Curiosity shops/toy shops, Antwerp

1 more image

When you enter this store you'll find yourself in the tale of 1001nights. They sell beautiful exotic objects and furniture. In the back of the store there is a room decorated as a bedroom with a lot of colorfull cushions, lamps and incense is burning, making this al the more romantic. Even if you're not planning on buying something from this place it's worth to take a look.
They also have a little appartment upstairs which you can rent for a few days. The rooms are decorated in the same fashion as the store is. So verry much like an arabian house. For more information; check the website of the store
opening hours: Mon - Sat: 11.00 - 18.30
Sun: 14.00 - 18.30

This is a funny shop. They sell erotic chocolates, candies and gadgets.

What to buy: *** chocolates or *** ;) They are cute and funny. They sell some humoristic cards too.

What to pay: Be careful some things are expensive and others at a good price.

Everytime I buy something for myself I have it
wrapped like it is a gift. And it is a gift , for myself!
Their moto says : almost everything for
little children. Whatever.

I bet everything they sell was fashionable when
they were young. Tin toys , special puzzles ,
good old fashioned toys. I see them sometimes
even more as decorative items then as toys.
In December they even got a collection of
glass handmade christmas balls.

These people aren't really managers either.
The shop isn't really comfortable , you have to
lookn around for a while before it makes sence.
And last but not least they don't accept
banc cards. (really , yes really!)

But it is mayby that what makes this shop
so charming and original.

Carlo Masson owns this shop and
he makes Robots.

Please check the website!
It contains a gallery with his imaginative art
pieces. Most of the things he makes don't
have a function. Who cares?

Just a fun thing to walk by.

What to pay: Rather expensive...

I used to come here quit often and there have
been some building works lately at the main
entrance. Did I knew much that they where
completely renovating the whole shop and
enlarging it big time.

It has become huge. Some stylish rooms
where added...A place for ooooohs and
aaaaaaahs

A play area for the little children....

What to buy: -puzzles , 3D
-bears and luxurious puppets
(like sigikid - expensive but worth every penny)
-puppet show puppets
-wooden toys
-parlor games , different ones , original ones
-lots of childrens books , cards an posters
-colored pencils
-etc

What to pay: Quit expensive store...
quality and originality..you know

It's a small shop but completely stuffed with
oldfashioned toys , books , gadgets , ...
They got a wide choice of music boxes ,
wooden puzzles , little ducks for in bath....
This shop is worth a visit and it is in a nice
neighbourhood. (next to the steiner school - a
remarkable building in art nouveaux)

What to buy: If you need a gift for children way home...

What to pay: From 1 euro for a jojo
up to 30 or more for a beautiful music box

It is one off my favourite shop in antwerp. You
probably are thinking what a weird picture he
has put next too this text. Those are things I
bought there...It is a really posh shop , with
an eye for interior and decoration.

What to buy: Shells , stuffed animals (please don't buy
those), bones and skeletons , fossiles ,
insects (dead) , ..... It is a nice idea if you
want to take an original gift...

What to pay: A little sac with shells - 2 euro
up to a bone off a prehistoric creature.
.a few hundreds

The first shop we noticed when we came out of the tunnel was one with the name Swiet & Seksie. For your information; swiet and seksie aren't real words. It's 'sweet' and 'sexy' written Dutch-style phonetically. Now you can guess what they're selling, right? Exactly, it's all parts of the human body, executed in candy. The parts that make the female body different from the male one, and the other way round. We didn't enter. We had the 12-year old daughter of friends with us, and we didn't want to spoil her, even though she liked what she saw a lot. "Oooh, let's buy some for mum". Maybe another time.

We bumped into this shop during a previous visit. One shop, completely dedicated to Diddle. Who's Diddle, you're entitled to ask. He's a mouse. A bit like a cartoon mouse, only without the cartoons. He's part of a group of similar figures, which includes a cow, an elephant, a giraffe and more. This shop however only has the mouse. There are small figures of him, mugs, clothes, paper things and heaven knows what else. A whole shop full of it. It's not even a very small shop. Children seem to love him. So does the daughter of our friends who live opposite our house. When my wife told her about the shop she was totally excited and wanted to go there badly. So, that's why we took her the next time. We spent at least an hour in that shop until she had finally decided what to buy. The choice was too hard.

Like many men I hate those shops where women go to buy smelly things. I liked this one though. They only sell soap. Not the usuall stuff, but everything made themselves. In all colours and aromas. Only don't taste anything. It all looks like candy, but it definitely is soap. Not that I tried, mind you. But it sure looks tempting.