this is not art either
last week, when i was in venice, i went to the beach. this little australian needed some sun, some saltwater on her skin and some sand between her toes.
i had a ball. i could have swum for hours, save the self-consciousness of being the ONLY one in the water. no, seriously. the only one.
i also discovered that beach culture in australia is VERY different to beach culture in italy. or venice at least.
the least of which is the idea that the beach in italy is just another public place, where usual-ish levels of decorum, dress, behaviour and economy apply.
in australia, the beach itself is a public space that is extraneous to usual spaces, a public place in which to transcend usual public behaviour, dress, decorum and economy with something more private, or perhaps extra-public. bathing is free, there are no rules or real etiquette about the way you dress/undress, you can get changed on the beach itself if you want and all showers/toilets are free-for-alls. those beach boxes are an anomaly in certain areas only.
mornington beach
shouting and public displays of affection are normal-ish and ball games encouraged. swimming in the water is pretty standard and the quality of the water, even in the skankiest of beaches (i'm looking at you st.kilda, bondi) is still pretty rad-town.
for the first time in a while, i acted like an obvious australian at the beach - changed in toilets, swam in an empty sea, lay on my towel, on the sand, and didn't pay for anything.
got myself some funny looks too. excellent.
6 comments:
Nice observation, but I would say that it also depends where you are in Italy. The beaches in Pescara are very similar to certain beaches in Oz - I say certain beaches because when you mention that, you tend to think of Bondi and for all it's global significance, it's become more a place to be seen than to enjoy.
Hope you're having fun stirring up the locals.
you're totally right about bondi. and yes, i chould have said 'certain beaches' in oz.
the beaches on the gold coast have that same thing as bondi - somewhere to be seen, or vomit in the sand as you watch the sunrise for the second time in a day.
Yeah, gotta agree with Rob here.
The beach in my dads town is awesome. Nearly every day for a month me and my uncle would drive down just before dinner when no one was around and the sun was setting and we'd literally just lay in the warm water up to our necks and talk about a whole load of stuff. Can happily say those were the best part of that trip for me.
Most of the "popular" beaches in Italy suck, but it does depend where u go - up north, I found beach culture (comparable to Oz) slightly foreign to them.
Glad ur having fun though :)
ok cool, so you're both basically saying that i pretty much went to the italian version of bondi and expected it to be a typical beach. phew.
i think i need to go hang out in your dad's town, age - that sounds divine.
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Check my facebook albums, a few pics there ;) or even better,, make the trek to Sperlonga.
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