Take refuge in Frederic’s shop, where you can revive flagging legs with a cup of rich hot chocolate. No instant stuff this; but basically just melted chocolate, including the speciality Fredericisime, with no sugar and just a little honey, that you might not like but will knock your socks off. Along with the large and imaginative chocolate selection there are hot chocolate spoons, chocolate spreads, and ice creams. I must try the “Belgian sunshine” - I like a chocolatier with a sense of humour!

www.frederic-blondeel.com/en/presentation/
Quai aux Briques/Baksteenkaai 24, 1000 Brussels
+32 2 502 21 31
Google map: bit.ly/x8SWpl

* Bec is our Been there local for Brussels. You can view her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/brussels-local-rebecca.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/Becinbrussels

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Founded in 1919 in Brussels, since 1942 Mary has been the chocolate supplier to the Belgian royal family. There are only three shops in the country, and the brand has
shunned expansion and stuck to its retro-style packing, discreet service and pralines named after Princesses past and present. This is about class, but there is nothing to be concerned about on price! Chocolates are still made by hand by around ten employees in a former armaments factory.
A browse through the brochure reveals that chocolates should be kept between 15 and 18 degrees, avoiding rapid changes in temperature. “In truth, however, our chocolates seem to disappear rather quickly.” You bet they do.

www.marychoc.com/
Rue Royal/Konigsstraat 73, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
+32 2 217 45 00
Google map: bit.ly/zyRZ1L

* Bec is our Been there local for Brussels. You can view her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/brussels-local-rebecca.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/Becinbrussels

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A kitsch copy of a Lourdes shrine, a modernist housing development influenced by Le Corbusier, historic lampposts, a memorial to homing pigeon trainers, a hidden passageway Leopold II used to visit a mistress ... Nothing really really juicy, but I still revelled in a few oddities on my “Secret and Unusual Brussels” guided cycle tour. It was run by Pro Velo: a non-profit organisation set up to encourage cycling in a city prone to traffic problems. They offer a regular programme of themed public tours in French and Dutch, featuring cafés and bandes dessinées, beers and brasseries, the green belt around Brussels, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Modernism ... And yes, intrepid explorer, you’ll see the city from a different perspective and cover more ground that on a walking or bus tour. I am particularly looking forward to learning about the mysterious history of freemasons in Brussels come October. For tours in English (or Spanish, Italian, German), ask for a quote for a 3-4 hour private tour at least five working days in advance. Choose from a good selection of themes “à la carte”; including “Brussels for Beginners”, “Magritte and the Surrealists”, “Art Deco and Modernism” and “Castles and Abbeys”. As with the public tours, don’t forget that you can hire bikes if necessary.

www.provelo.org
Rue de Londres 15, B-1050 Ixelles
+32 (0)2 502 73 55
Google map: bit.ly/p2yExp

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The Cantillon Brewery is the last of what were once plentiful Gueuze Breweries in Belgium. The family brewery makes Gueuze, a unique beer that depends entirely on windborn yeast to complete the beermaking process, introducing an element of luck that most brewmasters wouldn't dream of accepting. To use the wild yeast the brewery has a number of unique features that cannot be found in any other brewery.

The location is also ideal. Just a fifteen minute walk from Brussels' Grand Place, there is no problem with imbibing as much of this wonderful beer as you would like and then wondering how to get home. The metro public transport system makes this a wonderfully tasty and safe experience.

Gheudestraat 56
1070 Anderlecht, Anderlecht
02 521 49 28
www.cantillon.be

Google map: tinyurl.com/l6jal2

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Only 10 minutes walk from the Gare du Midi, down a (frankly rather unprepossessing) street, is the Cantillon Brewery. This is an independent family-owned brewery producing lambic, one of Belgium's most authentic and original beers. You get a short and enthusiastic introduction, and can then follow the brewing process on your own.

What makes lambic beer unique is that it ferments spontaneously. The wort cools down in a shallow copper tray in the attic where it comes into contact with airborne wild yeasts.

You can wander through the barrel store, with its heady and musty aromas, where it will ferment for up to three years. Tasting is an education. You will be offered the slightly tart Gueuze, a blend of old and new lambics, and the sweeter Kriek beers, blended with fruit.

This is a fascinating and evocative museum, offering a rare insight into traditional brewing methods.

Gheudestraat 56
1070 Anderlecht, Anderlecht
02 521 49 28
www.cantillon.be

Google map: tinyurl.com/l6jal2

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A really fun - and tasty - tour of a unique brewery can be found in the gritty working class Brussels district of Anderlecht, where some of Brussels' best kept secrets are also hidden!

The Musee Bruxellois de la Geuze offers a great tour around the Cantillon Brewery, the last working brewer of Lambic, a strange spontaneously-fermenting beer, that has to be tasted to be believed and once tasted will be craved ever after! It takes Lambic brews from three different years to make a Geuze beer, so it's something pretty special and well worth waiting for!

The Cantillon Brewery opened in 1900 and little has changed since then. It is a great retreat from the modern world to an age when people had more time to sit back and enjoy a glass of beer.

We loved the tour but got a little confused, after tasting and sampling, about all the processes and spontaneous fermentation, so we might have to go again to refresh the memory - hic.

Musee Bruxellois de la Geuze
Cantillon Brewery
Admission: 5euros (includes a cold glass of beer)

Cantillon Brewery
56 rue Gheude
Anderlecht
1070 Brussels
Metro: Gare du Midi or Clemenceau
Tel: +32 (0)2 521 4928
www.cantillon.be
Open Mon-Fri 08.30--17.00, Sat 10.00--17.00

Google map: tinyurl.com/l6jal2

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Do you expect from every trip a small miracle? Walk down the Petite Rue des Bouchers in Brussels and follow the Schuddeveldegang until you find yourself in a dark cosy little pub.

As you start sipping your Kwak, the gods of travel will start their magic. A barrel organ will be playing, and six puppeteers will entertain you with Three Musketeers, Cyrano de Bergerac or traditional Belgian mystery plays. Eric Satie was among the fans.

Come to Brussels to discover the tiny Théâtre Royal de Toone, a family-run marionette theatre that has continued its tradition since the early 19th century.

Impasse Ste Pétronille (66 Rue du Marché-aux-Herbes)
Close to the Grand Place
www.toone.be/

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Absolutely beautiful. The stained glass and stonework is stunning, and the treasury is well worth a look as well. The immense and intricate oak-carved pulpit will have you gawping for ages, and you can also visit the crypt, which shows the remains of a much earlier church.

Sint Goedele voorplein / Parvis Saint Gudule
Nr Central Station

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A masterpiece of design, the main surviving relic of the 1958 World Fair, the Atomium is a giant aluminium and stainless-steel representation of the atoms in a steel molecule. Recently renovated to its original shining glory, the Atomium will reopen for visitors in February 2006. Features will include a top-floor restaurant with panoramic views. The building will host exhibitions and artefacts from the 1958 fair, but the building is worth a visit on its own.

Square Atomium, 1020 Brussels; Metro 1A to Heysel; www.atomium.be

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