Bare Naked in a Park
by Sophie Ashdale
There I was in my office, finishing the last page of my report and minding my own business when my best friend suddenly burst into the room. Maybe it was my disheveled hair or the many layers of eyebags under my eyes which have been the result of five straight days and nights of non-stop working which caused her to gape at me as if I was some caged circus attraction or something. She saw how stressed and tired I was so she decided I should give myself a break and go sunbathing at the park with her.
I idea sounded promising. Aside from being able to sleep outdoors where the fresh air can cleanse out the stress in me and the golden bright sun can lend a hint of gold to my deathly pale skin, I may possibly scan the park for a couple of hot sunbathing guys with 6 packs while I’m at it.
She decided to take me to the Englischer Garten, a nearby park here in Munich which is said to be bigger than our Central Park back home in New York. I have actually never been in that park before but I have heard nothing but praise from my German classmates in the university who have grown up being able to visit the Englischer Garten every few weeks or so.
Schönfeldwiese or the Beautiful Meadows was really what its name says, beautiful. This sunbathing area in the park had a breathtaking scenery that instantly relaxed me the moment I saw it. But this calming sensation was quickly replaced by shock and embarrassment when a withered looking old man completely in the nude passed by.
“Is he senile” Did he lose his clothes? An exhibitionist, perhaps?”
Apparently not. After a quick glance around the park, I saw that everyone was in the nude. It was like being in the Garden of Eden except that most of the people are not as sexy and in shape as how I had imagine Adam and Eve to have been.
I didn’t know that Schönfeldwiese in the Englischer Garten was a social nudist garden. Locals and tourists have apparently been coming here to sunbath in their birthday suits for some time now and the entire concept is legal and accepted in Germany.
Naturally, I hesitated. I haven’t gone to the gym for quite sometime now and the chips and sausages I ate while working on my report did not really improve my physique. But seeing how everyone seemed comfortable and oblivious to the bulges and wrinkles on the body of the person sunbathing around them, my hesitation quickly dissipated and for a few hours, I enjoyed complete and utter freedom and relaxation.