Bruparck and the Atomium, Brussels

Two of the more unique destinations in Brussels are a short train ride outside of town. They are right next to each other: The Atomium and Bruparck.

The Atomium was built for the World's Fair of 1958. In an age of science and space travel, designer Andre Waterkeyn was inspired to make the world's largest iron atom!

Atomium, Brussels

It is approximately 165 billion times the size of a normal iron atom. This size (325 feet tall) allows escalators to connect the nine spheres, which house exhibition rooms. The top sphere is a restaurant with a fine view. We didn't go inside but were amazed at the size of the structure.

We headed over to Bruparck, a theme park under the shadow of the Atomium. The park contains Mini-Europe with scale models of famous European landmarks (which will get its own post), Oceade water park, a massive movie theater complex, and a variety of restaurants and smaller rides.

We had lunch at one of the restaurants, which was unremarkable except for the dessert included in the kid's meal. We finally had a Kinder Egg! American readers probably haven't heard about these since they are illegal to send to the States. The eggs are chocolate on the outside with a small toy on the inside. The chocolate coating goes over a plastic egg that contains the toy. The US government's objection is that the candy contains a "non-nutritive object," but you'd have to be especially thick-headed or inattentive to eat the middle accidentally. The kids enjoyed it.

The orange ovoid is the plastic egg in question

The area reuses the World's Fair grounds, giving it a colorful feel. It's easy to imagine large crowds wandering through.

A variety of restaurants in the park

They even had a playground, which made J and L happy. The pirate boat was a little too popular, so we switched over to the carousel.

Pirate ship!

The carousel

J and L ride!

Next up, Mini-Europe!