Author: αNaturist

beaches of Sitges

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Did you think that was it when I wrote about beaches of Barcelona? Well, almost. There is actually a lovely town of Sitges nearby, and guess what, it also has two naturist beaches.

Unlike in Barcelona though, those beaches are more remote and in a more natural setting. You would need to walk through the town’s narrow streets and then by the esplanade for an hour or so, and it is definitely a very nice stroll to do, unless you are can’t wait to dip in the sea. In the end of the esplanade, you’ll need to find a trail between the railway and sea, and continue in the same direction.

You will have some nice sea views to the left and a pine forest to your right; there’s lush Mediterranean vegetation, including dwarf fan palm, which is one of only two native European palm species (another one being Cretan date palm).

When you reach the beach, if you have any doubts on whether it is a nudist beach, there is a conspicuous sign saying that it is actually the first gay nudist beach if the world (since 1930’s).

When I was there in 2007, there was bar at the first beach, but on the second visit we saw a bar only at the second beach, which is right next to it.

But we just saw the absence of the bar as an opportunity to pose on its ‘ruins’, that were almost as picturesque as their ancient counterparts 🙂

And the platform where the bar used to be also provided nice views.

We camped overnight and woke up just before sunrise for a delicious fruity breakfast.

By the way, you can get to that forest not only crossing the railway but also through the tunnel under it. If you look through the tunnel towards the sea, it seems as if someone is inviting you to the naked Wonderland.

We need more of those portals that would transfer us to some nice beaches… any time of the year 😎

beaches of Barcelona

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Barcelona is an ultimate tourist destination with countless sights of interest, be it history or art, beautiful views, gastronomic delights, vibrant night life and, of course, beaches. Now, what other major city can boast with a naturist beach in its central area? And not just one, but two!

One beach is located in the southern part of the hip Barceloneta area and is called Sant Sebastià. You can see it on the right side coming down by cable car from park Montjuïc.

Isn’t it great to strip down and dip in the sea after all that sightseeing? The location is especially perfect if you go there after checking out the Olympic site and city news from Montjuïc. That’s what we did.

Another well known naturist beach is Mar Bella. It is a little further away from the historic centre, but you can see the famous ‘Egg building’, for example. It also has a dune with tall grass, which gives it a bit more natural and secluded feeling.

All beaches within the city boundaries have showers, which is useful if you want to continue exploring the city straight after the beach.

Both naturist beaches of Barcelona are full of locals and tourists but are not overcrowded.

You will be most certainly offered a ‘masaje’ right on the beach; we thought it was a good idea, but just did massage to each other instead.

The clothing optional section is big enough for a walk

or even a short run.

But when the sun was high we of course went to swim

or simply relaxed in the breeze

and in water.

Well, actually the sea was quite rough, so it was difficult to relax in water and we mostly played in waves.

Which in the end was a lot of fun!

Thumbs up to Barcelona’s liberal attitude! Actually I read that some people took it one step further and were even walking naked on the streets, but unfortunately the new mayor was apparently looking for some ways to distract people’s attention from economic problems and proposed a law forbidding even walking topless in the city (even for men). Let’s hope the trend will be reversed soon, otherwise we’ll loose just about the only big city with naturist sea beaches in the centre.

dance naked… censored!

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

A video with young guys from Fratpad showing all kinds of moves from shower dances to real break-dance, created a stir among several visitors of this website, but was eventually deleted by Vimeo for copyright infringement. I still keep this video on Dailymotion.

Another video with naked dancers, an advertisement from London’s super club and electronic music label Ministry of Sound, went somewhat unnoticed. But now it’s been deleted from Vimeo too, for another reason though:

Vimeo does not allow pornography or sexually explicit material.


