Back in Belgium

I was determined to still do something fun since I was unable to go to Scotland and with the weather being beautiful all weekend it made it easier.  Since I slept the last few hours of the trip I wasn't that tired yet and I knew as soon as I got back to my apartment I would sit down and pass out.  I decided to go to the Atomium as I still was unable to go inside of it as I was waiting for a nice clear day because they say you can see the ports in Antwerp some days and it would also give a much better view of Brussels.  It was pretty interesting - this was built in the 1950s for the World Fair and they had a lot of information on the preparation of the Fair and all of the newest technologies in the late 50s.  Hard to believe this was only 50 years ago and it was a very interesting perspective on different technologies being developed recently after the war.  Was a bit disappointing because you could only go into 4 of the spheres and had to wait 30 minutes to take the elevator to the panoramic view up top - but the top was worth it.  When I was up there I noticed a bunch of small European buildings, which I then remembered I could have bought a combination ticket of admission to the Atomium and Mini-Europe and I regretted not doing it.

Captions: Top - Atomium

Middle - Cool escalator shoot from sphere to sphere

Bottom: Pic of the view of part of Brussels

After the Atomium I decided to go see the Mini-Europe exhibit and it was quite interesting.  They had at least one, sometimes 7-8, buildings from all of the countries in the European Union.  Also received a booklet with information on when all of the countries joined the Union and the goals of the Union etc.  I didn't realize the European Union was founded in the 1950s, I thought it was formed years before the Euro currency started to be used.  Interesting also to know what countries joined and when, Belgium was one of the first that joined in its inauguration.  Check out some pics!

Captions: Top - Belfort in Bruges with Atomium in background
Middle - Budapest - adding this to my list of city trips!
Bottom - View of Mini-Europe from top of Atomium