Brussels at large

Finally worked my way back down south to Brussels.  Was planning to take the train back down but caught a ride with the sales manager instead and save myself the cost and logistical challenges.  Was interesting to see all the traffic jams instead of the train headaches.  Made it down to Brussels with time to spare so I hopped a train downtown to explore and find a nice dinner.  Brussels is definitely a place you can find a good meal.  

Explored the area around the Grand Plaza again.  All the side streets with cafes, bars.  

We spotted this place by the Centraal station that peeked our interest on Sunday:  Dinner in the Sky.  Exactly what you picture it to be (look it up on dinnerinthesky.com).  When we saw it on Sunday morning, it wasn't being used, so it got our attention.  When I came back down on Wednesday, it was in full swing.  Just imagine, eating an elegant dinner with 30 other people hanging out 250 feet above the streets of Brussels.  Sounds interesting but I kept thinking:  what if you needed to go to the bathroom?

Brussels has a ton of sidewalk restaurants.  A lot are down by the Grand Plaza.  The narrow cobblestone alley ways are lined on both sides with place after place.  All of them have some buy our front trying to entice you to chose them over the other (Free beer!  Free wine!  Glass of Champagne with dinner!  Tiramasu for desert!  Free shoulder massage!).  Lots of choices.  I did note that a lot of these places seemed to serve muscles.  Not sure if it was a seasonal thing or a regular part of their menu.  I didn't take the challenge - never acquired the taste for muscles (or clams for that matter).

We finished up on Friday but our plane wasn't leaving until Sunday.  Spent Friday night and all Saturday just wandering all over town.  My coworker and I explored an area north of town called Atomium.  A display made back in 1955 as part of the World Expo.  Was meant to be a temporary display but wound up becoming permanent.  Huge structure of spheres with interlinking tubes that you can go from one globe to another.  Restaurant at the top and display rooms in the lower spheres.  The shape is suppose to represent the molecular composition of an iron atom.  

Of course, for just a few Euros more and being in a touristy mood, we just had to check out the mini-Europe display next door.   Where else can you see the Eiffel Tower, the Tower of London, and the Tower of Pisa in 1 hour?

A bit cheesy?  Perhaps, but I am a sucker for cheesy sometimes and it was neat to see all of the various displays and intricate detail that went into the models.  All it needs is a horde of Viking Warriors battling it out.  

And the chocolate is coming...