Sightseeing day in Brussels
During my first odyssey to Europe, I chose Belgium as one of the countries to visit. I stayed in the country’s capital city – Brussels. Although it is relatively small when it comes to land area, it is of great power and significance in world affairs. Brussels is a cosmopolitan city that hosts several of the EU’s official seats and is the headquarters of many major international organizations such as NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and WCO (World Customs Organization), among others.
Plus, it is also the birthplace of one of my personal favourite actresses, Audrey Hepburn, who starred in films such as Roman Holiday, My Fair Lady, and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I also found out later that some of the famous English Premier League players are actually from Brussels and from other parts of Belgium namely: Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, to name a few.
I decided to visit Brussels for two days. I thought a short break like this should be enough for a sightseeing tour to feed my curiosity as to what this city looked like. I got so excited to start my first day of exploration that I joined the earlier sightseeing city bus that would take me to the city’s famous landmarks. One of which is a visit to the Atomium, the landmark building in Brussels. It was originally constructed for the 1958 Brussels World Fair (Expo 58).
Located on the Heysel Plateau, where the exhibition took place, it is now a museum. It was designed by Engineer André Waterkeyn and architects André and Jean Polak. This iconic building stands 102 metres (335 feet) tall and has nine 18-metre (60 feet) diameter stainless-steel-clad spheres that are connected to form a shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times.
There are stairs, escalators, and a lift to allow access to the five habitable spheres. It has exhibit halls, souvenir shops, other public spaces, as well as a restaurant on the top sphere that offers a panoramic view of the city. Apparently, Atomium was named as Europe’s most bizarre building and is one of the most weird and wonderful buildings in the world. Click here to learn more about Atomium.
One of the things I was curious to see when in Brussels was the Manneken Pis. But I was surprised to find out later that actually it’s just a small statue that I almost missed while we were passing the area.
Manneken Pis is a famous landmark in the city. It is a small sculpture that is 61 centimetres in height. It depicts a naked little boy urinating into a fountain’s basin and is the best-known symbol of the people of Brussels. It also embodies their sense of humor and their independence of mind. The statue on display is a copy that dates from 1965.
I like that statue though, it’s so cute. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to take nice photos. Anyway, just click here to see more details about the Manneken Pis.
More details about my visit to Belgium can be found in my book entitled INSPIRED TO TRAVEL; TRAVEL TO INSPIRE – A TRAVEL MEMOIR available on Amazon.com, as well as Barnes and Noble websites.
