Antwerp is a city built on the shores of one of the three gulfs that flow inward from the North Sea Antwerp. Second largest city in Belgium after Brussels. Belgians call it Antwerpen, it is also known as Antwerp in Turkish.
Antwerp is one of the multicultural centers of Europe, where Dutch is spoken, in the Flemish region, on the Dutch border.. It is also famous for its nightlife.
One night, 3 Poles, a Greek and a Turkish hit the road with the motto “Let’s have fun”. We get in the car in Brussels. We are in Antwerpen, which can be considered as the northernmost part of Belgium, after a half-hour journey, so we don’t get in trouble with speed limits.
A place to park the car. After we find it, we start walking on the streets with the raindrops falling slowly.. With the cocoa and diamonds brought by Belgium and the Netherlands from their colonies in South Africa in the 1400s, Brussels became a chocolate paradise and Antwerpen became a diamond processing center.. Two or three streets side by side with diamond shops, each with Israeli flags flying.
Although they are located in a very small and narrow bay, they are the second largest in Europe and the fourth largest in the world. port established here. With their long braided hair and hats, Jews stand out here, unlike Belgium in general.. It’s the first time I’ve seen so many Jews together (because they stand out because of their looks) together.
The city’s tram network is over 100 years old. Extremely contemporary and pervasive throughout the city. A black man who came to us while we were trying to look inside the jewelry windows says that we can find the same product for cheaper.. He doesn’t know how much money I have in my pocket.
Europe’s first stock exchange is in Antwerpen
This is such a serious economic problem. Antwerpen, the first stock market opened in Europe with savings, was fortunate. After passing the jewelers, we enter our entertainment venue.. ID is requested at the entrance and every visitor is photographed.. Security measures at the highest level. We’re moving inwards. People of different nationalities, from Far East to African, are playing in the rhythm of the music.. It’s a very spacious place, but it’s very crowded.
I watch the surroundings from the corner of my eye, everyone is so tense. I can’t relax. I don’t even enjoy the drink I’m drinking because the environment has been disgraced. I want to get drunk and have some fun but it’s not happening. An hour later, we say goodbye to this glittering place.
As we are on our way to Brussels, a Polish friend proposes: “I know the place to have fun,” he says.. Everyone is laughing but me. There must be something that everyone knows but I don’t.
I’m gay in Brussels
We are in Brussels in half an hour. We enter a street adorned with rainbows. The clock comes to midnight. The club we all entered together looks like two floors, but from the upper mezzanine everyone watches the dancers below.. I’m sweating. There are those who dance and kiss from man to man and woman to woman. Even though the coin is a little late, I finally understand.
This street in Brussels, decorated with rainbow flags, is the street with gay clubs, cafes and bars.. Trying to have a drink and have fun, again the result is unsuccessful. I’m uncomfortable with the gaze on me. Talking to my Greek friend in front of the door. “I want you to see everything,” he says.
Actually, I agree with him.. It is impossible to witness many things in Turkey. I think it wouldn’t hurt to witness people’s lives after coming to Belgium.. With this thought, I see how right I am in what I will see at the next stop.
After leaving the place, the two friends go to their homes with the excuse of tiredness.. We three are entering a predominantly lesbian club.. There is a place like a bar at the entrance of the club, everyone who enters takes their drink and sips. Seats in the surrounding area and sex-themed movies played on flat-screen TVs on these places.
There is a serious excess of men compared to the female population.. This male population between the ages of 40 and 60, who usually wears leather vests, has been staring at us since the first moment we entered.. I try not to make eye contact with anyone over the drink we bought in a corner.
We practice Turkish from time to time in order to improve my Greek friend’s Turkish.. I start to speak Turkish thinking that it is the right time for this.. My aim is to present my thoughts about the environment to him in Turkish.
I notice that a man is watching me intently while speaking in Turkish among us.. Before long he’s talking. In Turkish: “What is a decent boy like you doing here?” I’m surprised, even shocked.
I meet a Turk in the gay club I came to in Belgium.. When I tell him that I was wondering and just seeing, he says “don’t spend too much time, this club appeals to an older audience as you can see”.
Dark rooms and more…
When I learn that the club consists of 5 floors in total, my curiosity starts to rise.. I wonder what are the other floors?
We learn that there is one floor below the ground floor and 4 more floors above.. We get in between my two friends and start going upstairs.. All of the upper floors consist of dark rooms called dark rooms.. People are having sex on these invisible floors.. Movies continue on plasma and thin-screen televisions.
I walk around with the light of my cell phone in fear, looking at the people around me.. Everyone is in a position to eat each other. Insecure people prefer the dark.
We go down to the ground floor, where we can’t be surprised to see those who have sex in public without too much patience.. Yannis warns, “You won’t find what you’ll see here in Turkey, I’m sure you’ll be surprised, so prepare yourself.”
We are going downstairs out of curiosity.. This place is brighter than the upper floors.. On a leather swing, an uncle in his 60s sees us just getting back together.. Replaces it again. naked on the swing. Waiting for people’s attention. I do not want to go into more detail. I make eye contact with her and those begging eyes affect me deeply.
I start crying when the atmosphere of sex is dominant.. To my left is someone in a tub. It’s interesting what happens to him.. We leave the place with tears in my eyes. We’re taking our place home in the cold weather. This is the situation in Brussels, where homosexuality is so comfortable.. Let’s continue to discuss the same things every day.
