Bye-bye Google’s blogger, hello WordPress! Whatever the reason was, but my blog was deleted from blogger and no explanation was given. I hope WordPress will serve me well.
Author: αNaturist
Act naturally
Sorry for not posting much lately, but as usually it is not because I lack fresh material (there is actually plenty of old stuff to be published yet!), but because I haven’t had enough time for updates. But I decided to tease you with a promise to get back to my blog soon, I will continue with other stories from Ukraine, a fresh adventure in South Florida (including Naked Spring Bash with the local group) and more!
But speaking of teasers, in the end of March I went with my friend Christian to watch a sneak preview of the movie called “Act Naturally“. You can see the teaser trailer at their web site. As you can guess, this fiction movie is focused naturist lifestyle and its clash with the ‘outside’ world, which was done in a fresh and entertaining way. The sneak preview was part of a fundraiser events while the producers are trying to release the film on the screens. The turnout was so good, they even had to arrange two extra screenings! Have I mentioned yet that the event was clothing optional? And almost everyone opted for no-clothing, even most of the crew that was present at the preview screening. Here is me with one of the two main actresses.
It was the first public film viewing in the buff for Christian and me, so we were both quite excited, though it wasn’t a real cinema, just an art studio. Having seen so many naturists at the preview made me hopeful that the producer will eventually get enough money to release for the broad audience. In fact, I think the movie would be even more interesting for people that are not familiar with naturist lifestyle. They show life in a nudist colony (which isn’t an eye-opener for naturists themselves) and how two “outsider” women, who unexpectedly inherited the resort, struggled with accepting the lifestyle. Their “gymnophobia” – fear of being (seen) naked/seeing others naked – and a bit too self-conscious attitude to their bodies is something many people may relate to, and in the end they were much more relaxed about that, so I hope the movie will be released soon and many people will see it!
Kiev: central nudist beaches with landmark views
Last summer I rediscovered the capital of my homeland, Ukraine. I’ve spent most of my adult life outside Ukraine, in Moscow, Berlin and now New York, all of which have accessible naturist beaches, so I was pleased to find that Kiev has its own beautiful naturist beaches in the very centre of the city! Kiev boasts the mighty Dnieper River with some forested islands, that are luckily protected and not used for mansions of the nouveau riche. A couple of neighboring clothing-optional beaches at Hydropark (Gidropark) are located most centrally and have pretty amazing views.
This is how it looks from the bridge on the way from Gidropark subway station.
You cannot really see if it is a nudist beach at the other bank of the river, but trust me, it is! So after the bridge you need to continue till one of the typical city style beaches and take a “canoe-ferry” for 5 hryvnias (approx. 50 cents); from there, you can already see where you should head to 😉
First time I went there on a weekday, so it was relatively empty, and I stayed at the part known as a local gay beach, as my friend advised (he was at work that day).
It was nice and relaxing, except that the music from the opposite beach bar was quite loud, but I actually liked it. It is also possible to go a little upstream and find some small secluded spots.
There is a shaded kiosk where you can buy beverages without having to put on clothes. In the afternoon, I decided to explore the area a little more and went to the southern tip of the island, and it turned out to be clothing-optional too!
I actually liked that part more, as it was more spacious and had a great view with some of Kiev’s landmarks: Motherland monument, Kiev Pechersk Lavra (monastery), and a restaurant styled as Noah’s Ark.
So when I went to Gidropark beach next time with my friends Sergey and Sveta, we headed directly to the tip part. I couldn’t resist mocking the Motherland monument by posing with a bottle of water instead of the sword and a frisbee instead of the shield 🙂
Although the day was going to be fabulous even with those regular attributes of naturist pastime, it turned to be even more fun as someone brought body paint and anyone willing was welcome to join the body art frenzy!
Since it actually was the Independence Day, main themes were quite patriotic and Ukraine-inspired. I had our coat of arms (trident) painted on my chest, but frankly, Sergey did not do a great job, so you can hardly see it on photos.
