4/00

I am spending some time in Russia and have been nicely surprised by the tolerance I've found for dress here, including the welcoming attitude toward topfreedom. So far, my only beach experience has been at the beach outside of the Peter and Paul Fortress on the River Neva in St. Petersburg. This beach seems to be visited year round by those seeking the health of the sun and a good cold dip in the river. I went once it got warm and sunbathed topless as soon as I saw a few others doing so. What was most interesting was that the freedom to be topless was accompanied by pretty much every other freedom with regard to dress: the freedom to wear thongs (especially popular among the men), the freedom to wear a bra and hiked-up skirt if you've forgotten your bathing suit, and the freedom to change into your swimsuit in the middle of the beach. Like I said, this tolerance was a happy surprise given that every other American I've known who has visited Russia has insisted that any form of "indecent" clothing will be scolded vehemently by the local babushkas until remedied. So far I've seen no evidence of this and I even saw some babushkas sunbathing at this beach with bikinis as small as the next woman's.

--Becca, San Francisco, CA