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Derek Blythʼs hidden secrets of Brussels

Monday, 21 September 2020

Derek Blyth is the author of the bestselling The 500 Hidden Secrets of Brussels.
He picks out ten of his favourite hidden secrets in every issue for The Brussels
Times Magazine. These are the picks in the latest September issue.

BRUSSELS COBBLES

The cobblestone streets in Brussels are among the most beautiful in the world.
A er years of indifference, the city is now preserving this aspect of its
heritage. The type of cobblestone varies from one neighbourhood to the next.
The hard grey stones laid out on Grand Place are made from Belgian granite
quarried in Wallonia. Just a few streets away, Place Saint-Jean is paved with
light grey Belgian sandstone. The lovely sloping Rue des Renards in the
Marolles features a warm red cobblestone mined near Jodoigne. Other streets
are laid with imported sandstone cobbles from Portugal, India or China.

GrandʼPlace, Central Brussels

BELGA AND CO

Weʼve raved in the past about Belga and Coʼs two coffee spots in Ixelles where
they serve coffee from their own roaster in Antwerp. Now they have planted a
third branch right in the heart of the city in a 17th-century house on Grand
Pl Th i t i h l N di li i l k ith tt d l t
Place. The interior has a cool Nordic living room look with potted plants, rugs
Derek Blyth’s
and a shiny Marzocco espresso hidden
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During of Brusselswork, the builders
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uncovered a series of seven beer-themed murals signed by M. Suët in 1956.

Grand Place 38, Central Brussels

belgacoffee.com

LA CURIEUSE BALADE DU MAELBEEK

The Brussels water authority has launched a creative project to remind us of

the lost streams that run under the city. The plan is to create walking trails that
follow the cityʼs hidden rivers. The first, launched earlier this year, is known
poetically as La Curieuse Balade du Maelbeek. Beginning at Place Flagey, it
meanders between 14 information panels along the Maelbeek valley where
you can learn about local history, nature and ecology.

Fernando Pessoa statue, Place Flagey

curieuses-balades.be

PETIT MERCADO

This relaxed spot brings a taste of Buenos Aires to a former plumberʼs store in
Saint-Gilles. Inspired by the grocery stores of Argentina, the owners have set
up a place where people can sit around drinking coffee or eating lunch. The
spacious interior is decorated with wood floors, brick walls and a white tiled
central bar. You can drop in for a coffee, a sandwich or a Brussels cra beer, or
grab something from the shelves for supper. Maybe a tin of Portuguese
sardines, or a jar of pesto, or a pack of locally-roasted Velvet coffee.

Rue de lʼHôtel des Monnaies, Saint-Gilles

+32 (0)2 428 08 62

INSIDE ART NOUVEAU

Walking around in Brussels, you spot beautiful houses in various architectural

styles. But you normally never get to see beyond the front door. A new website
created by urban.brussels now reveals what lies inside more than 80 houses
using archive photos and contemporary images. You can admire the fabulous
ceilings in a house built by architect Paul Santenoy, a gorgeous staircase
concealed within an Art Nouveau house near the Ixelles ponds and Symbolist
frescoes that decorate a Schaerbeek school. The site also suggests walking
tours based on the buildings you have viewed.

insideartnouveau.eu

LʼANNEXE
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Grégoire and Maxime started up a cra brewery in 2017 in a space in Saint-

Gilles originally used as an annex to the art school across the road. They called
it Brouwerij Hendrix a er an old family brewery, but Straffe Hendrik brewery
in Bruges complained the name was too close to their own brew. Grégoire and
Maxime were forced to change the name to LʼAnnexe and glue new labels on
their first batch of 10,000 bottles. You can drop in to chat or pick up a bottle or
two of their Saison de Bruxelles beer.

Rue du Métal 19, Saint-Gilles

lannexe.brussels

LUNDI

Graphic designers Line and Kathrin have created a stylish stationary shop in
the chic Ixelles enclave known as Little Paris. They sell smart notebooks and
paper by small Belgian, Portuguese and Danish brands, along with pencils,
fountain pens and other essential supplies to set up your home office. They
also have a small design studio next door where they print cards, invitations
and anything else you might need.

Rue François Stroobant 14, Ixelles

+32 (0)2 256 54 80, lundilundi.com

BUDDY BUDDY

Here is a new address to add to your list of cool brunch spots. Hidden away in
a back street behind the Apple Store, itʼs a stylishly minimalist coffee bar
designed by trendy Mexico City firm Futura featuring terracotta coloured
walls, mirrors and round tables. The coffee comes from Mok of Leuven while
sourdough bread is supplied by Ixelles bakery Renard. The two owners, both
vegan, make their own nut butters in a small workshop at the back of the café.