Sergey himself had sunflowers painted saying ‘Support homegrown’, which referred to Ukraine being the biggest exporter of sunflower oil.
Sveta had hearts colored as the national flag and altogether looked very artistic.
And Petya was arguably the most popular model with the watermelon painted on his buttocks :p The “price-tag” said that the watermelon was sold at 2 hryvnias per hour (whatever that meant!) and that it did not contain GMO 🙂
Having a real knife in the not-so-real watermelon, Petya was probably the most daring model too!
On the other (literally) side, the Independence Day was taken also ironically, as despite the patriotic spirits, it was clear that the country was facing too many troubles.
So instead of wishing a Happy Independence Day, it read ‘Happy Inability Day’, as Ukraine is hardly able to cope with its economic challenges (I could translate it as ‘impotence’ as well, but I assure that is not our problem).
But on such a day, it was hard to think of anything gloomy, so the optimistic side took over!
naturist photography, art and pornography
Felicity, a blogger from Young Naturists and Nudists America, has recently raised a question whether it is possible to draw an objective line between naturist photography, nudes in art and pornography in her blog. I am sure there are photos with naked people that no one would call art or porn, there are pieces of art with nudes that do not refer to naturist lifestyle and are not sexually stimulating, and pornography that is neither artistic nor naturist. But some imagery is much more difficult to classify. Felicity referred to the case of Modigliani paintings that at the time of their production were banned from display as pornography.
I think this painting might depict a naturist woman, perhaps stretching after a nap. It is a painting, a pretty one, so it must be art 🙂 But some people might find her pose somewhat too inviting and arousing, there is certainly a focus on the crotch, so I can imagine they would see it as porn…
To be honest, I don’t really like trying to define such obviously subjective matters, but as they come up quite often with naturist topics, I’ve decided to add my 2 cents. Felicity has to deal with that, because sponsors at their website are worried whether the graphic contents posted by some members is purely naturist… Last week my blog was flagged by someone, so now you get this annoying content warning. Hope it won’t go further than that.
Well, as expected, Felicity came to a conclusion that “porn is just in the eye of the beholder”. I really liked the comments to that post. In the response to a statement that a photo should be considered porn when there is a focus on genitals, one reader noted that there are also foot fetishists. And I think it is in the core of naturist philosophy that genitals are not more immoral than say a hand; then there shouldn’t be an issue with imagery specifically showing the former. But in any case, a web site depicting only genitals would not be able to show naturist lifestyle, not more than the one with only photos of arms or ears, so as long as the holistic aspect of naturism is shown, why bother that some members of the network show their particular body parts? And actually there are also underwear, leather, rubber, jeans, nurse, flight-attendent – you name it – fetishes, so being clothed in a particular form may be more sexually arousing for some people than being naked… Should it be censored?
Probably there is more consensus on the imagery with hard penises, but are those two below porn?
This guy might just sneak out his house to breathe some fresh morning air; he has an erection but it does not seem to be directed at anyone, there is no sign of any sexual behavior and the whole setting looks perfectly naturist.
And on this photo, the erect penis only adds artistic aspect to it, as it points in the direction where the archer is shooting. Otherwise, the image would be classified as almost casual naturist, so to say, as some naturist resorts, including the famous village de La Sablière, offer archery courses.
And on this photo, the erect penis only adds artistic aspect to it, as it points in the direction where the archer is shooting. Otherwise, the image would be classified as almost casual naturist, so to say, as some naturist resorts, including the famous village de La Sablière, offer archery courses.
