Category: active naturists

World Naked Bike Ride is in one month. We need it in NYC!

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

World Naked Bike Ride is a worldwide demonstration promoting cycling as an urban mode of transportation, as well as body acceptance. Riding naked is symbolic and effective way to draw attention to vulnerability of people against the traffic and pollution, and it also shows that being nude is not lewd. That is why we need WNBR so much in New York City, as well as probably any other big city, perhaps with the exception of Berlin, where you can ride your bike wherever you like, and you can be naked even in Tiergarten, Berlin’s equivalent of Central Park. There has a been a stunning improvement in making New York a bike-friendly city, but still, there is no cross-town bike lane in the entire Midtown Manhattan from the 20th to the 90th street, for example. Also, even though it is legal for women to be top-free in public in New York, Felicity from Young Naturists America was arrested for walking topless during an art performance on Wall Street!

This video that went viral a while ago, pretty much summarizes just some of the daily troubles of cyclists in New York City.

WNBR in New York was a big success in 2010.

It gained more momentum as a protest against oil-dependence – it was a year of bp oil spill – and the naked demonstrators did not miss a chance to stop by a bp gas station.

But last year, we did have some issues. First, we had unusually cold and foggy weather on the day of the ride, even though during the week the weather was fine. So the ride was postponed and we only had a after-party-turned-promoparty, which was actually fun.

Then when we had the second date set, there was too much police presence and no one dared to go totally naked for most of the ride.

I opted for a minimalistic jockstrap, as well as many others, and some body paint (it said ‘Green light to bikes’ on my back). I also had a tree fixed in my bike bag, as a symbol of Green.

That cherry bike painted on the back of one of my ride mates was my creation inspired by the logo of Pacha, my favorite dance club in New York. Actually, when I go out there, I do come on my bike 😉

We rode through most of Downtown and Midtown Manhattan,

and made a brief stop at Union Square for some dancing.

Only in the end, when police stopped following us, some finally disrobed totally on Williamsburg Bridge

and arrived to the after-party in Williamsburg just like that 😎

The after-party was at a bike shop, a perfect setting! I was spinning some upbeat electronica in the backyard.

I hope this year we’ll manage to cooperate with police more thoroughly, just like it was at the WNBR in Madrid when I was there in 2009, or as it happens regularly in London, which traditionally gathers the biggest number of naked riders. By the way, I wonder how WNBR will go in London this time, in the summer of the Olympics. But in any case, we need to organize the naked ride in New York, what kind of World Naked Bike Ride will it be without New York City partaking? And so far there is no certain information about WNBR NYC even regarding the date :-/

PS Photos #3 and #5 courtesy of Sheryl.

TV goes naked this Friday night! (in US and Spain)

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

I’ve just read about two TV programs that will show naturist families on Friday night, in Spain and in US. That’s an interesting coincidence. I probably won’t be able to watch either of them, but here are the links with some info and previews:

A show about an American family that lives in a nudist colony

A Spanish show with temporary family exchange, this time hunters + naturists. Sounds like fun!

Contributions are welcome!

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

We get many emails suggesting to post some location or event info on our blog, and we’ll gladly do so. Just make sure to make a little story about it and add a couple of personal photos (just landscape is totally fine too). Posts about naturism in Thailand, beach resort in Tulum, and the latest description of a hidden beach in Northern Italy are good examples, if you decide to contribute.

Looking forward to hearing your stories, just drop us an e-mail!

 

Spiaggia di Guvano, hidden beach in Northern Italy

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

 italiano

This post comes from one of our devoted readers in Italy. I just wrote about a ‘hidden gem’ in Athens, as well as a remote beach that you can reach through a tunnel in Sitges, Spain, but it looks like Italy offers something of that sort too.

Spiaggia di Guvano is a gorgeous nude beach in the national park of Cinque Terre, La Spezia in Liguria.

To get there, walk from Corniglia train station in the direction of the village. Don’t go up the stairs, walk down, turn to the right and walk in the dark abandoned train tunnel. The access to the tunnel is free. Old information about the charge is no longer true.

But you will need a flashlight. After 15 minute walk you will find this gorgeous beach. It is usually very quiet and peaceful. Always nude, free and happy!!!

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[that sounds like a fun way to get to a beautiful beach!]

New season at Fort Tilden

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

With this miserable weather in NYC in the last couple of days, I can’t help sharing that we actually opened the beach season two weeks ago at Fort Tilden.

I already mentioned that we went there on an unusually warm day last November, so it was only more pleasant to come there on an unusually warm day in April and enjoy the first rays of sun and awakening nature.

Although it is autumn that is usually acclaimed for diversity of color palette, the spring forest of Fort Tilden looked very multicolored too.

We first hid from the wind behind the dune but then ventured to the beach itself, but didn’t really dare to enter water.

… there wasn’t only awakening nature, though. That dried horseshoe crab found its new identity as mask 😎

Run for the Wild!

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

I will be happy if some of my dear readers support me in raising money for conservation of lions!

Next Saturday I will participate in a 5k fundraiser run at the Bronx Zoo, Run for the Wild. We are raising money for the Wildlife Conservation Society, this year particularly for lion conservation. I unfortunately I cannot promise to run totally bare, as I usually do, but I will run barefoot. I used to have Vibram Fivefingers ‘barefoot’ shoes, but I lost them in my last trip, so I will run totally barefoot. I am still learning the techniques of Moving Naturally system, which I mention in the post about Jones Beach, which I find less energy-demanding than running that we’re used to after wearing thick sole shoes.

In case you wonder why lions need money to support them, this is what I wrote on my personal Run for the Wild page:

Join me in making tracks for lions! On April 28, I will be participating in the WCS Run for the Wild, a 5K run/walk at the Bronx Zoo. This event is dedicated to these beloved big cats, which are losing ground across the African Plains. The funds I raise will go toward the Wildlife Conservation Society projects to conserve lions and other imperiled animals around the globe and at the Bronx Zoo.

Did you know that lions now live in only a small number of African countries? The nations of Morocco, Algeria, Congo, and Gabon have lost all of their lions.

If we do not act soon, they could also vanish from Nigeria, South Sudan, and Uganda.

Being at the top of energy pyramid in many habitats in Africa, they are essential to the ecosystem. Even $10 will make a difference for lions African ecosystem. The donations I collect will go toward WCS efforts to monitor lions and work with local communities toco-exist peacefully with the big cats. With your support, WCS will continue this important work.

Please also consider joining me for this fun event! You can register at http://www.wcsrunforthewild.org.

Thanks in advance for your generosity and your commitment to saving lions.

Please support me, lions and Wildlife Conservation Society following this link.

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.