Since Bella didn't have a long weekend for Labor Day (her new school doesn't have off any US Government holidays) we decided to stay close and head to Brussels. Even though it is only a little more than an hour away, I really wanted to spend the night and see the Grand Place lit up at night. For those that don't know, Brussels is actually the capitol of the European Union. It is a very multicultural city and I heard so many different languages walking around! It has so many things to see that I made sure that we had a plan for this trip so I didn't get too overwhelmed. Here is my little summary:
Atomium - This cool place is on the north side of Brussels and was completed in 1958 as part of the Worlds Fair. It was originally supposed to be torn down after the fair, but became a large draw for tourists so they left it. It was a really cool building I have to say. Being an engineer and seeing what went into it as we traveled through each sphere was really awesome. The elevator first takes you to the top atom where you have a 360 degree view of Brussels and the surrounding area's. Then it is back down where you venture back up through the tubes to all the different exhibits.
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| Atomium! |
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| The Welcome center at the base. Every language I think is represented on on the letters |
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| Feeling better after his waffle (who wouldn't?)! |
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| View looking up before going in. |
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| View from the top. This is Mini Europe which we did not go to. It is miniature's of buildings all over Europe....on the list for the next visit! |
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| View on downtown Brussels. |
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| Loved this picture! |
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| He crawled up all the stairs! |
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| Primary schools can rent out this space...the kids sleep in the orbs! |
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| One of the steep escalators. It was dark with a cool light display |
Dino World - Just down the way from Atomium in the Expo Center was the last weekend of Dino World. It was an exhibit with anamatronic (I had no idea this is what it was called) dinosaurs! It was really spendy (15 euro per adult and 6 euro for Bella) and I would not have paid that but by the time we got there, there was no turning back. Zerek got really excited (He's into dinosaurs right now) until he started hearing the sounds and then he got really upset. He eventually got used to it and we enjoyed the rest of the time there.
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| The entrance |
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| T-Rex! |
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| Excavating in the sand pit! |
After a fun filled morning/afternoon we headed into the city to our apartment. I would not stay in this apartment again (email me for the name) but the only 2 positives from this were the size and location to the city center. After a nap (that lasted quite a while) we headed out for some exploration and started in the area right next to our hotel, St. Katherine's. What a beautiful church and a beautiful square lined with a really nice pond surrounded by cafe's.
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| She loves her daddy! |
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| Dinner, yum! |
Since they all napped for so long, we got to eat a late dinner that lasted till the sun went down so we could go see what I really wanted to see, the main square at night! It was so beautiful! It was bustling even though it was almost 9 pm. IT was such a nice night to just sit on the curb and take it all in!
We returned to the square for breakfast the next morning where it was nice and quite...
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| Quiet in the morning! |
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| She hates the camera. |
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| So handsome! |
After breakfast headed to an awesome place, the Natural History Museum! I have to say this was one of my favorite museums I have been too! The kids loved it and it was just so nicely layed out, perfect for our little rugrats. It was not expensive at all and we will definitely go back. It was in a completely different part of town by the EU Parliament which was pretty cool as well.
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| European Parliament written in all the different languages of the EU |
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| Center area with banners welcoming Croatia to the EU |
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| Dinosaurs at the Museum |
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| The evolution Hall |
We had an awesome weekend and would love to visit again maybe for a beer festival or the flower carpet next year!
