I miss the street girls of the Rue des Commerçants—the Café Jimmy corner, the Flamingo Bar corner, the Rue des Magasin corner

I miss the street girls of the Rue des Commerçants—the Café Jimmy corner, the Flamingo Bar corner, the Rue des Magasin corner; they gave the street a life and a vibrancy; I’ve no idea why people protest against them. Now that long street is just empty, and completely lifeless. Bravo. A great improvement. The same deadness at the top end of the Adolphe Max since the closure of Cine ABC and California. I thought when Mayeur was forced out in bent disgrace his successor Philippe Close might take a more enlightened view of the street girls, but in fact the clampdown just became more total than before. Closed them down he did, Monsieur Close. Aptly named, arsehole. Though it just occurs to me, his disgraced predecessor was Mayor Mayeur.

Coming to Café Jimmy and the Rue de Pelican corner I was shocked to find only THREE girls in the street

Coming to Café Jimmy and the Rue de Pelican corner I was shocked to find only THREE girls in the street. Approaching the Europe 2000 hotel where I had always gone with Beatris (long gone it seems) there were 4 girls but also 4 police officers and 2 police cars, talking to one of the girls. My god, I thought, they really are enforcing their fines of 350 euros that disgraced ex Mayor Mayeur brought in—for the girl and the customer both if caught. It did not look like they were there to help the girl, it looked like she was the one in trouble. “But this is a hotel” I heard her saying as I passed. This would explain why there are so few girls around now. Mayeur’s sterilisation scheme is absolutely working. Pitiful. And then I walked into Fifth Avenue, and there were just FOUR men and THREE girls! I have never seen it that empty at night. Inna plus 2 other girls at the bar with a couple of very drunk men, making a LOT of noise. While I was there 2 or 3 more girls did emerge, including little Emily who I always feel a tug of lust for despite her slender frame, but she didn’t stay for long.

I was shocked to see so few “girls” on the street along the Rue des Commercants drag. There were just 2 girls on the Pelican corner around Café Jimmy

I was shocked to see so few “girls” on the street along the Rue des Commercants drag. There were just 2 girls on the Pelican corner around Café Jimmy, just 2 girls on the street between Pelican and Flamingo, just 2 girls on the Flamingo corner around the old closed Café Flamingo, and then just 2 girls on the Rue des Commercants itself between Flamingo and Fifth Avenue. The Mayor Yvan Mayeur’s determination to “depress” & eradicate the Alhambra scene by fining the girls and their clients 350 euros each is apparently working. Though, again, I was perhaps just too early. The early Fifth Avenue girls were poor too. The couple of Cine Paris films I saw during my brief half-hour stay were OK—OK meaning they were not the sort of thing I would ever watch at home on my computer, but they at least enabled me to get an erection; so in the in between area of being “OK”. The disaster is films that are so bad I cannot even get an erection, and the great pleasure is a film so good that I rush to find it on my computer as soon as I get back home.

Stupidly I’ve been saying they want to get rid of the street girls in the Rue des Commercants but now I discover it has already in fact happened (in theory)

Stupidly I’ve been saying they want to get rid of the street girls in the Rue des Commercants but now I discover it has already in fact happened (in theory). I was reading they have moved to the Chaussee d’Anvers, Blvd Baudouin, and Albert II Laan. The girls I see in the Rue des Commercants are just the diehard remnants who have flouted the new instructions? Prostitution is not illegal in Belgium, and street prostitution is not illegal, so I’m not quite sure by what device they can make them move. That would explain why even in summer I was shocked to see so few girls in the Rue des Commercants. By then they were probably already in the new place (just about 100 yards north). And yet why have I never SEEN any street girls in those places? Last night after leaving Fifth Avenue I made a point of walking along the entire length of the Blvd Baudouin back to Brussels Grill and I never saw a single girl. I will actually go up the Chaussee d’Anvers and Albert II Laan today to look harder. 1128 Tuesday morning. Proper raining.

How strong my sub-conscious is

How strong my sub-conscious is. It keeps me away from Rue d’Aerschot, even though my conscious mind is telling me the sexiest girls are there. My sub-conscious propels me, and keeps sending me back to Rue des Commerçants (and Beatrice) and Fifth Avenue. So on my 6th day, I remain celibate. Chaste. Un-violated. Disappointed I didn’t get the bread & butter this time at Brussels Grill; perhaps it is only for early afternoons. Starving. Think I will die of hunger. For sure, I need a Domino’s Pizza to follow this Brussels Grill. Indigestion be damned. My sub-conscious is always saving my money for Lucy; or for Adelina in Vienna. It is a strong resistance. I listen to my sub-conscious, then I know what to do. So a 6th day in Brussels goes by, without sex. Bravo. Still that money in my pocket, for next time, or for Vienna. 6pm. Doubt I will be awake in time for Empire tonight. No chance. Let’s be honest.

