Ideas for Travelers

It is no secret that Brussels is not all about the JCVD muscles and the seat of the European Union. Small country As such, Belgium abounds in special items, such as beer, chocolate, and ... peeing boy. All this has made major Belgian souvenirs for years. Now you can explore the Brussels Gift Scene in more detail and see what you can bring home from a trip to the Belgian capital.

Chocolate

Returning chocolate from Belgium is a clear option, so if you are going to pick a box, you will need something rare and unexpected. Chocolate Pierre Marcolini treats his desserts with a modern design, and does not stop at the chocolate itself. His shop in the heart of the Sablon-Arts area is a bit like a dissolved ice cream shop where chocolates are displayed as if they were luxury cars in the showroom.

Its main products are macaroon, and they are brightly colored biscuits separated from each other with creamy dough. If you are looking for a royal treat, choose The Complete Collection (€ 30), a luxurious red box with 25 macaroons in every bright color imaginable. Of course, it is always possible to assemble a carefully hand-picked collection, or buy one of the cheaper gift sets. Unlike macaroons, you'll find plenty of praline, truffles and chocolates all handled with a touch of Marcolini.

Comic Books

Just like in Japan, it is quite natural to see a Belgian person reading a comic book in public. Picture books are bestselling here, with an amazing number of titles that cater to all age groups. Since Belgium is bilingual, each part of the language has developed separate patterns, but it meets together in the capital of Brussels. Around the city center, you can find huge comic book murals, and the city is home to the comic book museum that is worth a visit. Of course, there are so many comics for sale in Brussels that it is so hard to tell which store to choose. We settled in Brüsel, a centrally located seller that caters to both interested and uninterested comic book needs. It also serves as a publishing house for local talent and offers original artwork on the first floor.

Of course, you'll find usual suspects here like TinTin, Asterix or Lucky Luke, but we've decided to go to an artist who is so popular in the Franco-Belgian world. Almost thirty years ago, Philip Gillock, a comedian in Brussels, was using Le Chat (The Cat) to explain the world in masterful lines. With God save the cat (12, 50 euros) his drawings were translated into English. If you wish, you can also pick up goods from Brüsel the Le Chat, like cups and saucers. If you get the chance, visit a local supermarket to get a box of real Cat cookies.

 Lace

Once upon a time, small old Belgium was the center of the lace trade. In those days, precious materials were used only to decorate the gowns of clergy and kings, but over the ages, each country adopted its own style until it became a commodity. At present, most lace production has been entirely produced in China, but in Belgium there is still a small group of workers who continue to adhere to the old tradition of manual embroidery. It's labor-intensive: a small piece of spider web takes about 85 hours for a worker. Belgium employs about 1,000 lasers, all women between the 1950s and 1980s.

One of the oldest varnishing families in Belgium can be found at Galerie de la Reine, where five generations have survived in many of the local styles that Belgium offers. Of course, there are cottages, baskets and small souvenirs for sale at Manufacture Belge de Dentelles, but their original framed patterns are really artwork: unique, refined, and expensive. Among beginners and creators, there are beautiful hand fans available in black or white. You can pick up a small for 49, 50 euros. The biggest one will return you 74 euros. Since Manufacture Belge de Dentelles also sells a small number of factory-produced manual fans, you can see the difference in quality on your own.

Jewelry

If you are shopping for that special lady, you cannot go wrong with jewelry. Of course, you can always go to a random jeweler and pay an excellent price, but you can still find something unique without using half of the money spent for your vacation. At Dédée K, a small jewelry boutique in the Châtelain neighborhood, we guarantee that you will buy something you can't find anywhere, for a simple reason - the owner Dédée creates virtually everything she sells on her own. For her necklaces, bracelets, and rings, she uses semi-precious stones, such as agate, amethyst, and rock crystals. As something worth gifts, it recommends some reasonably priced armbands (20 euros), each of which comes with its own color and symbol. If you are staying longer in Brussels, it is also possible to have her create something designed along the lines of your personal design.

Cigars

Yes, we know that smoking is no longer permitted in bars and restaurants in most Western countries, including Belgium. But we will gladly go outside to enjoy a fat and juicy cigar after dinner. Although Cuban is still the king of cigars, Nicaragua makes a name for itself with the quality of its exquisite leaves and favorable prices. The Nicarau brand is entirely produced in the South American country, but the blend is a Belgian invention. Didier Hofengel studied to become an agricultural scientist of tobacco in Cuba, and spent years researching a book on how to produce the best cigars in the world. Nicarau is the result of his working knowledge, and he is hailed as one of the best brands of non-Cuban cigars in the world.

In Le Roi du Cigare (King of Cigars), Nicarau is one of the luxury brands for sale. As for the price of a pack of cigarettes, you'll only be able to purchase a box of ten Nicarau Minotos (47 euros), but you can easily double that amount for a similar amount of Cubans, which Le Roi Du Cigare sells in great variety. Unlike cigars, this established smokers house carries a wide range of tubes, cigar cutters and lighters in a magnificent mega building a stone's throw from Brussels Central Station.

Beer

What would a Brussels shopping list without fancy Belgian beer be? Belgian blood is fermented. The country may be famous for its six ancient ruins at Trappist, but is now being strengthened by an increasing number of small breweries. The choice is overwhelming, the overall quality is high. The Brasserie de la Seine is one of the most famous breweries in Brussels. The poets, who started fermenting in their basement, are popular in an increasing number of local pubs for Zinnebir and Taras Boulba beers. Jambe de Bois Triple has a little more punch, and it's more convenient to drink on a special occasion.

