Brussels

We were all tired of being cooped up in the house, so we took our sniffling, lackluster group to Brussels this afternoon. Christian napped on the way. We got there around 2:30 or so. We went to the Atomium first, which is very impressive on the outside. Cliff and I both expected a molecular science museum or exhibit, but instead they had furniture. There were displays of desks and chairs and such. We weren't impressed, but they had wonderful homemade ice cream in the restaurant. Yum!

This is it - the Atomium!

There is a nice park off to the left.

This exhibit was the recipient of all of the silver from Le Belvedere -
evidently very prestigious.


This is one of the LONG escalators leading from one electron to another.

This is one of the LONG staircases. This one is especially nice,
because it leads to the restaurant. :)

Christian and Cliff enjoying some of the homemade ice cream. Well, Christian is concerned Cliff is eating the ice cream without him. Cliff is enjoying the ice cream.

There was a beautiful and rather expansive park across the street, so we played there for a while. We happened to have a soccer ball in the car, so we fit right in. :) We played there until about 6, and then headed into town for dinner.

This was one of may walking paths at the park. Christian really enjoyed getting off of the path to walk up and down hills, over fences, under trees and low lying brush, on rocks...

The area we went to for dinner is very touristy, but it added to the vacation atmosphere. There were narrow winding paths, with candle-lit restaurants lining both sides. Waiters were trying to entice all of the people passing by, switching easily between languages. I'm sure they just knew a few phrases, but it was enough. Cliff said it reminded him of a mini Paris. They had very elaborate sea food dishes on display. With it being a Sunday it wasn't too crowded - still full, but not overly crowded. We had a wonderful relaxing meal, and then headed back home. It was really good to get out. :)