So while I understand that many naturist networks and forums are reluctant to let anything remotely erotic and even more so pornographic be posted, because they don’t want to sexualize their websites, in the end this does not sound any better than strict rules of Facebook forbidding any kind of frontal nudity, and the criteria are even more difficult to set objectively.
praia naturista em Rio de Janeiro
Surpreendentemente a praia de Abricó é uma das poucas praias naturistas da América do Sul. Localizada no Rio de Janeiro, é uma das praia mais belas (e limpas) da cidade, devido a sua localização em uma área de preservação ambiental. O público é bastante diversificado, principalmente nos finais-de-semana quando famílias vão a praia. Sua proximidade ao Rio de Janeiro a deixa bem cheia nos finais-de-semana, com algumas actividades esportivas naturistas organizadas pela Associação naturista da Praia de Abricó,
o que é muito bom, porque frequentemente as ondas são muito fortes
e a água é inesperadamente muito fria pra nadar (pelo menos em setembro). Em dias da semana há menos pessoas, mas muito mais liberdade.
Além de outros poucos nudistas você pode ser acompanhado por estes pássaros gigantes. 8D
Bem, eles são apenas garças brancas. 🙂
Mas de qualquer modo você tem a certeza da visão magnífica do oceano azul claro e de duas ilhas tropicais na frente da praia.
As plantas variam de cactos de diferentes formas e tamanhos, bromélias e agaves, que crescem nas rochas,
à palmeiras, hibiscos e muitas árvores tropicais.
Se você ficar até anoitecer, o ar pode estar carregado de vagalumes, uma visão fabulosa!
O modo mais barato de chegar à praia de Abricó de Copacabana (ou em qualquer local próximo ao mar na zona sul) é tomar o ônibus 175 (Barra da Tijuca ou Recreio) ou S-20 (Recreio) na Avenida Atlântica (exceto aos domingos) em Copacabana, (nos domingos você pode tomar os ônibus na rua Barata Ribeiro. De Ipamena você deve tomar o ônibus na avenida Vieira Souto ou no Leblon, na avenida Delfim Moreira) e desembarcar na frente do Barra Shopping, na Barra da Tijuca. Então tome o ônibus 702 ou 703 (Recreio) e deça na frente do condomínio Maramar. Vá até o mar pela Prainha. Quando chegar a Grumari, procure pelo oceano e tome a esquera. A praia de Abricó fica atrás de grandes pedras. Em vez de descer do ônibus na frente das residências Maramar, você pode fazê-lo na frente do Recreio Shopping Center (o ônibus 175 também passa por lá, mas fique atento à cor da linha do ônibus (amarelo ou vermelho) quando você voltar. Melhor perguntar ao motorista se ele vai até Ipanema!), e então tome um táxi até a Praia do Abricó por aproximadamente dez reais. Mas também fique atento que não há muitos táxis naquela área, especialmente ara a volta. Mas os moradores locais podem dar uma carona (talvez por um pouco mais de dinheiro).
Veja este vídeo bacana sobre o naturismo em geral e os naturistas da Praia de Abricó
Translation into Portuguese by Gus.
dance, dance, dance!
Dancing naked always sounds like a great idea to me, and I have been to a couple of specialized naked discos – Starkers! in London and SchlagerNackt in Berlin, and was even spinning myself at Nude Year’s Eve in New York, but the idea that such a big and iconic night club as Ministry of Sound in London could host an event where electronic music buffs would dance in the buff sounds not just great but fantastic!
But unfortunately that is nothing but a bold commercial… maybe one day 🙂
floating in the Dead Sea
Finally, after describing my adventures at Israel’s Mediterranean and Red Sea shores, I am getting to the third, and arguably most unusual sea on my trip (and in my experience in general), the Dead Sea! Being the lowest land spot on Earth and one of the three saltiest lakes, the Dead Sea is an obvious tourist attraction, topped with mythical healing properties. However, I had heard mixed opinions about it, some of which described it as just a place to hang out a couple of hours. And I bet it is so, if you come with a bunch of other tourists to a crowded beach on a planned excursion trip. But you may also experience the timelessness and peace, if you know the right places and look for relaxation.
My new friend who advised that nice relatively secluded spot at the Red Sea near Eilat again gave me an excellent recommendation for her favorite place at the Dead Sea, a wild beach near Metsoke Dragot.
This is how the bus stop (next to a military post) looks like where you need to stop for this beach (I put this photo, because the stops are not announced and you have to ask the driver in advance and watch out).
