Last weekend, my husband and I drove to Tongeren, Belgium, to visit their huge outdoor antique market. It was my first time in Belgium, so I got to cross another country off my list, plus Tongeren is a lovely little town and a mecca for antique lovers.
One thing that struck me is that there’s so much brick in Belgium. German construction is mostly concrete, so it was nice to see brick houses again.
We stayed in an AirBnB right within the city ring, so we could walk the streets as we did our shopping and sightseeing.
While the antique market takes place most weeks on Sunday mornings, we visited on a special weekend when the vendors were also set up on Saturday afternoon and evening. Since it rained overnight and into Sunday morning, that turned out to be a very good thing!
Tongeren is chock-full of antique shops, too, and all of them were open for browsing.
We were a little overwhelmed by how big it was, and my ribs were still pretty painful, so we stopped at a bistro for refreshment–limoncello spritzes and Belgium pommes frites. We managed to order in a combination of English and German since most people in Tongeren speak Dutch (the antique dealers know how to close a sale in every language, though!).
Side note that the limoncello spritzes were SO strong that we were both in bed by 9pm, which is probably good since if we had kept shopping in that condition we probably would be bankrupt by now!
Between the rain and the limoncello, we only bought a few things, but I’m going back with friends next month to “bat cleanup” on my antique needs before we move back to the States. Here are our finds:
Two enamel decanter tags:
Two new Delft tobacco jars (a friend found the one in the middle for me a few months ago):
My husband found this beautiful bar box that holds sixteen glasses and four decanters.
I can’t get it open to show you the inside and heaven forbid I break it, so I’ll have to share the inside in the future.
Also, my friend Sandra and her husband were in Tongeren just a few days ago, and she picked up this 5′ mirror for me:
I have a dear friend in the States who has been wanting something similar so it will be hers when I get home if she likes it; if not, you know I’ll find a place for it!
Thanks for all the nice comments about my bike wreck/injured ribs. It will be one month on Friday and I am improving–but it’s crazy how much they still hurt!
Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by~