Rue des Drapiers 10, Ixelles

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BELGIUM BEER DAYS

Now that lockdown rules have been relaxed, cra beer expert Liselot Caura
has relaunched beer tours in Brussels and in her home town Ghent. Her idea is
to take small groups inside cra breweries like Beer Storming and LʼHermitage
to meet the brewers and learn about the Belgian art of beer. She also drops into
authentic bars to sample Belgian beers, including the latest low-alcohol and
zero-alcohol drinks. Check her website for dates.

beersecret.com

TSAR PETER THE GREAT STATUE

The city has seen many important visitors over the centuries. They come. They
stay a few days. And then they are forgotten. One of the most forgotten is Tsar
Peter the Great, who travelled to Brussels 1717. He is said to have drunk from a
spring in the woods near the ducal palace and fallen backwards into the water.
A bust of Peter the Great was put up close to the hidden valley where he
tumbled into the water. The inscription says that he ʻennobled the fountain by
drinking his wine there at three in the a ernoon.ʼ A statue near this spot was
carved by the baroque sculptor Jérôme Duquesnoy the Younger. It represents
Mary Magdalene lying in a grotto reading a book. It is unclear how it came to
be in this lost valley near the royal palace.

Parc de Bruxelles, Central Brussels

Derek Blyth

Thousands of jobs at risk at Shell

Tuesday, 29 September 2020

Credit: Belga

Thousands of jobs are under threat at oil and gas giant Shell, the British
newspaper The Times wrote on Tuesday.

In the headlines The company is due to publish an interim business update on Wednesday
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 Tuesday, 29 September 2020
The company is due to publish an interim business update on Wednesday
ahead of quarterly results, which
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situation.

Hundreds of jobs would be cut in the UK as part of a wider reorganisation of

the company, which employs 83,000 people worldwide.

There have already been reports that Shell wants to cut its oil and gas
Thousands of jobs at risk at Shell
production costs by 40%. This would be part of a strategic overhaul with a
focus on energy transition and a simplification of the companyʼs structure.

A Shell spokesman said the company was busy with a strategic reorientation in
view of the energy transition. He did not wish to comment on rumours of job
cuts.

The Brussels Times

Belgiumʼs rapid coronavirus
infection rate grinds to a halt
Belgiumʼs rapid coronavirus infection
rate grinds to a halt
Tuesday, 29 September 2020

Credit: Belga

An average of 1,540.7 people per day tested positive for the new coronavirus
(Covid-19) in Belgium during the past week, according to the latest figures by
Sciensano on Tuesday.

Over the 7-day period from 19 to 25 September, this is still an 11% increase
compared to a week earlier, but the third consecutive decrease of new
confirmed cases on a daily basis.

Additionally, 178.2 infections were confirmed per 100,000 inhabitants over the
past two weeks, which is an increase of 122% compared to two weeks earlier.
The number continues to increase, but the rate of increase is slowing,
according to Sciensano.

The total number of confirmed cases in Belgium since the beginning of the
pandemic is 115,353. The total reflects all people in Belgium who have been
infected, and includes confirmed active cases as well as patients who have
since recovered, or died as a result of the virus.

Related News:

Belgium insists on teleworking where possible

Belgium readies launch of 'coronavirus barometer'

Four more countries turn red on ECDC coronavirus map

Between 21 and 28 September, 64.4 new hospitalisations per day were

recorded on average, up from 56.8 per day the week before.

In total, 708 patients are currently in hospital, which is 54 more than yesterday.
Of those patients, 140 are in intensive care, five more than yesterday. Patients
til t b 71 i ht th t d
on a ventilator number 71, eight more than yesterday.
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An average number of 4.4 deaths occurred per day over the past week, up from
the average of 3.4 the week before. The total number of deaths in Belgium
since the beginning of the pandemic is currently 9,987 – three more than
yesterday.

Since the start of the pandemic, a total of over 3.2 million tests have been
carried out.

Belgiumʼs reproduction number (Rt) is currently 1.13, according to Sciensanoʼs

figures. This means that, across the country, one infected person infects more
than one other person on average, and that the epidemic is still growing.

Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times

Helicopter hijack: pilot and company

become civil party to investigation
Tuesday, 29 September 2020

© Maroun Labaki/Twitter

The helicopter company and pilot who were victims of a hijacking on Friday,
have decided to be a civil party to the ongoing judicial investigation.

Three suspects booked a helicopter flight on Friday to take aerial photographs

over Brussels. When the plane flew over the Brussels courthouse, the
passengers took out firearms. The pilot was threatened and forced to fly
towards the womenʼs section of Forest Prison, where the main suspectʼs wife is
imprisoned.

The helicopter was unable to land in the courtyard and set course for Hélécine
(in the province of Walloon Brabant), where the suspects stepped out and fled.

Related News

Helicopter hijack: Arrested men planned to rescue murder suspect

Hijacked helicopter overflies Brussels prisons

The Antwerp federal judicial police were able to arrest the main suspect and
his adoptive father on Saturday evening near Brussels. Not much later, two
other suspects were also deprived of their freedom in Limburg.

The examining magistrate decided on Sunday to release the adoptive father

subject to conditions. The other three suspects were arrested for violent the
in a gang with a gun, participation in a criminal organisation, unlawful
deprivation of liberty and attempted escape.

The trio will appear in front of the council chamber in Antwerp on Friday.
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