Unfortunately my friend couldn’t join me on that occasion.
So what was it like? Well, the video below probably shows how much I was excited with the idea of floating freely in the waters of the Dead Sea, but it is impossible to describe the feeling, it must be experienced… by everybody! As there is nothing like it 🙂 In few words, I felt fantastic: on the one hand, the deserted landscape and lifeless hyper-saline waters created an almost extraterrestrial ambience,
but on the other, the feeling of loss of gravity and soothingly warm water created an almost womb-like environment of comfort and peace. This feeling was even stronger at night, when the vision faded away and other senses became more apparent. Such careless floating in combination with stargazing made me feel as if I was drifting in the starry sky itself…
(I must mention in relation to this video that due to increased density of water in the Dead Sea, it actually was particularly pleasant for the genitals: my balls felt as relaxed and liberated as it gets, floating freely and kind of weightless, and this feeling spread to the rest of my body; in combination with perfectly warm water temperature, it provided a feeling of ultimate relaxation. This is something that non-nudist visitors may be missing out because of restricting clothes.)
Well, now back to the Earth: the sad truth is that one should not spend too much time in the Dead Sea’s waters because of risk of dehydration. As it often happens, many healing procedures should be done in moderation; mineral-rich waters of the Dead Sea may have amazing effects on your skin and health in general, but you have to be cautious… When you get out of the water, again you feel somewhat unusual, as there is no typical cooling effect from evaporation of water from the skin, because such hyper-saline water does not evaporate easily. But I imagine when it does, you’ll be covered with a layer of salt (also be careful if you have any open wounds, I still have a little scar on my foot as I had a scratch while I was swimming there).
For this reason, you should pick up a spot where it is possible to wash in a fresh water after swimming in the Dead Sea. Public beaches at the Dead Sea usually have showers, as, for example, at the Ein Gedi oasis, where I swam for the first time (also naked, but away from the main crowd – the first part of the video, at dusk and night, is from there). But in a wild place like this, you have to make sure that there are some fresh water springs. Actually this was something I didn’t expect to find at the Dead Sea at all, but obviously this stretch of the shore was quite luscious and plants needed fresh water…
And indeed, there were not only underground fresh water sources, but some springs and pools as well!
Not all springs are filled with fresh water though, so you will need to ask around or simply observe which one to use. This pool looked really inviting, and the water was very refreshing.
And this is the view from the pool itself.
One time when I went to refresh in the pool, it was full of British tourists, none of whom was naked. They were trying to wash their clothes from the mud and apparently they got sand and small stones in their shorts, so I noted jokingly that was the reason why I didn’t wear any clothes (I even forgot about this problem with bathing clothed)… One guy seemed to be especially moved by this notion and he started smiling to me and I smiled back, but soon it became too obvious that he wanted a bit more than exchange of smiles. Then, his friends were leaving, but he said he needed to wash his boxers still, and as soon as they disappeared, he didn’t waste any moment and started approaching to me until I had to tell him that I was not interested. I was quite annoyed that he took my nudity as a signal that I was ready for a quickie ‘right here right now’. I found it ironic as well, because my local friend who told me about this place, also said that sometimes she got irritated by men from conservative religious background who sometimes come here and sit next to the pool and wait for naked girls to wash there, while their wives sit somewhere in the shade (fully covered, of course) playing with children; but obviously, some more secular western men are not any more tactful…
And speaking of mud, of course the Dead Sea is known for its mud with healing and rejuvenating properties, which is sold worldwide by cosmetic companies. Unfortunately, some of the methods that they use to get the minerals, salts and mud from the Dead Sea are among the reasons why it dries out (another major factor is diverting water from the Jordan River and smaller water sources for irrigation). So, probably the best way to use the precious mud with minimal impact on this unique place is to go there, apply it directly all over your body (don’t miss any spot ;-)) and then wash it off back in the sea.
I spent most of the day alone, quiet and relaxed, sitting under those bushes and enjoying amazing colors between the floating/bathing sessions.
