Page 164 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - Brussels Bruges Ghent & Antwerp

162  TR A VELLERS ’ NEEDS

or Spegelaere in Ezelstraat.
Among Bruges’ most cherished
shops is Rombaux, which has
been selling classical records
and sheet music for three
generations and now has a
huge range of music CDs.
Belgian beer lovers will enjoy
The Bottle Shop, which stocks
over 600 labels, plus glasses.

Ghent
Ghent is a university town, so it
has a high number of record
Brüsel, one of Brussels’ many comic bookshops stores, streetwear outlets and
second-hand shops. The
other beer paraphernalia – visit cheap French second-hand pedestrianized main shopping
Beer Mania in Ixelles where you bookstore, has a number of area, the Veldstraat, also has all
can try the beer before you buy outlets in the city. the typical chain stores. For
it. Also rec ommended are De upscale second-hand retro
Bier Tempel and Delices et Bruges furniture, visit N’Importe
Caprices, both near the Grand Quoi. Music Mania covers
Place. Specialist beer glasses can The main shopping three floors and
be found at the Marolles flea thoroughfare, Steenstraat, specializes in drum ‘n’
market on Saturday mornings. has many of Belgium’s bass, reggae and jazz.
best known high-street Het Oorcussen is
stores, but the Belgian another outlet for
Comics fashion scene can also Antwerp’s famed fashion
Brussels is the world capital for be explored in the parallel designers, as is the
comic books, and the best of Noordzandstraat and men’s boutique Hot
its many shops is Brüsel, which Geldmuntstraat; Bruges’ Bottle Shop has Couture. Ghent’s
has a vast collection of comics L’Heroïne sells work by a range of beers quirkiest shop may
in French, Dutch and English; it a number of Antwerp’s be Vve Tierenteyn-
also has a gallery of framed famed young designers. Verlent, a picturesque
original art for sale on the second Bruges has more than 70 delicatessen dating back to
floor. In Rue des Renards is chocolate shops – although 1858. The mustard sold here was
Utopia, which leans towards locals will tell you that only first concocted by a Madame
American superhero strips and about ten of them are any Tierenteyn-Verlent in 1790.
science fiction but also has a good. The familiar brands
selection of Japanese anime Godiva, Neuhaus and Leonidas
titles. La Boutique Tintin is a are here, but it is worth seeking Antwerp
short walk from the Grand out local specialists such as Cutting-edge fashion can be
Place and offers a variety of Dumon in Simon Stevinplein found just a few streets away
Tintin-imprinted knick-knacks. from Antwerp’s main high-street
A more economical bet is the shopping district, the Meir. Dries
well-stocked comic shop on van Noten’s Het Modepaleis
the ground floor of the Comics and Walter van Beirendonck
Art Museum (see pp54–5). and Dirk van Saene at DVS are
all musts for fashionistas. The
Atelier Solarshop, the last
Bookshops
word in Antwerp cool, sells
The Brussels outlet of the clothes by designer Jan-Jan
English bookstore, Waterstones, van Essche, along with jewellery
and the friendly, independent and shoes.
store Sterling Books both have Away from the city’s diamond
a wide selection of English- district west of the railway
language books. Nestled among station, modern jewellery
the high-fashion boutiques of outlets can be found in Schutter-
Rue Antoine Dansaert is Passa hofstraat. Try Nadine Wijnants’
Porta, which calls itself a tri- shops for clever but inexpensive
lingual bookstore and “Inter- contemporary pieces from one
national House of Literature”. Het Modepaleis in Antwerp, housing Dries of the country’s most exciting
Bibliopolis, a popular and van Noten’s collections jewellery designers.

162-163_EW_Brussels.indd 162 10/01/17 10:55 am
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Practical template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.7)
Date 5th March 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm