Atomium

To be honest I wasn’t so impressed with the Atomium. It is a nice structure, that’s true, but not that great so it would worth the price. So I decided to take a few pictures and then skip it.
What really impressed me there was the Mini-Europe site. Man! That’s a cool place to be in. I remember it seemed quite expensive, but once we got inside everything changed. It’s Europe at a small scale. The most representative buildings and decors for all European Countries are built there for you to see. Imagine an Eiffel Tower 1,6 meters high. And the Big Ben of about the same size. It’s such a nice place!
Here are some pictures from Minieurope and the Atomium.

I wasn’t too impressed with the Atomium. Overpriced and boring. But, at least I can say I’ve been!

It is so an amazing place!!
That’s so big…there a lot of intresting things to see!
Loved to go again!

Definitly a must see! The little statue of the boy peeing is small so don’t expect a huge statue. However the best Belguim waffles are at a little shop around the corner. They put Nutella, banana’s, strawberries, whip cream and powder sugar on a freshly made waffle! So YUMMY! Watching the technique of making lace was intresting as well as finding the Atomium. It’s a lil on the outskirts of Brussels so you have to take a train about 10 mins. Very easy to get to. We went in the winter so it added a touch of charmm to be in the square with all the snow falling. Loved to go again!

It’s big!

Very retro

I wouldn’t make a special stop to visit this, but it is a nice stop when you’re in the neighbourhood (Brussels).
It was build for the 1958 world (universal) exhibition. The Atomium represents the atoms and their connections in a metal molecule (correct me if I’m explaining it wrong here). It was closed for renovations in 2005.
There’s a movie theater with a few very big screens next to it, and a little ‘village’ with (to expensive) bars and restaurants so it might be nice to spend an evening there, which is what we did.

**Edited 23/02/06*
It’s open again, and it’s been cleaned… so now the Atomium is very shiny, not like the foto.

Mhmm, I’ve been there, but expected much much more. I think it is quie boring, dirty and should be taken out of order ;)
Sorry… looks good from a distance… but don’t come too close.

Most Belgians appear to hate what has ostensibly become the symbol of their country. More than Tintin, Bruges or even Mannekin Pis bottle openers, the Atomium is a universally recognised logo for Belgium. Among the minority of people who actually know Belgium to be a real country, of course. To visitors from outside of Belgium, the Atomium represents an era when laughable construction projects did not need an apparent purpose. It’s big, it’s expensive, and… well, it’s not much else, apart from a step back into time, to what apparently impressed people in the 1950s.