Shopping
Brussels has a wide range and variety of goods on offer although it's not the cheapest of cities in which to shop . There are two main shopping areas in the city: the city centre around the Grand-Place , and the south part of the Upper Town . The city centre's main shopping street is rue Neuve , which is home to City 2, the ultimate inner-city shopping mall. Not far from the Grand-Place, Galeries St Hubert accommodates a smattering of conservative boutiques in stark contrast to the Galerie Agora , which peddles cheap leather jackets, incense, piercing jewellery and ethnic goods directly opposite. Behind the Bourse, rue Antoine Dansaert caters for young, cutting-edge fashion-groupies, housing a number of young designers as well as shops selling clothing ranging from the internationally known to such Belgians as the Antwerp 6 and Raf Simons. Neighbouring St Gery contains rue des Riches Claires and rue du Marche au Charbon which have streetwear shops and vintage stores. Uptown, the chaussee d'Ixelles has most of the big stores and a lively feel in the African quarter around the Galerie d'Ixelles. The label-conscious will want to shop at the smartest addresses on avenues Louise and de la Toison d'Or, where shops offer everything from DKNY to Giorgio Armani, as well as Belgian designers. The Grand Sablon has a weekend antiques market and the surrounding area has a good selection of similar shops. For bric-a-brac, it's best to wander down to the Marolles district - the closest Brussels gets to New York's Lower East Side - and the daily flea market at the place du Jeu de Balle. There is a labyrinth of old books in the stores of the Galerie Bortier near Gare Centrale. Belgian beer, chocolate and lace - though found throughout the city - are highly concentrated in the tourist areas around the Grand-Place. Shops catering to another national passion, the comic strip or "bande dessinee" (BD), can be found a little further afield near the Bourse and on the chaussee d'Ixelles near place Fernand Cocq
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