It was about 1:00 in the afternoon in Porto San Michele and at this time the town was mostly deserted. We just had lunch by the pool at the Santa Margherita, a nice restaurant inside a beach establishment of the same name. The resort was elegant and full of amenities, private cabins, hot showers and a bar where they served the best espresso in town.
We decided to stay and to rent an umbrella and two lounge chairs. We asked for the nearest spot to the shore and we were told that the closest they had available was a fourth row. This was not what we were looking for, but we liked the place, so we decided to take it anyway.
All we had planned for the afternoon was to rest and enjoy the beautiful sun, so we asked the beach attendant to bring us a couple of Hoegaarden and some chips.
In July, at this time of the afternoon, the sun can be very dangerous for children and elderly people. Since Porto San Michele mainly cater to families with kids, all the umbrellas around us were vacant with the exception of only 2 sets. One was located right in front of us on the third row, with a young kid probably around 20 years old. The other was on our same row and three umbrellas to our left, occupied by a gentleman in his mid 50's.
My wife took off the sheer cover-up and the Panama hat and laid down under the sun with a daring Brazilian swimsuit, a white and unlined number that we had bought a couple of days earlier. Since I am not the type of person that likes to just lay under the sun, I walked to the shoreline and checked the water temperature. The water was warm and clear, it looked shallow for several hundred feet, a perfect beach for little kids and near shore snorkeling.