On my last 2 or 3 visits to Fortuna Kino I was wondering where the women had gone, the “hostesses”

On my last 2 or 3 visits to Fortuna Kino I was wondering where the women had gone, the “hostesses”. and now reading the online forums (with the help of Google Translate) I see that the cinema was repeatedly raided and inspected by the police, and that is why from now on you just have to watch the films and that is all; and if the prostitution has been banned from Fortuna then that means it will soon be banned from WSK as well, as they are obviously on a very sticky wicket. So there we are, my eulogies to the wonderful liberal sexual freedom of Vienna, where  you could —- the girls in the darkness of a porn cinema, are proved to be wishful thinking. Even Vienna now is becoming as repressive as everywhere else. Why? No one outside the porn kino knows what it is going on inside between consenting men and women, so who on earth is it hurting???
And I have already mentioned that the Mayor of Brussels is dead set on getting rid of all the street girls around the Rue des Commercents area (known as Alhambra, I was surprised to learn) by the end of 2015.
So the ice continues to retreat. What more pleasures will we lose in 2016? For now Rue des Commercants in Brussels and WSK in Vienna hangs on by its naughty fingertips; enjoy them both as much as you can while you can.

Well, so here I am in Brussels, 937pm. Brussels under security lockdown

Well, so here I am in Brussels, 937pm. Brussels under security lockdown. And yet Cine Paris is open and showing a couple of good films to me and 1 other discerning customer. The girls are still in the Rue des Commerçants, including my Beatrice. Fifth Avenue is still open, including Ina in a stunning floral body suit. Her appeal does not diminish, it just grows. She is like a flower that is just starting to bloom, and she just keeps on blooming. I must admit, when I arrived at Gare du Nord and decided to step off the train there (and therefore stay) I felt scared. And coming out the station, passing the soldiers with massive machine guns, I felt scared. And walking down the road from Gare du Nord to my Max Hotel, I felt scared. Every bar and café and restaurant was closed along the whole length of the road, but then, incredibly, Brussels Grill was open, the first place I saw open. And even incredibly the Café du Dome was open! Bravo for them. What if gunmen walk in and start shooting you? Nothing you can do. But you have to go on don’t you. And bravo to them. And then you have a couple of cans of beer and you start to relax. And then you see Cine Paris is open and you relax more. And then you see the street girls in the Rue des Commerçants, and you relax more. And then, amazing, even Fifth Avenue is open as normal. Less girls than normal, it is true, but Ina is there, and you relax even more. This is how courage breeds courage.

1250 in Café Jimmy in Rue des Commerçants

1250 in Café Jimmy in Rue des Commerçants. Watching Bulgarian Music TV. Drinking Carlsberg 1847. One new film in Cine Paris, Story of Sophia, and the school film from before. Dome, indeed, closed on Saturdays. There was a middle-aged (and that’s being kind) woman leaning against the wall outside the Hotel Plaza, her handbag hanging on the black railings, and it seems she is a hooker. She was finger writing a number on the wall for some black man, and he was finger writing a different number on the wall in return, and then walking away. She has got some balls. 12 midday, outside the must plush prestigious hotel in Brussels (where all the royalty stay) and not even in the first flush of youth, to say the least. Surely she will not get much custom, will she? Anyway, good to see some completely different music here in Café Jimmy. It will make me come back here more often. I would say Balkan/Bulgarian music videos are even more sexualised than Western European ones. This, of course, is a good thing.

Well, the Dome steak was not so great

Well, the Dome steak was not so great. Very small, dry beef steak, and the béarnaise sauce was quite sickly and had a skin on top. The salad was mixed but dry; in the Café West End it comes soaked in delicious olive oil I think. But its main effect was just to make me want to sleep. I tried to have one more beer in the hotel, then to Cine Paris for Tropical Anal from yesterday and one other film I saw years ago. I felt turned on but by the time I got to Fifth Avenue I had a bad headache and was not in the mood at all. I kept drinking hoping to break through into some drunken wildness but I just got tireder and tireder. Eventually I gave up and returned along Rue des Commerçants. On the way there I had been stopped by a short black girl with most enormous bosoms called Bridget, who offered me everything for 30 euros, even anal, even kissing. I felt a little suspicious, fearing a trap. On the way back she stopped me again and I declined again, before being called back by Beatrice with a “Hello!” I let her detain me for a while this time. I woke up after 10pm but did not go feel like going to Empire this time, but in future I think the Empire might well become a good place for a late nightcap if they keep their 2 or 3 real stars.

