Day 5 - Atomium

A relaxing morning started with Jack and Jan taking the kids to the bakery for fresh rolls and some doughnuts.  Anja and Jan then served us a German feast with smoked salmon, salami, many cheeses, soft boiled eggs and rolls.  They introduced us to smoked salmon with horseradish and Belgian Speculoos spread.  You know those delicious, ginger-and-cinnamon cookies you get on the airlines (at least Delta)?  Well, it comes in a spread like peanut butter and it is scrumptious.  The kids were very entertained by the eierschalensollbrunchstellenverursacher (soft-boiled-egg cracker), a marvel of German engineering and a lot of fun. A wonderful, leisurely start to a fun day.

After brunch we headed to the Atomium.  It was build for the 1958 World's Fair.  It stands 335 feet tall and has 9 steel spheres connected to from the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times.

Each sphere had a special exhibit about the building and fair.  Some facts from the '58 World's Fair:  8 babies born on the premises, 50,000 pints of beer sold in one day at a cafe and 30,000 people got sick.  The kids had a great time going from one exhibit to the next.  They really enjoyed going up the escalator that had lights and music like a ride at an amusement park.  We ended at the top with a panoramic view of Brussels.  

On the way home Jackson and Kai convinced the dads to stop at Maxi toys to get Pokemon cards in French.  Later we (all but Anja) went to visit our other friends Julia and Chris.  Chris and Julia were gracious hosts.  It was a short but lovely visit with more Brussels beer, sausage from Corsica which Grace and Amely liked and cheese dipped in truffle oil.  Anja didn't come because she was preparing a very delicious dinner that included grilled beef, chicken and lamb, corn salsa, tomato salsa/salad, rosemary potatoes and grilled vegetables.  It tasted great!  For dessert we had dark and white chocolate fondue....Yum was all Jackson and Grace could say.  Additionally we sampled chocolates from Neuhaus, another Belgian chocolatier.