Nudity: a surprising and reflective experience!
During my extended Summer break I was able to spend more time with friends in the village in Spain. We spent a lot of time together, laughing, eating and drinking, and going on a few trips.
One evening, at the village bar, we were sitting outside talking nonsense as usual, and generally having a good time. We decided we should take a trip to the beach. Living inland in Spain, this meant a 120 minute trip to the coast in the South East of the Country. We settled on the beach location in a quiet little coastal town, with some nice restaurants and bars too. I had been a few times before.
The following morning we set off at 9am.
Drinks
On arrival I suggested a refreshing drink or two to start our excursion. We settled down in a bar and ordered two Aperol Spritz, and a non-alcoholic beer. Ok, we also had another round!
One of my friends had never tried an Aperol before, and while she liked it in that moment, I am not sure she'd rush back to them.
Off to the beach
We returned to the car to collect some beach essentials, and set off in the general direction of the sea.
Within 30 seconds I found myself making eye contact with a gentleman walking towards me. I'd say he was in his very late 60's or early 70s. The thing(!) that caught my eye was the fact he was entirely naked except for a pair of flip-flops on his feet. (I think some people call them thongs!). It took a moment to register.
As is the custom in spain, one always greets everyone -- I exchanged a Buena, which is a colloquial truncation covering Buenos Dias and Buenas tardes as a generic good day/afternoon. He walked past and continued his day.
Remaining calm, I then turned to my two friends and gave them an inquisitive look. Their return stare was of a similar 'let's be cool' look.
We continued our stroll towards the beach and chatted over some scenarios; wondering if there was a nudist beach nearby.
A minute or two later the beach came into view. Glorious turquoise sea, a sun-kissed sandy beach, and an abundance of completely naked people!
We exchanged more glances at each other and I then said, "Let's be adult about this". All the time in my head I was thinking: 'OMG, what are we doing!'.
When we finally had the sand under our feet it was very clear that nudity was absolutely accepted here. We scanned around for more information -- there were no signs we could see to let us know what we had stumbled into. However, we noted that some people did have typical beach attire on. We decided just to be relaxed about this and find a spot on the beach to claim as our sandy-home for the duration. We agreed that we would remain in our planned beach wear for our time here.
We had a great time swimming in the sea, relaxing on the sand, and generally having a good time. No one bothered us and we didn't feel awkward in our beachwear.
A First
Now, let's be clear -- the nudist experience was an absolute first for me; in fact all three of us.
However, another first occurred when my friend announced that he had never swam in the sea. This amazed myself and my other chum. We're all in our mid-fifties and he'd never been in the sea, other than to dip his feet in and walk through it.
He announced this just after we all went in for a swim. My immediate reaction was to check he could actually swim!! Luckily he can.
Departing for food
After a while we decided to depart the beach for some food. We wandered to the outdoor showers at the edge of the beach to wash off sand and salt. I have not been in such close proximity to the boobies and willies of strangers as we all rinsed off.
We walked back to the car, dumped our beach towels, and pulled on fresh clothing, before strolling to a nearby restaurant and enjoying some fabulous food, and a few (many) chuckles as we relayed our thoughts on the beach experience.
It would be remiss of me to not mention, in passing, that between the three of us (two men and a woman), we stood at the side of the car, holding towels to create a modesty barrier as each of us changed clothing. For the men this was a simple process, but the female process was more involved. Our friend removed her swimming costume and lashed a bra around herself and wriggled in to a dress in preparation for a late lunch. We did all giggle like schoolboys and girls as we transformed from beach to day wear!
Reflecting
As we drove home later, we reflected on what an awesome day we had. So many firsts:
- First Aperol Spritz
- First swim in the sea
- First nude beach
Would I go back to the beach?
If you had said to me we were going to a nudist beach I would have suggested we try somewhere else. In fact, when in Miami several years ago a friend wanted to go to such a beach and I declined. Now, I can honestly say I would go back -- to a mixed nudist beach.
Would I wander around the beach nude? I'd say No. But you never know! I would certainly like to swim in the sea naked! And such a beach offers me that freedom.
It just goes to show: doing something you didn't think/want to try can be quite uplifting in the end.