The summer continues and on Sunday I took the public transport out to the impressive Atomium. It is located in the Heysel Park where you also find Heysel Stadium which after the disaster in 1985 (where 39 specators were killed at an European Cup finale) was rebuilt and renamed to king Baudouin Stadium. The area also contains Brussels main exhibition center.
Other interesting places you find at Heysel is a large movie theatre (Kinepolis), a park which hosts miniature models of famous European buildings (Mini-Europe), a subtropical water park (Océade) and a planetarium. A lot to see and do.
Atomium
The Atomium was built in the 1958 for the Brussels World Fair. It is 102 meters high. It has nine steel spheres connected so that the whole forms the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times.
Tubes connect the spheres along the 12 edges of the cube and all eight vertices to the center. They enclose escalators connecting the spheres containing exhibit halls and other public spaces. The top sphere provides a panoramic view of Brussels. Each sphere is 18 metres in diameter. Initially it could easily topple over by strong winds and after windtunnel tests it was quickly reinforced. It was Sunday and a nice day so the queue was very long and I decided to save the view until another time. There a several parks in the area, perfect for a picnic and a lay down in the grass on a sunny afternoon.
This weekend I also went for a run with the Brussels Hash House Harriers, you can see where on this map provided by EveryTrail:
Brussels Hash at EveryTrail
This is a beautiful part of the Foret Soignes called Enfants Noyés, and is just a small portion of the large forrest mentioned in my earlier blogs.
Enfant Noyés, Foret Soignes
There are a lot of restaurants in Brussels, one of the more well-known is Falstaff just by the Beurse. In 1886, Baron Allard built his twin homes in street Henri Maus. At this time the Senne river flew across the centre of Brussels at the place of the Anspach Road, 50 meters away from Falstaff.
Restaurant Falstaff
In 1903, one of the homes was converted to a Weinstube called Falstaff. The decoration is heavily influenced by Horta and his Art Nouveau style.
Take a look at the two windows in the back. Although separated by only 10 years these two picture windows is why Falstaff is the best place in Belgium to understand the transition from Art Nouveau to Art Déco. The name Falstaff came from Sir John Falstoff, diplomate and British Captain and the name Falstaff is also a comic character in several of Shakespeare’s plays.
Falstaff provides good service, decent food and not too expensive. On Saturday evening, when I had my meal there, latin tunes were heard from a small band playing inside.
The beer this week is one of the strongest in Belgium, Bush Amber, that contains 12% alcohol! This is maybe a little bit too much as you can actually taste the alcohol. This is not like the trappist beers that hides its percentage in a sophisticated taste experience.
Bush Amber
The Bush beers is not even close to the trappist beers and has a bitter sweet taste. Drinkable but not any of my favourites. Its amber colour is due to the use of caramel malt in the production process. Bush is brewed by Dubuisson although the name Bush is registered in several countries they missed it in some countries. They had to register the beer under the name of Scaldis?. Dubuisson now have 10 different beers to choose between. They even have a Christmas brew that goes up to 13%!
Coming weeks:
- EU continued
- In search for the best beer (an on-going quest for the perfect pint)
- More seafood
- Cheese
- Parks
- Culture
- Markets
- Politics
Facts of the week;
Drink; Bush Amber, 12%
Point of Interest: Heysel Park and Atomium
Location; Restaurant and Café Falstaff, at the Beurse
