1960, Mama on the Achensee, Austria. Style has nothing to do with money. It’s all about attitude.1964, Sint-Amandsberg, Belgium. Enough is enough. Condoms were not popular back then, so Father simply had to be careful.1966, Ledeberg. ‘Danny, my toy is broken again. Can you fix it?’1972, Ghent, Willy, Benny and Danny. A Ghent triplet at the beer fest during the Ghent Fair.Early ‘70s, Olifantstreet in Ghent. The very first drag show with Danny, as the oldest, leading the way.1980, Sint-Niklaas. Father Marcel goes out.2018, Ostend. ‘And at 85, I want to be a pilot’, Mom said. And up she went.1978, Zedelgem. At the military school. All neatly lined up and one shouted: ‘Geef acht!’ – which means ‘attention!’ in Dutch.Sint-Niklaas, Belgium. On my way to my first navy ship. Uncle Oscar wanted to accompany me.My first amant Jean-Pierre. His French name was soon transferred to the Flemish JeePee’ke.1988, Bruges. Thank you, your Majesty, but now I urgently have to go to India.1989, Pune, India. That beautiful red was once mine, the color of passion of yore.2003, Pune, India. The three-week magical Mystic Rose Experience. My buddy was a bright doctor from Gujarat.2015, Calamuchita, Argentina. Argentinians are delightfully crazy and easily dive into the depths of their emotions.2022. ‘No bullshit, just do it’, Swami Dhyanraj said to me in Ostend. That will be my mantra for my own tantra workshops.1988, Ardèche, France. A glorified goat trail on the way to the rosemary field.1988, or thereabouts, Amsterdam at the Waterlooplein. Halfway back to Belgium the engine exploded.1989, between France and Belgium. With Luc from the navy. ‘Don’t panic, just change a tire and we will be on our merry way.’1989, Viviers, our farm Le Mas d’Andenas. Modern choreography in a 17th-century shed.A new model at Albir Garden in Mallorca, one of the hotels Jetair was involved with, in a promo for the hotel. Young and innocent.Around 1991/1992. Charlie from Manchester in the Mallorca dunes.1994, Benidorm, Spain. In the Belroy Hotel, with Trees in the musical Crazy for You. ‘All fine, down there?’Mid-‘90s. A historic moment: the first stone of the Jetcenter in Ostend, the headquarters of Jetair, was laid by Annemie and Gerard Brackx. Benny hosts the ceremony.Late ‘90s, Courbiac, France. Our farm Cinq Sols encompassed some twelve hectares (29 acres), some of which was in use by the next door farmer. He left his machinery on the farm, for us to use as well.1996, Courbiac. I had become a mother at the age of 34. Charlotte was much too young. Here she is at six weeks. Where’s the milk?Cinq Sols, the farm in Lot-et-Garonne. Looking at the barn and the stable on the right. I slept in the barn with Charlotte.1996, Courbiac. Charlotte and Fox, Danny’s dog. We had put some tarpaulin on the barn floor for them. ‘This is your new sister, enjoy it while she’s still small.’A family picture: Charlotte, Benny and Fox at Cinq Sol.2000. Charlotte at 4 years old and quite chubby. She is eating the PC mouse with its cord. ‘I want my own computer!’Goats were born just as our farmer/cheese maker had left for the Pyrenees in his Deux Chevaux to bring more goats to the farm in Courbiac. Piglets and goats to feed, who’s next?Such an idyllic picture: underneath an apple tree. David Hamilton would be proud. On the left, with their dog Ben is Els, and to the right holding an apple is Carien.July, 2007, Courbiac. What better place to bury Charlotte than next to the manure heap. She always had the time of her life there. I make a namaste for my sweet girl.Jean Pierre in 2016 next to the mayor of Brussels and the Dalai Lama. ‘Do you know this guy in the red robe?’Jorge Valmont and mama Frida on the island of Mallorca. ‘I hope she wears the right dress’, Jorge said. And whaddaya know – she did.2012, 14 February, Buenos Aires. Fidel and I got married. They were happy times.After our wedding we went on a daytrip in Buenos Aires. Groom and groom.Visiting the Lujan Zoo near Buenos Aires. A very special zoo, where you could actually join the animals in their cages, like here with the lions. On our visit to El Alto in Bolivia I was joined by Fidel’s nephews, and one niece. On my left his ‘special’ nephew. ‘You’re not taking me with you, are you?’ I wish I had. My one chance of becoming a deserving dad, and I blew it.In between two of Fidel’s sisters in Bolivia. Can I fondle him now?The Royal Waffle House in Buenos Aires. Old waffle machines hanging on the wall, the scandal corner, the chaise lounge, and our cook from Colombia.2011, Buenos Aires. The opening of the Royal Waffle House. On the red carpet.The royal scandal corner in the waffle restaurant. The Belgian ambassador was not amused.The very first Belgian waffle house in Buenos Aires was a success, but failed nonetheless.2015. The very first autoservicio (self-service) for fruits and vegetables in the whole of Buenos Aires. The adventure wasn’t long-lived.Dancing the tango in Buenos Aires with a professional dancer. Do you see my teeth? Brand new. My original teeth were all crooked.‘Ben, Ben, you must open the dance floor.’ The most famous dance floor in the world, the Moulin Rouge. And so I did, with the daughter of an American couple, on a tour through Europe.2024, On a tour through Portugal, Morocco and Spain2017. Banter with Big Ben. On a promotion tour through India.2024. Preparing for a tour through Portugal, Morocco and Spain. A military-style preparation. All my clothes are neatly laid out.2024. In the Las Cuevas del Duque restaurant in Madrid. Where’s Deham?Early 2025. On a city tour we visit the oldest horchateria in Valencia, the Horchateria de Santa Catalina. Horchata is a name for beverages and ice cream, made with soaked ground and sweetened tiger (chufa) nuts. You love it, or you hate it.2025. In the book I quote two Canadian couples, commenting on their Spanish Tour. I realized it would only be fair to share one with you. Unfortunately I don’t have the comment anymore wishing me to hell.Lisa and me on the Portugal, Morocco and Spain Tour in 2024.October 2024, on tour in Morocco in the Valley of the Roses in a store I traded the shirt that I was wearing for this T-shirt, with the oldest Berber symbol. Women used to wear this symbol on their head or on their belly.Sayalonga, my kinda town, in Andalucia. The paraiso del nispero de Axarquia. It looks like your typical white village in the south of Spain, but to me it’s more than that. It’s a feeling.2016. And then I stumbled on this place, up in the mountains. Overgrown on every side and with no sea view. I turned the place upside down and inside out.2020. Brique-o-Braque, better known as SolazHome. Can you see the pool? Yes, you can get there, but only via a refined goat path.This is how the villa looks like nowadays. Glass all over. The Brits who owned the place for twenty years would be horrified if they ever found out.2025. My brother Danny is painting, again. Preparing Brique-o-Braque aka SolazHome for the spring and summer rentals.The serigraph gets a blessing from the Dalai Lama. My friend from Brussels Jean Pierre got the shawl from him. Jean Pierre gave it to me, and I gave it to the Osho Center in Argentina.Spring 2025. With Gema in front of Chez Maman, the all-purpose store in Sayalonga. Where is Trula? 2024. The July fiesta. Ladies tie their hair up and put a flower in their bun. And they drink tinto de verano, the red wine of summer. The señora next to me works in the local pharmacy. Every village in Spain has a pharmacy, and they play an essential role in the life of the community.A fiesta in Spain is a feast for everyone – young, and old. Raffa’s two little girls with mamá, dressed in traditional Andalusian flamenco style dresses. Raffa is the digger of Sayalonga.2024. Sayalonga can’t get enough of fiestas. This one takes place in the winter, and it’s not very catholic either. All the way in the back is the mayor. Let’s see if we can do some business.2023. What would a summer fiesta in Sayalonga be without the traditional Spanish paella?2014. The first time I visited Sayalonga with my friends from Argentina, Job and Pedro, I jumped over the fence to turn the town into SayalongaY. The village put the picture on their Facebook page.2022. With Job from Buenos Aires and Gucci designer Elisabeth in Competá. The queens are ready to party.2022. Turning 60. A surprise party on the roof of cafetaria hostal Ágora in Sayalonga. My friends shocked me with gifts no one wants to have, like a gnome for in the garden.2025. Trula, also known as la Madame in Sayalonga, in the front seat of my Jaguar.2024. Ready for take-off in the high heel race with Marcel from Torremolinos at the Compéta Pride.Trula at home on the sofa in Brique-o-Braque in Sayalonga.Early 2025. Gema, co-parent of Trula, has a rustic place in the campo where she prepares the best paella in the world.Late 2024. Sorina insisted that the final bump before the parking area be cemented. With a heavy heart, I had it paved. Sorina’s husband Oscar did a great job.2017. Preparing for another summer fiesta in Sayalonga, with Boddhi.2024. Bears on the beach in August for the Mad Bear Festival. Thousands of bears descend on Torremolinos for this festival. It’s pretty difficult to find sand on the beach.Spring 2025. Abdul and me in La Nogalera, Torremolinos, overlooking the Mediterráneo.May 2025. José and Feiko at their superb El Kiosko on Calle Casablanca in Torremolinos.Monday and Tuesday nights are Maikey night at the Chessa Bar in Torremolinos, the place ‘where everyone knows your name’. Indeed, like in the television series Cheers. But then for queers. Having said that: everyone is welcome.2025. The Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi aka Hergé created the comic character Tin Tin (we call him Kuifje). The series was published in some seventy languages. I look just like him, standing next to the famous drag queen Satin Greco from Torremolinos.2024. The show starts late in Torremolinos, but not at the Mature Daddies Disco. Otherwise the daddies would never make it. The disco is open early in the evening. Abdul, in his tight white T-shirt, is the star of the show.I knew I was a lucky man when I first entered my first apartment in Torremolinos. The apartment building is built into a rock and overlooks the Carihuela neighborhood of Torremolinos.2024. The Calle Loma de los Riscos in Torremolinos, where my second apartment is. It very much reminds me of Buenos Aires, with its overhanging trees and homes tucked away behind fences and beautiful trees.2025. Trula spent most of her life on hard soil, up in the mountains. But now she can run around like crazy on the beach of Torremolinos.2021. Mama Frida insisted that this picture be her commemorative photo: holding a huge glass of beer. As if to say: I lived life to its fullest.Torremolinos. We are four hours into 2025 when the DJ at the Mature Daddies Club shouts that the time has come for all the old hombres to dance the sevillanas. And up they go. That’s why I love Spain so much.Early 2025, The Hague. Photo sessions with Ann-Sophie Falter for All is Fine, Todo está Bien in Spanish and Alles is Goed in Dutch. That’s it folks, all the love from me to you!
