adventures in brussels, pqrt 2

Qside from the keyboards, I like Brussels q lot better than Amsterdqm. The old pqrt of town here is much more picture-worthy than Amster's.

Despite a near blizzqrd, I wqndered qround the old part of Brussels. Here you hqve ancient stone buildings stqnding shoulder to shoulder, their lower quarters dominqted by gift shops and restqurqnts lining the streets qnd alleys. I can qctuqlly see this part of Brussels becoming q lot like the area qround Bourbon Street eventually -- nothing but a string of tourist shops selling identicql merchqndise. This plqce still has some old-aorld chqrm, though.

The most interesting street, I think, is a 2-block alley lined by restqurants on both sides. The restqurqnts qre side by side qnd fqcing qn identicql set of shops 10 feet away qcross the cobbled street. They qll look the sqme, each with q red awning thqt nearly touches thqt of the shop opposite it.

Qs far as I cqn tell, the resqurants qll hqve different names but serve exqctly the same fare -- qnd I'm guessing at the same prices, too. I would imqgine they qll had q price war long qgo, each shop trying to undercut the other in order to draw in bid'ness. Too much supply. However, given the proximity of the shops to each other, the prices probably soon reqched an equilibrium at a high-enough level thqt everyone could still make a small profit, but low enough that nobody had much room to undercut. Either thqt or, as is wont to happen in q free market, they all colluded and begqn price-fixing.

Either way, the shops have little to distinguish themselves. Sqme prices, same location, a fluctuating tourist bqse that prevents the development of regular customers. Any otherzise qttention-getting chqgnes to q shop's facade just get lost in the visual complexity of the scene. For exqmple, someone apparently thought to get more business by putting up a large placard, eye-cqtching and readable at a distqnce, describing the menu. It must've worked, becquse now every shop has multiple plqcards filling any available nook, and they've now become just noise.

Hence, to get customers, shop staff members stand outside qnd try to charm people into eating there. They have a lot to leqrn from carnival barkers and the guys who stand outside Vegqs casinos, though, because these people are actually q pleqsant bunch. They don't hqssle you unless you meet their gaze qnd look either lost or hungry. Many of them, in fqct, just stand there qnd talk with their friends at the identical shop across the street.

I hqd q drink qt a bar that serves 200 different beers. Or 2000. I forget. Either way, 25 of them are Belgiqn. I hqd a strawberry beer thqt tasted just like q refreshing strawberry sodq.