Took a one-day trip to Brussels. I had been there before but only for a conference and couldn't see any sites. You can get there in 1.5 hours so why not?
I always wanted to see the Atomium but it's a few kilometers from town center so just stayed in the train station and took the metro. I didn't know Mini-Europe was right next door, so I thought I'd swing by. It was a little expensive but there were some cool models, and I actually stayed longer than I thought. It was like a quick world tour.
Above left, the Castle of Olavinlinna (Finland) and on the right, the Villa Rotonda (Vicenza, Italy).
A shot of the Atomium on the left and on the right, the Veves Castle (Belgium).
Amsterdam (above left) and of course, the Palace of Westminster (London).
Some shots of airplanes - because they're cool. The Airbus on the left taxis around the airfield,
and there's a 747 above right. 747's are cool airplanes. This area was just called "Airport".
I had always wanted to see the Notre Dame du Haut (wiki) and there it was! Cool architecture!
This was a lucky shot! I caught this A380 taking off with the Atomium in the background!
Not really. It was a model in "airport". Cool pic though.
After getting back to centre ville, I ate by the Marché de la place Agora in le Ruben's Cafe. Since I was in Brussels I ordered mussels and fries! The sauce was creamy garlic which was fantastic. And of course, Brussels knows how to make mussels and fries.
I visited the Cathedral of St Michael and St Gudule (wiki). I had seen it from the outside, but this was my first time to go in. It was a nice church but my favorite thing was 12 statues of the disciples lining the center aisle. They each carried their respective symbol (of their deaths) and most of them were colored gold which was a cool contrast against the stone statues. You can see two of them on the left of the picture below (left), although you can't see the gold. Another nice thing (lucky timing) was a choir singing with the organ (lower right). That was great!
I tried to visit the museé des beaux arts and this was the first time I've been denied entry to a museum for being "sold out". The ticket desk explained that there is limited space, which I understood. But it was clear there was zero effort to track those that leave. Dare I say, quite European. And another place I tried to visit, the Horta Museum, had a line into the street! Impressive.
I was able to get a few minutes at the Museum van Buuren. This was a cool house and the gardens were in fantastic condition. Above left is the front door - cool design. The little ladybug was my last picture of the day.
Two shots of the house from the garden. Very cool design.
There was still a bunch of stuff to see, but I ran out of time. I would certainly go back if I get the chance and would recommend it for sure.
- mm -
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