Brussels, Belgium (Mini-Europe)

This weekend we decided to head to Belgium to check out their Flower Carpet!  On the way there we stopped by Mini-Europe to let the kids burn off some energy....

Mini Europe awesome!  It's located just outside of Brussels and shares a huge parking area (5 EUR per day) with the water park Oceade and the Atomium.

The Atomium was built for the World Fair in 1958 and is the most popular
tourist attraction in Brussels.  You can enter 5 of the spheres and go up to the
Panorama (top sphere at 92m) for views of Brussels and a meal at their restaurant.
At night the spheres lit up for a really cool light show!

A unique experience!  Mini-Europe is above all an "invitation to travel."  The chimes of Big Ben, the gondolas in front of the Doge's Palace, the Grand-Place in Brussels, the Acropolis...an animated tour with visual and sound effects of 350 miniatures and attractions that you won't find anywhere else.

"Belgium Oil Rig:  Energy is of vital importance for the development of the European Union.
The petroleum sector represents 46% of the overall consumption and 20% of the overall energy
production within the European Union.  The drilling platform is equipped with two
mobile drilling shafts, two mobile cranes, and two torches."

Experience all kinds of working models.  Be surprised by the eruption of Vesuvius or the fall of the Berlin wall, watch the launch of Ariane V and marvel at many other working models, for both young and old!

The best miniature park in Europe!  All the monuments have been recreated down to the smallest detail.  Big Ben is 4 m high.  With it's height of 13 m, the Eiffel Tower projects above a 3-story building!  And yet all the buildings are on a scale of 1 to 25.

"The piazza del Duomo or Campo del Miracoli is THE attraction in Pisa.
The Campanile, 55 m in height, which is better known as "The Leaning Tower,"
has never been straight since it's construction.  By trying to correct their defensive work,
its builders gave it the effect of a banana.  It has recently been stabilized after undergoing
intensive work.  The model is made entirely of small marble blocks and weighs 800 kg."

"More so than any other buildings, the Spire Cathedral recalls the era of the German emperors.
For three centuries it was the imperial burial church of the Salian and Hohenstaufian emperors.
Today, this cathedral is Germany's largest Romanesque monument.  Typical features are the
geometric and clearly distinct sections joined together in the majestic and balanced whole.
The miniature gallery under the roof, which was added at the end of the 11th century, betrays Lombardic influences."

It was a wonderful experience and totally worth the 28 EUR for our family to enter.  (You can also get combination tickets for Oceade and the Atomium but we didn't have time this trip).  There is also a nice little indoor/outdoor cafeteria for lunch/snacks and they give you a great pocket guide (in German and English) to use as you walk around.  It was fun "seeing" all the places we have been too and all the places we have yet to explore!

Our next stop, downtown Brussels for the Flower Carpet!