You can find Jambe de Bois Triple (€ 2.75 per bottle) at the specialty beer shop Déliceset Caprices, near Galerie de la Reine. Do not forget to pick up one of the accompanying glasses (€ 5), and let the owner know the best Belgian, because it is an encyclopedia of walking beer. For special occasions, Deliceset Caprices organize group tasting sessions. If you've been in town for a little longer, don't miss out.

Candy

Belgium's best kept secret is a sugar bomb. Coupondon, which is sweet cone shaped with sticky inside and cracked outside, is sold almost exclusively on the Belgian market. It is not like Belgian pastries that refuse to sell abroad, but tribal caps, as French speakers affectionately call them, simply spoil before they reach the local candy store. The cuberdons recipe was almost eliminated during World War II. The lack of gum arabic, one of the main ingredients, has made the production of coperone impossible. After the war, many chefs with sweet teeth and good memory made sure that the recipe was not lost forever.

Classic cupcakes have raspberry flavor, but these days you can find over 25 different perfumes and all the colors you can imagine. A true artisan cupboard is a popular sight on local markets, but not many stores carry it. In the center of Brussels, A.M. Sweet has a dessert section where you can find the original raspberry coupon (2,80 € per bag). It is also a great place to catch your breath and have lunch. It is best to pass at the end of your stay, because the thick drink inside the cuprdon will lose its texture after only three weeks.

Art Objects

It is strange that it took Rene Magritte a long time to get his own museum in the town where he lived most of his life. Until 2009 the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Belgium had not decided to give the influential Surrealist artist a permanent exhibition in one of his buildings. In the first six months alone, the Rene Magritte Museum attracted 300,000 visitors and continued to be a huge collective pleasure for art-loving tourists.

In its halls, more than 200 major surrealist works are permanently displayed, making it the largest collection of magritte works in the world. One of the most notable events is L'Empire des Lumières (translated as "The Rule of Lights" or "Empire of the Lights"), commissioned by the museum which is now exhibiting it in 1954. Magritte made at least seventeen copies in the oil painting of this work, Which can be found in museums around the world, including MoMA in New York. L’Empire des Lumières also greatly influenced the outside of the art world, as it was used as an inspiration for the iconic movie The Exorcist. Not surprisingly, his paintings are notorious for their strange and unreal atmosphere. If you can't get enough Magritte, take it home with you! The nearby Magritte Gallery sells a good selection of copies of his most famous works, including high-quality prints from L L'Empire des Lumières (€ 200). The mini gallery also contains a variety of books and postcards displayed.

Interior Decoration

It is not easy to find a good interior design. Once you sell a cool lamp, you will pay a wealth of luxury design stores to get your hands on, if you can find it at all. Belgian company Materialize found a solution to this problem using 3D printing techniques. It allows designers to create a complex object on the computer, after which they will use the liquefied polymer to reproduce the correct shape.

MGX began using "rapid prototype technology" in the automotive and medical industry in the early 1990s, but recently expanded its business to include industrial design. Initially, their creations were only available online, but last year they decided to open the world's first 3D printing store to consumers in Brussels. Its main collection includes some really salient elements, such as LILY. MGX (410 €) from Janne Kyttanen, a small table lamp that has expandable sheets to adjust the strength of the light. In 2005, she won the Red Dot Design Award and was already added to the collection of several design museums. Materialize allows you to upload and print your designs in a special part of their online store. This also shows the abbreviation .MGX, which represents the file type of the proprietary program that is used to create objects. And if the lamp breaks, you'll know at least where to find it again!

Liquor

Belgium is a country of beer. Belgium is a wine country. Belgium is certainly not a whiskey, but that didn't stop the Belgian, first whiskey owner, from creating one of the best malt whiskeys in the world. Eleven years ago, Etienne Boylon set himself on a mission to compete with the world's first whiskey brands, along with a local farmer who could supply him with high-quality barley. In 2014, the Belgian Bible whiskey reference guide awarded the Owl a score of 95.5 percent, putting it firmly on the map for whiskey enthusiasts. Over time, as his stock ripens, Bouillon wants to start competing in other prestigious categories.

Only 25,000 bottles are produced every year, making small distillation very much needed. In Mig's World Wine, not far from Avenue Louise, if you're lucky, you can find some bottles in stock or wait for a new batch to arrive. If you find yourself short, explore a wide range of unusual alcoholic drinks from the Distillerie de Bercy local distillation. Not only is it making a real chocolate drink, Noire d'Ivoire (70 liras for 1780 euros), but also carrying a real beer-flavored fragrance, called B de Biercée (70 liras for 24 euros).

Glassware

Instead of buying a gift that says "I went to Brussels and all I got was this poor shirt", what about getting something the Belgian royal family might have at the coffee table? Handcrafted crystal jewelery from the small Wallonian village of Val Saint-Lambert has been a Belgian calling card since the 18th century, but in recent decades the small factory has faced nearly handicapped economic difficulties. In 2008, the rich wine family took over the brand and brought the brand back to its former glory with great marketing campaigns and cooperation with respected industrial designers. Val-Saint-Lambert has definitely produced for European Council President Hermann van Rompuy, the official supplier of glassware for King Albert II.

You can find Val Saint Lambert vases, bowls and decorative items in over forty countries, but the main store in Brussels really focuses on its Belgian heritage. Among these items is a beautiful bowl (€ 195) from the Calido collection, designed by Brussels designer Charles Kaesin. This bowl also offers the perfect gift from Brussels as it conveniently fits a bag. There is a lot of poor beauty that can be found in Galeries Royal Saint-Hubert, near Grand Place. Make sure to ask for your purchase to wrap three times, as this is not the type of glassware you want to break on your way home.