Well a poor first day in Brussels

Well a poor first day in Brussels. Cine Paris films were poor (but I only stayed 10 minutes intending to go back later), Rue des Commercants was rubbish, not even Beatrice; Fifth Avenue was rubbish, not even Ina or Andrea. After that I just rushed back to Midi to grab some food before all the food shops closed for the evening. Today I will try again, not so tired and with more time to play with. Fifth Avenue seems set on an irreversible decline. I got to Orient Express just before 4 yesterday and now it is 1115, so I am four hours ahead of yesterday’s schedule. As I expected though the pretty barmaid is not here this early, so I will have to return later to see her. That should encourage me to get up to Dome sooner rather than later—though my black barmaid was not there yesterday. In fact, there was no barmaid at all, just the usual barman who is always there at lunchtime.

Follow the path of least resistance I always tell myself

Follow the path of least resistance, I always tell myself; that applies to Eros as much as anything else. To go up to the Dome, getting soporific on Stella, is a waste of time. Better to go straight to Cine Paris, Rue des Commercants, Fifth Avenue. Dome tomorrow when I can start early. Yes, let me get blotto here, then straight to Cine Paris. Just one more in Fifth Avenue to check the girls then back to the hotel to eat and sleep. These Jupilers are going down very very nicely. If only the street-scene was more stimulating here. I need to release myself from the clutches of this lovely barmaid, and get a move on. Nearly 5 already! Let me go Mademoiselle!

After leaving the Ibis I headed straight to 5th Avenue

After leaving the Ibis I headed straight to 5^th Avenue. Well, going down into Midi metro I ended up on the wrong platform and headed in the wrong direction on the Metro. Brussels Underground is so confusing, even for a long-time visitor like me. Came back in the right direction but the train was held up at De Brouckere as an off duty policeman apparently had his pocket or bag picked by a gang of black kids and he was pinning three of them to the wall of the train and then the platform while calling for police assistance. I got off then and walked up to 5^th through the back streets. It was as bad as my last visits, Andrea as always the pick of the bunch but even she seemed lifeless (I have often noticed this with girls I have slept with); Lorena was there but had no effect on me this time. I couldn’t wait to leave and went shopping instead! This is how bad it was! Bizarrely, the Rue des Commercants was mostly empty of girls. It was a warm spring day, I thought it would be full, but hardly any girls at all. Has Brussels succeeded in driving most of the girls out? (Or did they just duck down an alleyway when they saw me approaching?) Went to the shoe shop in Rue de Neuve instead and bought some 109 Euro boots. I stopped off in Le Coin on the way back. The same girls—they seem have less girls than 5^th, but a hard core, who are always there.  There were 2 new girls, both of them with the huge bosoms which seem to be the pre-requisite for working at Le Coin. I had 3-4 bottles of Jupiler then left, but I will be back. 5^th Avenue is poor these days, the Rue des Commercants is poor, Cine Paris I have come to hate; perhaps I will just concentrate on Ibis, Gare du Midi and Le Coin for a while!

Now all I can think about is: I want to STUFF myself with food

Now all I can think about is: I want to STUFF myself with food. Well, I am sick of Cine Paris and I am sick of 5^th Avenue, so finally tomorrow let me go to Old Masters and Fin de Siecle Museums. Then I can finish in Le Coin or O’Reilly’s. There’s whores all around me: in the Rue des Commercants, in 5^th Avenue, in Gare du Nord—but all I can think of is eating then getting back to my lovely hotel room bed; to my internet and then to sleep. So now I am drinking myself into absolute oblivion in the Dome, and I enjoy this so much more than yesterday’s visits to Cine Paris or Rue des Commercants or Fifth Avenue. It rules out me going on to Gare du Nord later today, unfortunately.