But in the late afternoon, I got to know this nice fellow, one of the rare nowadays kind of true hippies. He said he came there regularly for a few weeks and stayed in this self-made tent. Well, with the summer weather in Israel you don’t really need much.
What really surprised me was that he didn’t even have much food, as he ate mostly what other people shared with him (as did I as well). Later on, another ‘crazy’ guy joined us; he was an American tourist traveling around with a huge Australian aborigine instrument. The hippy guy suggested to show me some other pools along the shore, but I was worried that I might miss the last bus. However, there were two guys with a dog who looked very friendly, and I asked them, if they could give me a lift, to which they agreed! BTW their dog made an unfortunate attempt to dive into the Dead Sea waters, ouch! It took her two times to realize that it wasn’t a good idea to get mouth and eyes in contact with the water… So, I went with the hippy to explore the pools; some of them had very strange colors, bright green or grayish-white, and the soil around them seemed quite unstable and soft like flour; it all looked unearthly, and I probably would have felt very insecure, if I had come there alone…
As we returned, it was getting dark quickly and I was happy to find that the two guys with the dog were still there… It turned out that in the best traditions of Eytan Fox’ movies they were a couple, a Palestinian arab and a jew (from Ireland) living in Jerusalem, but it sounded like there was no big drama in their lives unlike in the movies, and it was really touching to see it real. So in the end, not only did they bring me to a kibbutz where my friend lived, but they also took me from there to Jerusalem, let me stay at their place for few hours and helped me to get to a communal taxi that is much cheaper than the usual private one (which I hadn’t known existed), as I had my flight back early next morning. What a great trip it was, both in terms of places I saw and people I met!
Nude Year’s Eve photos and new party from YNA!
So, as I announced briefly before the New Year, I joined Young Nudists&Naturists America as a DJ for their Nude Year’s Eve party. It was my first time to celebrate New Year in the buff at a social event and the first time I was DJing since 2007, so I was very excited!
I was there with my friend Jerry but I got to know a bunch of cool people, including Felicity, the PR of Young Nudists&Naturists America, and a couple of members from Florida Young Naturists, Kathleen and Mark. What they told me about naturist events and activities in Florida made me envious, but it looks like NYC has something to offer too 😉
Mark seemed to be pretty much into my music.
‘Music lives on’ – said his tattoo – that’s how we like our dancers 🙂 At some point I had to leave my ‘DJ booth’ (kinda) to join most of the crowd at the roof.
It was quite chilly, but when I saw that we were right next to Empire State Building, I couldn’t care less about the cold!
But I had to carry more though, namely Mark, as the roof was full of wet snow and he didn’t have shoes on him.
Well, I might have missed the Times Square Ball, but being naked on a rooftop next to Empire State Building seemed like a good alternative!
This Saturday night (Feb 19) Young Nudists&Naturists America organize another party at the same spot and I will play a couple of hours set there, hope to see even more people there! Go totheir website to register for the party.
keep Tambaba free!!!
There was a documentary about the best naturist beaches, and one of them was a piece of paradise in Brazil called Tambaba. One episode showed capoeiristas playing this beautiful martial art naked at that beach naked.
Then, there is also a naked surfing contest at Tambaba beach,
so needless to say, it’s among my dream destinations to visit! Well, apparently it’s not only in my top list, the World Congress of Naturism was held there in 2008.
But now, their website says that there is a threat from the local government and the people who run the naturist retreat there are struggling to keep Tambaba beach free! I mean free for those who want to enjoy that Eden-like place in the Eden fashion.
So I’m asking all my brazilian readers to go to the web site http://www.tambabatur.com.br/ and sign up to preserve the beach for naturists!
Here is another video about Tambaba in Portuguese.
famous Black’s Beach!
