Brussels - Part 2

In case you missed it, you can find Part 1 here.

Joe and I had underestimated just how much time the race would take so between the commute to and from Spa and the F1 activities, we didn't have a lot of time to explore Brussels throughout the weekend.  Luckily, our flight back to Norway was scheduled for Monday evening so we had the entire day to check out anything we might have missed.

The Atomium was built for Brussels's World Fair and Expo in 1958 and the towering metallic spheres are something to see.  It stands 102 metres high and is representative of an elementary iron crystal, 165 billion times larger.  The monument was to stand for the peaceful use of atomic energy and was intended to be deconstructed after the World Fair.

We purchased tickets to ride the elevator to the observation area within the top sphere where we could take in views of Brussels and the rest of the World Fair Pavilion.  

Afterwards, we rode a couple of psychedelic escalators down through the spheres to the ground.

We chose not to but, one could visit Mini Europe as well as the World Fair pavilions near the Atomium.

While it was nice to escape the busyness of the Grand Place, it was by far our favourite area we were able to explore.  I'm certain I could have spent the entire weekend moving from pub to cafe to restaurant to chocolate shop to waffle stand.

Tips

- We stayed at The Dominican which was a bit of a splurge but we loved it.  It was located mere blocks away from the Grand Place and it's swanky hotel lounge was the perfect place to unwind from the day or start the night.  We had an upgraded room which featured a large rainfall shower and a separate, deep bathtub.

- Our favourite meal of the 5 nights in Belgium was at the Belga Queen as recommended by Jess.  The restaurant is beautiful and the food was fantastic.