Here is entrance the door to our apartment and views to the top, where our room is. See how close the restaurant is to our door? We have to ask the people sitting in the chairs to move every time we come and go.
Views out of our apartment window of the Sablon Square.
And here is another rooftop we saw from our apartment window. We noticed that it changed the next morning when it was windy, thus he is a weathervane. Very cool!
Some lovely flowers on a window ledge.
We found out that there was a Antique Faire right down the street from our room The Sablon Antique Market.
We found all kinds of wonderful goodies, but only one small card of vintage buttons. It was fun to speak with so many different people from various countries. We did however buy a few personal gifts for family and friends.
Things are priced pretty pricey here, so we really could not afford much. We also had a very limited amount of Euro with us. Besides the fact that there are no places to go exchange our US dollars. Banks are closed and not a single exchange booth could be found anywhere. When we asked people about it, they all said to go use our atm card to get cash. Well, our US cards will not work here. So we will have to wait until Monday to find a bank. Actually, its not that our credit cards won't work here, its that we aren't set up with PIN numbers to access their ATM machines.
J-Me saw these very cute dogs at the Antique market, but I am pretty sure the owners were not going to part with them. (Looks like she is getting homesick and missing Prezley).
The streets were full of tourists, and the restaurants are packed. We noticed that most people were only ordering a coffee or a glass of wine, and for food only a plate of French fries, to keep the cost down. The food prices at restaurants on big tourist streets (like where we are staying) are extremely high. For instance, a small Belgian beer, not an import, is = to $6.50 usd at the table. The same beer at the small grocery store near our apartment is = to $1.65 usd. So needless to say we have been shopping for essentials (beer is an essential) and eating in our room which overlooks the main square. We usually have a lunch on the street, as by that time we are far afield and in need of drink, food and a seat to people watch.
The Palace of Justice, and it is under repair. and if you take a look at the bottom left, you can see two armed guards watching people to see if anything looks afoot.
more buildings.......
J-Me is really enjoying the various fencing and gates. She is hoping to find 2 sets of gates for our property.
and a lovely park we walked around
and Old Churches.
and more military guards looking out to protect us in the Salon Square.
~*~
Next day we walked to the large flea market near us, and the street getting there alone had over 30 antique shops, if not more. The flea market was fabulous, with tables full of glassware, silverware, junk jewelry, fine jewelry, African bead and carving vendors (mostly from the Congo, being that the Congo used to be a colony of Belgium), clothes... you name it. One large booth didn't even have tables, or a system of laying out their goods... they just threw it on the ground and people were picking through it like a scavenger hunt. Amazing!
and there were so many African trade booths with wonderful treasures.
and then some of the individual goodies which we loved to look at and had to ask about....
We did find some goodies - which will be offered for sale at some point, just keep your eyes open.
We walked back on a different street that also was lined with small and large antique shops, all of which we explored of course. There was a lot of things we would love to buy, some not even that expensive, but large and awkward to break down and ship, like the Italian chandelier J-Me fell in love with, or the several clocks, a table and mirrors she found. She hasn't found the three door wardrobe she is hunting for, but we still have two days.
and other wonderful Antiques.....
and look at the details on this chair......
This was a memorial which has some french seed beaded flowers inside it.
Antique stuffed critters......
Antique military items. I am sure our son would be loving some of these....
even old pieces from the front of a old building were for sale ....
and take a look at these lovely old Japanese dolls.
and J-Me spent some time looking in every nook & cranny of this very lovely jewelry cabinet. She is seriously thinking of where she could put it in our house.
Guy was greeted in one Antique shop by this gigantic dog - a Irish Wolfhound. (and Yes, even Guy is missing Prezley now).
Did I mention we have spent a fortune on chocolate yet? OMG. Every shop, and there are 4/5 shops on every block (small blocks) have different styles, flavors, designs of chocolate. Soft centers, nut centers, dark, milk, white, drinks with chocolate in it, drinks made of chocolate with other stuff in it, like alcohol, fruit or just fill in the blank. If you can imagine it, its in the chocolate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kXoD8tj7pM
Neuhaus Chocolates
Next stop, Godiva Chocolates.....
Wittamer Chocolates......
A little small chocolate shop, Passion Chocolat.
Leonidas Chocolate shop:
Pierre Marcolini chocolate shop;
and here is their street Belgium waffle booth
We found a quaint little alleyway with some small restaurants, all closed until 7pm.
And there were a few pastry shops along the way.....
We limped home after a last stop at a grocery store we were passing for fruit, bread (amazing bread that is stale by morning if you don't eat it immediately),(what is wrong with the bread back home being still fresh after 3 weeks?) yogurt, cheese and beer.
We both took a nap, and while J-Me still slept I went down stairs and found a pizzeria to buy a pizza and drink a beer while waiting for the pizza to be cooked and to bring back to the room for a semi late dinner while we listened to reggae on the music channel we found on the TV. J-Me wasn't that tired, because I caught her dancing to the beat of a really good Reggae song, and now that snippet of video is in my personal J-Me Video collection. Rock on J-Me!
I drank some really weird beer (rum flavored, raspberry flavored) , which confirmed that the only beer I like is beer flavored.
Goodnight, I'm going to sleep - but J-Me will on the computer fixing the photos, emailing back questions from customers and friends, writing the blog, looking for museums to go see in the morning.
~ * ~
Next day, we slept in a bit. It seems this is a late morning town anyway, not many tourists wandering the streets early. Most people start coming out around 1pm.
Guy figured out how to use the coffee maker (helps if you know where to put the coffee pods in)
and breakfast was served, along with some juice & fruit.
J-Me loves taking photos of car to share with our son, Rob. So Rob, feast your eyes on some of these! They are everywhere here.
Porsche
Lotus
BMW
and even a Sports car Skoda!!!
and just for fun, a Tuk Tuk to take people around town in.
So we have the family dog, Prezley which is a Chinese Crested Powder Puff, with hair. They are supposed to be hairless, so Prezley went to the pound and up for adoption. Our Son adopted her and we now have her. We saw a dog today that is what they are supposed to look like and I must say they are ugly.
and this is Presley:
Today was a long day - the weather was wonderful. We have been so lucky.
Tomorrow is our last full day roaming around, shopping for antiques and taking pictures. The airport shuttle has been ordered for Wednesday, we are nearing the end of our stay here.
Goodnight.
