Month: November 2010

Sightseeing in Cologne

by αNaturist, posted in Uncategorized

This summer I discovered that Cologne has a clothing-optional area right in the centre of the city, just like two other major German cities, Berlin and Munich. I wonder if it is the same in Hamburg, but overall, Germany rocks!!!

So, on the East bank of the River Rhine in the centre of Cologne there is a picturesque meadow with few trees, an obvious place for some good relaxing time, whether you visit the city or live there. When I went to Cologne this summer for just one day (on the way to a seminar in its suburb) that day was one of the hottest this year, with more than +30ºC, so that place seemed certainly inviting. On top of that, it was conveniently located at the end of my route, so I headed there after wandering through the historic quarters (starting from Cologne Cathedral, of course) and visiting the chocolate museum, from which it’s just across the bridge (well, then some more walking).
This is the view from that bridge, Severinsbrücke.
And did I feel like I was missing sightseeing? Not at all, because the beach has a gorgeous view of the city’s landmarks including the famous Kölner Dom.
Doesn’t it look like a postcard view? Then how about doing a typical tourist thing, taking a photo in front of it!
Normally I don’t take this kind of pics, but couldn’t resist taking one being naked! That’s more like it 😉
But it’s not just a nice lawn with a good view, it’s a riverbank, so of course I went swimming. I was a little worried about the fast current of the Rhine River, but I saw other people swimming and I asked a couple of local guys to show me how they usually do it. So just go upstream and you can enter water from stairs; then just go with the flow, but not too far from the bank! It’s hardly possible to swim against the current, so don’t miss the tip of the peninsula. The water was quite cool, but on that very hot day it was just perfect!
Then I was happy to get some snack, that I grabbed from the leftovers from my previous trips:
a pack of dried turkey jerky that I bought in Oregon and a chocolate bar from Japan.
It was funny to imagine that these two have met somewhere in between lol. The world has become a small place.
On the way back I passed some blackberry bushes with the berries almost inviting to be picked up.
I can highly recommend the place, I will never forget that view!

Swan Lake

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

swan 0000 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

I’ve seen something that impressed me so much, I couldn’t skip it on my blog, although it has little to do with naturist activities…

Swan Lake, Pyotr Tchaikovsky‘s masterpiece, has been arguably the most popular ballet for decades and has also become classics in modern dance thanks to Matthew Bourne‘s interpretation, first staged in 1995 in London’s West End and never having a break since then with several tours around the world.

I first saw their billboards in Athens where they were on tour last autumn, but finally got a chance to see the show itself last weekend here in New York.

I won’t pretend being an expert in modern dance (although I do like it), but I hardly can imagine any other show that can beat Bourne’s Swan Lake in both choreography and emotional message, so beautiful and powerful, romantic and tragic. There is an interview with Matthew Bourne on youtube where he talks about New York’s production specifically. In short, the Prince is struggling with his false and exposed life where he cannot get love and understanding neither from his mother nor girlfriend, and then he sees (dreams of?) a flock of swans…

He falls in love with their leader, who is a reincarnation of everything the Prince actually wants to be: strong and free…

One of the things that struck me was that the swans in the show moved and behaved pretty much like swans in reality. I tell you as a zoologist 😉 , and I’ve seen plenty of them at the Wannsee lake in Berlin.)

The swans in this performance were not only gracious creatures, typically portrayed in Tchaikovky’s ballet, but also vigorous and sometimes fierce.

naturist & swan 0001 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

They may come to you

swan 0000 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

and bow gently.

naturist & swan 0002 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

(oops! this one even slightly overdid it, putting his head underwater.) But they may also hiss and move menacingly if you come too close

naturist & swan 0005 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

or simply leave all of a sudden…

And don’t even try to catch them:

naturist & swan 0000 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

you are lucky if they decide to escape, otherwise they can actually hit you!

But if you are even luckier, perhaps you’ll be able to find your way to a swan… A possible interpretation of Bourne’s Swan Lake is a desire to be one with nature, whose symbol in the story is a swan. Maybe Matthew Bourn should have staged some of the scenes in the nude, that would certainly make the connection even more powerful and dancers’ moves even more beautiful…

naturist & swan 0004 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

Anyways, this is how the Prince found his ultimate freedom…

Nu York, Nu York! (now you can see it!)

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Well, I clearly underestimated New York’s naturist capacity! It’s pretty clear that it won’t beat Berlin (unless legislation changes), but still, thanks to my new nudie friend Christian, I’ve found another unofficial nudist spot, and he will show me even more, but probably I’ll have to wait for the next season… But I didn’t suspect that during this autumn I would find two beaches and even fulfill my fantasy of taking a nude pic with Manhattan skyline on the background!

So on the same shore where I visited a gay and partially nudist beach of Jacob Riis park (on the right photo above, you can see those towers of Jacob Riis Park), there is quite a long stretch of sandy beach to the South, which is surrounded by forested dunes in the area of Fort Tilden, an abandoned military fort. According to Christian, this beach gets crowded only on weekends during hot season, otherwise it’s rather empty and you can find quite a few people enjoying its quietness without any clothes.

But besides having a nice long beach, this area is also good for a stroll through a forest and visiting some abandoned bunkers. It may get quite spooky, actually! But one of the bunkers has a observation platform on top. Since the place is not frequented by too many visitors, we felt quite comfortable to disrobe and take some shots. But we had to be quite careful listening if any other visitor were getting closer. In any case, for at about an hour, there was no one around, and we totally enjoyed the view of Manhattan skyline

and surrounding forest up to the beach.

Although the city appears very far on the photos,

I actually felt like I could just fly there.

No, in the end we had to travel back by bikes and subway, and in the late afternoon it got really chilly too (it’s the end of October after all).

But it was a great and unique experience. For the lack of a better phrase, I felt as if New York was at my feet 😀