In the mid-November, I was lucky to go with my new colleagues for the biggest conference in my field, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, and that time it was held in the sunny San Diego. Of course, it wouldn’t have been me, if I hadn’t planned to visit a nudist beach there, especially such a famous one as Black’s Beach. And I was double lucky that on the warmest day during my stay, when it was over 25ºC, the program seemed the least interesting so I skipped most of the day and headed to the beach (see the map for exact location).
As soon as I reached, it was pretty clear why this beach is so famous: it is, obviously, one of the biggest clothing-optional beaches and the view from the cliffs is stunning! It reminded me of the beaches of Meco in Portugal and Ga’ash in Israel.
I was surprised that on such an unusually warm day for November it was relatively empty, although it was Sunday, but I noticed some naked sunbathers immediately.
There are several trails leading down, and apparently I chose not the easiest one, but it was fun.
And I saw some lizards on the way down, apparently the enjoyed the sun too.
Soon I was walking on the soft beach sand, and look how the waves create a beautiful ornament of black and gold.
Then I saw that besides sunbathers there were surfers too!
But not naked 
Well, the water wasn’t too warm… But actually, first time I heard of Black’s Beach was because of the Nude Surfing Event. (check this link for more info)
Here is a video of one of the surfers.
Now, I’ve found that they actually arrange naked surfing lessons from July till September! I want to do that!!!
… but coming back to my calm day at the Black’s Beach, I was looking for a nice spot to lie down. I stayed near bushes and soon found that I had some neighbors: a rabbit (could not manage to take a photo of it) and a California ground squirrel that was quite tame and obviously was attracted to my nuts. (I mean I had some almonds with me 🙂
But then I got to know a bit more communicative neighbor, local visitor Alex. We chatted for a while, and it was him who disillusioned me by saying that such a hot day was not common that time of the year even in Southern California… But I still thought to myself that I might have made a mistake not applying for job at Salk Institute which is located practically on top of Black’s Beach, hehe. The idea that one can walk to such a beautiful beach for a lunch break sounds tantalizing! I did go to a lake for lunch breaks in my first year in Berlin until our lab moved, but even then my work was not that close to a naturist retreat like here.
Later in the afternoon I went jogging all along the beach and this gave me the real impression of how huge the beach is! But, apparently not all beach is officially a clothing optional area. When I ran in the northern direction one elderly man waived to me and told that I was way beyond the nude-friendly area and might get fined! If I understood correctly, the clothing optional part ends to the north of these rocks. But there was no sign. In any case, I didn’t feel bad, as only 2 or 3 people saw me in that section of the beach and there were either coming from or heading to the clothing-optional part, so I doubt they would be shocked by seeing a naked jogger.
Other people that I met gave me much more pleasant news. I saw one guy practicing some capoeira moves, but unfortunately he had to leave soon. I still haven’t mentioned that I did swim there too. The water was a little chilly, but I could stand it for 20-30min, amongst few others. And then, the only neighbor of mine, who went for long swims too, was coming from the sea almost crying. Don’t worry, he wasn’t bitten by a shark, those were tears of happiness as he saw a school of dolphins right next to him! He said it was one the most beautiful moments in his life, and I was very disappointed at myself that I left the ocean just about 10min earlier… I have swum with dolphins once, but that was in murky waters of Rio Negro in the Amazon basin so I couldn’t really see them underwater…
And when I was going back at sunset I saw a group of people playing volleyball, in the buff of course. This beach certainly seems to be perfect for many kinds of naturist activities 🙂
Before I was going to wear my clothes, I saw a threatening warning ‘Unstable Cliffs. Stay Back’
And I did so and enjoy one of the most beautiful sunsets 😎
One of the next (colder) days, I went there again with my colleagues for a short hike in Torrey Pines Park. When we went down to the beach I took some more photos, like this one with giant algae brought by waves on the shore.
And these are sandpipers; the smaller ones always run somewhat clumsily trying to escape the waves, while the bigger one stay calm.
And once in a while there were flocks of (probably) pelicans…
So overall, Black’s Beach seems to be perfect for nature lovers and active beach-goers. I hope to go there again, perhaps for a class of naked surfing!
Active Naturists 