deserted – just a few old dogs hanging around and a couple of men sitting on a bench a bit further up the road.

Maria had the brilliant idea of covering ourselves with all our maps

Part of the dare was that we had to park for five minutes, and then we could turn around and go home. It was easy.

But when we turned on the engine nothing happened. The key just clicked. We couldn’t move. We were stuck in the middle of the town, naked, and the men on the bench had started to walk towards us.

It was horrifying, embarrassing and funny all at the same time. Maria had the brilliant idea of covering ourselves with all our maps and we sat like that wondering what we should do. We locked the doors and prayed.

Then after about half an hour, we tried the engine again and amazingly it wrenched into life. Still covered in maps, we started the journey back home. We'd had enough thrills for one day.

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