Bergen's Worldwide Adventures: Brussels, Belgium

Brussels is the capital of Belgium, and is known for it's combination of medieval and renaissance landmarks side-by-side with modern skyscrapers.

The streets are overhung with tram wires and the sky is grey.

Cranes build skyscrapers as ancient landmarks molder.

Every Cathedral in Europe is grander than the last.

Botanical gardens, the library, and various important buildings

The museum of musical instruments! The metalwork on the building is super intricate, interspersed with music notes and symbols.

Three levels plus the top floor special exhibit. I spent three hours inside and still didn't have nearly enough time.

Exhibits had examples of different types of instruments and an audioguide with samples of music from that instrument. So. Cool.

Brussels at sunset from the top floor of the museum.

Lol waffles in the vending machine.

#Belgium

By FAR the coolest thing about Brussels was the Atomium.

Built originally in 1958 for the World Fair, it's 92 meters tall. That's almost 302 feet!

The structure is an Iron atom blown up 165 billion times

After taking a lift up to the top sphere (the lift was once the fastest in the world)

You get some pretty great views of Brussels from above

There was a marathon happening the same day, hence all the neon joggers

There's a theme part across the train tracks called Mini-Europe, which is probably cool, but is also expensive. So I'll just have to go to the real places instead!

So in 1958 when it was built, it was a really big deal and was supposed to symbolize nuclear peace

It was also originally built to be temporary, like the rest of the pavilions

After the fair, the building became such an iconic part of Brussel's image that they really couldn't justify tearing it down

So they refurbished it in the 90s and have a whole display inside. You go up escalators and down stairs through the connecting shafts between spheres.