gift/purchase suggestions from brussels besides chocolate and lace?
 

if anyone would like to share what things, (even food items) you always like to pick up in Belgium, I will appreciate it.

hi lisa,
Best gourmet food selections (and wine) can be found at Rob's market (www.robfinefood.be). Home decor items from Flamant (on the Sablon). High quality gifts from Ici D'Ailleurs on rue du Noyer near the Cinquantenaire. Leather goods from Delvaux (Belgian), Longchamp (French, but...), Belgian clothing from Claudia Stater, Mayerline (moderate), Natan (expensive), stationery from Nias on the Place Stephanie, funky souvenirs from stores along rue Haute. Art Nouveau replica items from rue l'Hopital (near the Grand'Place). Inexpensive houswares (cups, saucers, porcelaine, glassware, etc.) from La Vaisselle en Kilo, on a little alleyway off the Sablon. Beer with matching glasses from any good supermarket (cheaper than the souvenir beer shops near the Grand'Place). EU souvenirs from the Schuman area (the store a couple of doors down from the La Fontaine cafe/brasserie on rue Franklin by Rond Point Schuman), Belgian fashion and home design magazines (Gael, etc.). I could go on and on...we've got a whole house full of stuff!

ttt

thank you so much.( i had "topped" the post because i thought it hadn't posted!)

what a nice list. thanks a bunch.

hope it stops raining a little.
can't wait.

Beer and Belgium Waffles!!!

Another vote for beer. Many Belgian beers have special glasses to go with them. The most amusing is one which is kind of like a tall thin rounded flask & sits in a giant test tube holder arrangement. There are shops selling nothing else but beer & beer glasses, including gift packs, but I'm afraid I can't remember any names.

rv224: not sure how portable waffles would be :-)

Caroline, Kwak is the beer you are referring to. Kwak drinkers are evenly split as to whether you take the glass OUT of the frame to drink or lift the whole frame.
Although tourist-oriented specialty beer shops abound, you can get a very good selection of the same beers and matching glasses at any of the larger supermarkets--Super GB, Rob's, etc., at cheaper prices. And yes, waffles can be portable...most grocery stores sell them in packs, particularly the Liege style waffles (with sugar or chocolate coatings). Not as good as getting one hot off the griddle, but still ok.

Go to the Tintin shop...

Sheila, that's an excellent suggestion. If you don't have time to get to the Tintin shop, the toy store next to the Conrad Hotel on the Ave. Louise has a large selection of Tintin merchandise. And for Tintin fans, if you ever take the metro out to the Stockel station (Stockel is a very nice neighborhood for poking around and getting away from the tourist sights), the walls are decorated with a large, engaging Tintin mural.