After spending a lot of wonderful times in both Amsterdam and Volendam, it is time to venture out to another city in Europe. We are going to Paris but on the way, our tour group will make a quick sightseeing at Brussels, the capital of Belgium. Since we were taking coach from Amsterdam to Brussels, the whole journey took approximately three hours. If you opt to travel by train, you can cut the travelling hours by half, at only one and a half hours. After three hours of highway road (with nothing to see in between), we have finally seen a city.
Our Eurotrip happened in June and hence, the nice bright and clear summer sky in Brussels city. In a glance, Brussels looks like an industrial city. Since we still have one hour before our appointed lunch time, our tour guide informed us that he will bring us to see one of the most famous symbol of Brussels.
All the physic lover rejoice, we have arrived at the Atomium. The famous symbol of Brussels is one the most popular sightseeing object in Belgium. The Atomium can be visited by tourists but we only had time to do a quick photo-spot despite the one hour time gap. There is a restaurant at the top sphere of the Atomium called the Panoramic Restaurant. It must be a great experience to eat there. Oh well, maybe next time. U_U.
On the way to our lunch venue, we also saw a lot of historical building. The Belgian government keep a proper maintenance of the old historical buildings in Brussels. That's why it is common to see old churches being restored. While the restoration is in progress, a sheet with the picture of how the building is supposed to look like will be put up on the area which needs restoration. Creative idea, I must say.
Right at the next turn, there is another old church which looks very majestic under the white clouds. This is the Church of Our Lady of Laeken. Wikipedia says that it is a neo-Gothic Roman Catholic Church in Laeken, Brussels. The church was constructed in the memory of Queen Louise-Marie, wife of King Leopold I. It also served as a mausoleum for her.
Other than the old historical churches, Brussels also has a lot of vacant office buildings. I thought our tour leader was joking when he told us about this. But when we look around, there are really a lot of vacant office space for sale or rent. Economy downturn?
Pretty much an interesting sightseeing journey of Brussels so far. Can't wait to see what are we going to see once we have filled our tummy.
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