I don’t think that they show sexual acts in any known to me form; I don’t think that they show anything else except several young people dancing energetically to dance anthems of early 2000’s. If someone doesn’t realize that some parts of human body may dangle and sway during dance, this is a good educational video. But it does not make it pornographic in my opinion. And I don’t buy the argument that someone might find it sexually arousing: most pop music videos have some ‘sexy moves’ in their choreography, and many dance styles incorporate moves that you can find similar to sexual acts…

Vimeo offers a possibility to appeal:

If you believe this was an error, please reply to this email in a civil manner with your reasoning (“I see other people do it” is not a valid reason).

If you have some ideas on what I should write them, please help me.

hidden gem in Athens

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

 ελληνικά

Athens has a few secluded beaches that are known to have naked bathers, but this one is a true hidden gem: it’s close to the city center but almost impossible to come across without knowing the exact location, and yet it is really beautiful.

So, of course, it is a great place for skinny-dipping.

I learnt about this place thanks to Nico, one of the devoted readers of my blog from Athens.

And after a couple of years of having been in touch via email, we finally got a chance to meet in reality last September, and we talk about so many things. But then, in the spirit of ‘active naturists’, we had some time with “a little less conversation, a little more action”.

We climbed the cliffs above water.

The rocks were of bright colors, mostly of lila and orange palette, and looked especially effective in sunset light.

Then we swam to a cave that was not possible to reach by cliffs. That small cave looked like a lost pirate meeting point, but unfortunately I didn’t grab my waterproof camera with me so I cannot show it here.

The night was still very warm, so we enjoyed the night view of Athens before leaving that hidden gem.

Naked at the museum?

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Last Thursday, the Museum of Sex in New York held a special night event that was supposed to be clothing-optional and was even promoted by Young Naturists America group. The ad looked to me rather fetish related, so I didn’t go and apparently didn’t miss much, as according to YNA report no one actually got naked. While many supporters of YNA were somewhat baffled that they promoted the event, I hope their presence raised awareness about nudism.

But I would be much happier if museums allowed clothing-optional visits on regular basis; especially, it would fit to watching antiquities and art from tropical cultures. And modern art? Probably too! By the way, if you’re in Australia you have a great possibility to do that in the end of the month: Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney will have 3 days when you can visit it without clothes! This is what they say:

Gain a new perspective on the current MCA exhibitions by viewing them entirely nude. Remove the material barriers between artist and audience (literally) when you join artist Stuart Ringholt’s tour followed by a nude reception.

Sounds good, doesn’t it? I wish them success and perhaps MoMA will follow the example 😉

Facebook censorship?

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Last week my website saw a huge increase in the number of page views and the major reference site was Facebook. Yesterday the figures dropped and Facebook was not in the list of reference sites anymore. Now I wanted to send a message with the link to http://activenaturists.net to my friend, but got a message that this link is blocked by Facebook as spam! Can anyone tell me what it all means?

Fort Tilden, NYC

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

I’ve written about a beach at Fort Tilden and its abandoned bunkers previously, but I can’t help sharing some more experiences and photos from that place last year.

Fort Tilden is not an official clothing-optional area, although I always wonder how come it isn’t possible to be clothes-free just anywhere in “the land of the free”?! Well, you’ve got to be brave sometimes.

Well, Fort Tilden beach rarely gets crowded, especially off-season, so it’s a great naked escape from the city on those surprisingly warm and sunny days, like we had last November.

It was a a perfect time to wander in the dunes and thickets of trees that were ready for winter sleep.

And yet the sun was quite strong still and made everything bright and alive.

When the clouds came in the afternoon it got pretty chilly, but we couldn’t resist the last possibility for skinny-dipping in the ocean before the winter would take over.

But even in summer you can usually find a spot without too many people, and you can always hide behind the fence that goes along the beach.

And there are some logs that can serve as a perfect naturist lunch table :p

Another time I came there on weekday in July and it was also almost empty, so I felt free and comfortable enough to fool around and practice some simple acrobatics exercises and stretching.

I was definitely into cartwheels and handstands that day,

and the soft and smooth sand was just so perfect for that.

I made some bridges too.