Well I cannot remember a day when I felt so NOT in the mood for anything naughty

Well I cannot remember a day when I felt so NOT in the mood for anything naughty. Maybe it is the “strong” Belgian beer, 5.2%. I feel completely anaesthetised. I went to Cine Paris, with no enthusiasm, and could not even manage a proper erection, and then the perverts started to descend on me & would not leave me alone, and that killed my ardour completely. They don’t even let me sit down and start to enjoy the film for a while. I left after about 5 minutes and passed Bulgarian Beatrice again in the Rue des Commercants, but felt nothing for her. Fifth Avenue was the worst it has ever been; Andrea and Lorena but that was it. Not a single flicker of desire in me I walked back along the Rue des Commercants, brief chat with Beatrice then back to Dome. Let me continue my descent into the oblivion of drink then pass out paralytically. I checked out two or three shoe shops and even they are rubbish now. The newspapers talk of Peak Oil; I think I’ve reached and passed Peak Brussels. This new Brussels Golden Age I proclaimed is already over. Cine Paris is totally boring; 5^th Avenue is appalling; the street girls just do not excite me. Summer may improve all of these things of course. But for now, Brussels is finished for me. It should certainly be the turn of Berlin, except I feel no enthusiasm for Berlin. More likely I will go to Vienna again. I do think maybe it is the Belgian beer that is completely anaesthetising me. Even my face feels numb. But honestly I think even if I was less drunk the Cine Paris films would have bored me, and 5^th Avenue would have bored me.

The bleak Rue des Commercants where the street hookers can be found

My pattern in Brussels is quite set

My pattern in Brussels is quite set: to the Dome as soon as it opens to get a bit drunk; to Cine Paris for 10-15 minutes just to get an erection in my trousers; then walk along the Rue des Commercants with that erection bulging my trousers, only slowly subsiding, past the beautiful street girls, to 5th Avenue to carry on drinking amidst the beautiful bar girls. Later I will maybe go for a steak, then return to Cine Paris to doze for the last few hours till it closes. How relaxing. It will all be wiped out soon enough, when Belgium like the rest of castrated, emasculated Europe adopts ‘the Swedish model’ (and god knows I would love to adopt a Swedish model); so for now let me enjoy it and indulge it as much as possible. All I want to do for the rest of my life is travel. To Brussels-Berlin-Munich-Vienna. When the BBC come to  make the Arena documentary of my life, the nightscapes of these 4 cities will dominate the programme, to a soundtrack of Icona Pop, no doubt, Alizee, et al. The beautiful women of Brussels keep me in a state of permanent semi-arousal.

There are so many places in Brussels that are rip off places

There are so many places in Brussels that are rip off places—not clip joints in the worst Soho style, but just so expensive for so little in return, places like Empire, Gascogne, Night Dreams, et al. In contrast the street girls of Rue des Commercants and the bar girls of 5th Avenue are wonderfully good value for money. I did try to pay a visit to Empire last night but it was not yet open, and the manager shouted from an upstairs window to a girl dancer arriving down below to tell me and another couple waiting at the door that it would not open till 10pm instead of 9. Bizarrely there was a sign on the door saying “Entry 60 euros”. It is always free. They make their money from the beer, 10 euros for a small glass. I was going to try the Gare du Nord windows after 6pm, but the thought of seeing girls behind glass, when in 5th Avenue you can sit next to them, dissuaded me. Mind you, at 5th Avenue it is advisable to go early, I mean like 2 in the afternoon, as the girls are completely freelance and they usually just pop in for a couple of hours, make some money then leave, to pick their kids up from school or whatever else. The earlier you get there the more choice you will have but don’t sit too long plucking up the courage to talk to a girl, because next thing you know she has changed into her home clothes and is out the door! Fortune favours the brave. Although prevarication has saved me a lot of money.

The seats on the Adolphe Max side are so much better for people watching (ogling)

The seats on the Adolphe Max side are so much better for people watching (ogling). I don’t know why I ever wasted my time on the other side. Brussels has really boiled down to just 3 things: Cine Paris, the walk past the street girls of Rue des Commercants, and Fifth Avenue. And I am bored of 5th Avenue now; familiarity has bred if not contempt, at least disinterest. I will try Gare du Nord once more after 6. But I think I am quite sated with Brussels now; good. That leaves me free to enjoy Munich and Nuremberg.

The Cine Paris films have been a bit rubbish this time

The Cine Paris films have been a bit rubbish this time but still a lovely luxurious place to crash out in and snooze and relax, away from the world. Leaving there and heading to 5th Avenue I was stopped by a black girl with the most enormous bosoms. I was sorely tempted but pressed on to 5th. Nothing there took my fancy and I headed back, via Rue des Commerçants street girls, and Brussels Grill, to the hotel.

I drank too much in the Café du Dome I think

I drank too much in the Café du Dome I think, which meant I cannot remember much of the Ciné Paris. I didn’t stay long, walked past the beautiful street girls of the Rue des Commerçants to Fifth Avenue. A beautiful long blonde-haired Swedish-looking girl whose name I cannot remember as she predicted. The beautiful black-haired girl with the big bottom from before. A new black girl in white dress. Again I did not stay long, feeling so drunk now. Staggered back to Brussels Grill for a steak then back to the hotel to pass out. I will try to drink less today. 1206 Thursday and still no sign of this promised rain.