When I walk around Brussels I tend to look on the ground to avoid either dog poo or the broken pavement. And this is a big pity, because some of the houses in Brussels are just magnificent.
One of them that I just discovered is the one in Coudenberg 66, very close to the museum area in the city center. This building was built in 1898 in a revival Gothic style. It housed “La pharmacie anglaise de Charles Delacre” (the English pharmacy) as you can read on its facade. If you read French you can see on its facade the advertisement of all kinds of different products that were sold there: bandages, belts, emergency boxes.
Take the time to look at it and you’ll find plenty of interesting features. The roof is very steep and has plenty of small windows. There is a also a very fine sundial. There’s the typical pharmacy sign engraved on the vaults above 2 windows.
Nowadays, on the ground floor, you can find a fine cocktail bar, called…guess what? “La Pharmacie Anglaise”. It’s worth having a drink there to see the interior which is kept just like it was when the shop was still there.
