The Beach

Well, Friday was beach day....I packed up my gear, took the boat and went to the Lido island....after a walk to the other side, there it was. I judiciously picked my spot, layed out my towel, lathered up with suntan oil and opened up Moby Dick (never read it before and it was one of the few books I could find in English). However, I didnt get far into the novel before my eyes were wandering at the scenery....I saw my first nude sunbather! There she was in all her glory and didnt care at all....then I noticed more of them. I am not just talking about 'wardrobe malfunctions', I am talking about nudity. Now, I know I am in Europe and nudity is not a big thing here..in fact, I saw a commercial on the TV the other day for a tanning salon..the woman was walking around buck naked on the commercial! So anyway, getting over the nudity thing (its not like I have never seen a naked woman before), I looked the other way....and there it was....and let me just preface by saying, it was wrong on so many levels. Seeing a naked woman is one thing, but seeing a 65+ year old naked man on the beach is, well.....it just is. I also experienced enough speedo action to suffice until death. And I was quite surprised to see that there were many, many people who were not physically fit (is that the nice way to put it)....they dont care...they are there to be at the beach and it doesnt matter how they look. Nothing like you would see or experience at a beach in California. I was probably the only one who was wearing a one piece bathing suit, which I am sure made me look like a tourist. But I was happy that my imperfect body was not singled out.

So, the beach is quite a social experience in addition to catching some rays...I am sure I will be back and the novelty of nudity will be soon gone.