Then we found a coconut. We imagined it was brought by currents all the way from South Florida, where were in May.

It was a fantastic day, very relaxing (in an active naturist way). It is always hard to believe that you are still within New York City borders there, but you if you need a reminder, just go to those abandoned bunkers.

I think I will be coming there again and again!

 

Киев: живописные нудистские пляжи в центре города!

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

English

Летом 2010го я переоткрыл для себя столицу своей родной Украины. Бóльшую часть своей жизни после окончания школы я провёл за пределами Украины, сначала в Москве, потом в Берлине, и в обоих этих городах есть нудистские пляжи в пределах города (в Берлине даже множество). Но я был приятно удивлён, что и в Киеве есть прекрасные пляжи в центральной части города, где можно отдохнуть от городской суеты и… всякой одежды! На лесистых берегах (точнее на одном из островов) могучего Днепра расположены 2 таких пляжа недалеко от станции метро Гидропарк.

Вот как это место смотрится с моста по пути от метро.

С моста не разглядеть, раздеть особо кто там в каком виде загорает на другом берегу, но уж поверьте, пляж нудистский! Так что после моста направляйтесь сначала к обычному пляжу, и на лодке за 5 гривен переправляйтесь на тот берег.

Первый раз я побывал там в рабочий день, так что людей было совсем немного; сначала я остановился на так-называемом гейском пляже.

Было тихо и спокойно, только вот в баре напротив музука громко играла, но к счастью в моём вкусе. А так ещё можно немного вдоль береге вверх по реке пройтись и найти вообще уединённые места.

Есть там и киоск с навесом, где можно купить прохладительные напитки, и одеваться тоже необязатльно.

Во второй половине дня я решить пройтись, и обнаружил, южная оконечность острова тоже является зоной свободы от одежды! Ну точнее кому как нравится. 

Эта часть пляжа гораздо просторней, да ещё и с видами на такие символы Киева как Киево-Печерская Лавра и Родина-Мать, а также ресторан стилизованый под Ноев Ковчег.

Так что в следующий раз когда я пришёл с Серёжей и Светой, мы сразу в эту часть пляжа направились. Ну и конечно захотелось попозировать а-ля памятник Родина-Мать, только с газировкой вместо меса и фрисби вместо щита 🙂 Этакий натуристский эквивалент.

Хотя день и так казалось замечательный выдался и с этими обычными пляжными атрибутами, настоящее веселье началось когда кто-то принёс краски для рисования по телу. На пляже оказалась уйма желающих выразить себя в боди-арте.

А поскольку это был День Независимости, темы рисунков зачастую носили патриотический характер. У меня на груди красовался Трезубец, но честно говоря, Сергей не осбо постарался, так что его едва видно на фотографиях.

У него самого были нарисованы подсолнухи с лозунгом “Пiдтримуй Вiтчизняне”,

а Свету украсили сердечками цветов флага, что особенно красиво смотрелось с проходящим мимо туристическим паромчиком.

Но Петя, пожалуй, был самой популярной моделью с его шикарным арбузом, на создание которого, судя по этикетке, не потребовалось никаких генетический модификаций 🙂


А когда к этому не совсем настоящему “арбузу” приложили очень даже настоящий нож, Петя можно было также назвать и самой смелой моделью!

С другой стороны (буквально), День Независимости воспринимался с иронией, учитывая сомнительные экономические успехи страны за годы независимости.

Так что поздравление гласило “З Днем Неспроможностi” вместо “З Днем Незалежностi”.

Впрочем, в такой замечательный день было бы всё-таки сложно думать о грустном, так что оптимизм взял своё!

Sea is the cradle of life, not a trash bin!

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

I already complained about butts on the beach (of course I mean cigaret butts), as some people think it’s totally fine to throw them in the sand, but this cartoon will hopefully make you think twice if you want to throw some garbage in the sea itself.

It was kind of painful to see a plastic bag floating at the coral reef in the Red Sea in Israel, and that was one of the cleanest waters I have swum!