Mussels in Brussels

Rue des Bouchers is a narrow cobbled street near Grand Place which is lined with somewhat expensive restaurants. On this narrow, gastronomic street, the restaurant doors are always open and, at the first sign of sun, tables and chairs line the alley.

On display lie mussels, lobsters and oysters, all nicely decorated, awaiting hungry tourists.

Also adding to the beauty of the road are elegantly dressed waiters (one from each restaurant) who try to entice customers with details about the gastronomic delights being served inside.

The Atomium represents a unit cell of an iron crystal (body-centred cubic), magnified 165 billion times.

The 103 metre tall structure designed by architect André Waterkeyn for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (Expo '58) was initially planned to last only six months.

It consists of nine steel spheres 18 metres in diameter connected via tubes with escalators as long as 35 m (These are amongst the longest escalators in Europe).

One of the original ideas for Expo '58 was to build an upside-down version of the Eiffel tower.