ooooooh aaaaaaaahtomium

   Slideshow Pictures

On his last day in Belgium (after the boys Romania trip) Shane was keen to visit the Atomium, apparently, the most astonishing building in the world. This 335 feet structure symbolises a crystallised molecule of iron magnified 150 thousand million times by the scale of its atoms. It took about 15000 workers three years to build, for the 1958 Brussels World Fair. While it is quite interesting to read about, I had some reservations as to how interesting it would be to visit - how is one entertained when one is inside an atom?

Whether it was due to school holidays, semi-recent re-opening, or some other freak reason, there was a sizeable queue when we arrived. It took about an hour to get to the front of the queue to pay for entry and get into the 'astonishing' lift. The lift ceiling was clear, so as we moved upwards you could be astounded by the speed. It really wasn't that fast, and definitely didn't last for that long. From the lift exit level, we could meander up and down stairs into the different balls. We quickly realised that it may have been more fun to be at Mini Europe which tantalised us through the windows.

Having had well enough of it all, and keen to get Shane to the Eurostar, we decided it was time to go. Unfortunately trying to leave also meant a 20 minute wait in the elevator queue. Potential visitors should pay close attention to these pictures, as its unlikely we will be returning there in a hurry.