DAY 29: BRUSSELS

I SPLIT an atom today.

Well, technically, I went inside an atom today ... at Brussels' Atomium.

Atomium was built for the 1958 exposition in Brussels but has since become the symbol of the Belgium capital.

The nine spheres rise from the ground to 102m, with a total weight including connecting tubes housing escalators of 2,500,000 kg.

The massive construction was renovated in 2006, adding 100,000 kg to the 1958 weight.

Each sphere is 18m in diameter, with a surface area of 240sqm. Each tube is 29m from edge to edge.

The high-speed lift takes 90 seconds to climb to the Level 7 360-degree panorama room which offers enchanting views of the National Basilica of Sacre Coeur, the Little Europe tourist attraction, the American Theatre and city skyline among other landmarks.

Atomium certainly has the wow factor today and must have seemed like light years away from reality in 1958.

Part-architectural icon, part-creative sculpture, the city-like complex is straight out of a Jetsons cartoon with spheres dedicated to eating, educating and doing business (though I reckon it would make a great mini-hotel).

Atomium was the vision of engineer André Waterkeyn with interiors by architects André and Jean Polak. 

What the Eiffel Tower is to Paris, Atomium is to Brussels. 

While we discovered many more intriguing aspects of the city on our hop-on hop-off bus tour, the city had us at "hello". Well, at least from the moment the taxi driver from the train station dropped us at the edge of a square, told us to head to the white building and turn left.

What opened up before us was an amazing historical, architectural and social meeting place. 

Grand Place is misnamed because it should be called Grandest Place or The Most Grandest Place Ever. The mesmerising fortress of buildings is jaw-dropping ... and we soon realised our Hotel Saint-Michel was part of it all.

After paying our respects to the Maneken Pis - the much-visited statue of a naked little boy weeing (and hubbie still doesn't get the attraction or why the statue is often dressed in tiny costumes), we simply had to forget the expense and dine here amid the grandeur.

Lesson of the day: Getting your head around history, blue-bloodlines, who married whom,  and which century goes with which monarch in which country is definitely something that can't be learned in Europe 101. It should be learned from a young age, recited and regurgitated over and over again, and revisited often. You pick up bits and pieces but historical-dates overload is a very real affliction.

Nude men at window count: now stands at 2