Atomium and European Parliament

The Atomium of Brussels

For the next day I hadn't set up an alarm but anyway I woke up at 8 a. m. Because it was quite noisy outside. I had a small breakfast with the food I had bought the evening before and got ready for my second day in Brussels. There was no window to see how the weather looked like, but I knew that it was quite nice because it was bright in the apartment.

I left the house and went to the metro station in the city centre and had to get to the parking where I had left my car before. I didn't want to leave it there one more night because it was about 18 euros and I had seen a parking right in front of my apartment which was free on Sundays. So, I got there, paid the 18 euros and went back to my apartment by car, with help of my GPS. Fortunately, everyone was still sleeping so the parking was free when I arrived, and I could leave my car there. Then, it was about 10 a. m. I could start my way to the Atomium. It was quiet in the streets and there was almost nobody walking around already because it was Sunday and I guess most of them have been out the last night and were still sleeping. But I didn't care and walked into the metro station. Because of the small metro system in Brussels it was quite easy to figure out how to get to the Atomium and after 20 minutes in the train I arrived. I got out of the underground station and there it was - the Atomium. It looked a bit funny, but I liked it.

I had to walk about 15 minutes before I arrived at the grass before the landmark. I definitely wanted to go inside even if there were a lot of people queuing up for the tickets and also for entering the Atomium. But I was alone, I had time and the weather was okay, so I waited. After 25 minutes I had my ticket and went to the queue in front of the building. It was boring to wait, but I passed my time watching all the people that were waiting with me and finally, after 45 or 60 minutes I was in the elevator that would bring me to the top of the Atomium. I was excited because the structure of the building was so special, and I couldn't imagine what I would find inside.

At the top it was like at the top of the Eiffel tower - there were windows all around and one could have a nice panoramic view over Brussels and everything that was around it. I took some pictures and tried to see some buildings or sights I'd already seen but it was hard from that position. So, I wanted to get down to see the other things - the Atomium is divided into 8 platforms and each has a special exhibition to visit.

Before being able to get to the other platforms one had to go down with the elevator again. But having arrived at the ground level I was a bit confused because there was not really a sign where to get to the other floors and finally, I found myself outside. That was not good, because there was only one entrance - the one with the large queue of people waiting for the elevator to get to the 8th floor. I was a bit sad and didn't know what to do, because I had paid 8 euros for the entrance and really wanted to see all the other things. Finally, I found a person working at the Atomium and asked him if there was another possibility to get to the other floors again without queuing up. He was very nice and opened one of the "Personal only" doors for me so that I could get inside without waiting for hours again.

I discovered the different floors of the Atomium which were filled with quite interesting exhibitions, mostly themed Expo because the building had been built for that occasion. It was interesting to see old postcards, posters, pictures of workers from the Expo 1958 and many other things in relation to the Expo in Brussels. Another floor was filled with a modern design exhibition, showing interesting, mostly orange, furniture and gadgets for living. Some things looked really cool, but it was quite expensive. The other floor was a hotel for children who could sleep there on certain dates during the year in very fancy beds - little balls flying over the ground. I was a bit sad that I was no child anymore because it looked really cool!

The European Parliament

The other floors were not incredibly interesting, but it was okay - from all the waiting I had become very tired so I decided to get outside, on purpose this time. There was a café right next to the Atomium, but it was crowded and expensive for sure, so I went back to the metro station in order to get back to the city centre and look for something to eat there. Because I didn't want to have dinner or lunch in restaurants all the time totally alone, I decided to go to McDonalds for one time. Usually I don't like the food there so much, but it was fast, not that expensive and easy. After I finished, I looked up how to get to the European Parliament and started my way.

It was about 20 minutes by foot until I arrived in front of the large Parliament complex. It looked interesting and very modern and I couldn't stop taking pictures. It took me a while walking around the whole area and seeing all the buildings but finally, I thought that I had seen everything. I found a nice little park next to the entrance and spent some time there before I went back and entered the Parliament Visitors Centre. It was a large building where one could discover everything about the EU and the European Parliament completely for free. It was very new and interactive and really interesting, so I spent a lot of time in there, watching movies, looking at interactive boards, listening to info texts.

The World of Comic Books

When I had finished, I was very tired and hungry again, so I started my way back to the city centre and passed by a supermarket to find something to eat. I didn't walk home directly because it was the last day for me in Brussels and I wanted to discover some comic bookstores again and see some more Street Art places. But after a while it started to rain and became dark, so I returned to the apartment and took a warm shower and ate something. I started to pack my things for the next morning and contacted the owner to tell him when I would probably leave. After that I went to bed, sad about the end of my trip but also excited because only 4 days later I would go to Paris and spend 5 days with my Mum there.

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