Meag: We obviously had to have waffles for breakfast today, but these ones had a delicious twist. It was Eggs Benedict on waffles! Ugh. So good. And a little salad on the side, because we’re health-conscious people. Somehow after three months of staring at each other’s faces, we haven’t run out of things to talk about. So it was a very lovely breakfast.

We had a couple things we wanted to see that were out of the city centre, so we figured we’d get them both done today. Half an hour on the train later and we arrived at what appeared to be the outskirts of Brussles. Walking across the highway overpass we read the “Please come again soon!” sign and realized just how far out we’d come. Then we turned around a corner and in the distance loomed the Atomium. Where the Manneken Pis was surprisingly small even when we were expecting it to be small, the Atomium was surprisingly big even with our big expectations. The giant silver balls of the Atomium reflected the clouds and the bright blue sky. This is one of the things we haven’t really researched before seeing, so we walked up to it and kept asking ourselves “Why?” Once inside (we didn’t even know we could go inside!), we learned the answer to our big “Why” question – it was built as part of the 1958 World Expo in Brussels. The exhibit talked all about the design of the Atomium and the Expo, too. We perused the displays and took in the view from the top floor before heading down to check out our next stop for the day.

Sav: Mini-Europe! The exact opposite of the Atomium. It was a very large collection of very small models of landmarks from all over the EU. We thought Westminster Abbey was particularly hilarious, not only because of the size being surprisingly large for a scale model, but because they had added a bunch of little Brexit protesters outside of it with a sign saying that it would remain on display until Brexit took effect, at which time the model would be removed. ‘Mini-Europe + UK’ doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. We also loved seeing model versions of the Szechenyi Baths we went to in Budapest, and some of the churches we’ve come across in our travels so far.

We kind of thought that coming to Europe on the off-season would be good because there would be less people and line-ups and crowds… But we did not expect there to be almost nobody. Apparently early December is not a popular tourist time for Brussels! It felt like the zombie apocalypse had hit and we just missed the news this morning. There was almost nobody in the grounds, and there were very few people at our next stop. The Harry Potter Exhibition!

We happily had found out while buying our tickets for Atomuim that the HP exhibition turned out to be next door, so why not go?!

Meag: But first we had to confirm with the staff that there were no end of the book spoilers in the exhibition, because somebody (Savanna) hasn’t read the sixth or seventh books yet. Sav was hand-flappy excited and I was very excited too waiting in line to go in! I use the word ‘line’ loosely here – as Sav said it was very empty – we were behind three people. In we went, and then immediately up to the sorting hat where I was sorted into Gryffindor! This only made me all the more excited to check out the rest of the exhibit. There were a whole bunch of costumes and props, my favourite being the dress Hermione wore to the Yule Ball. We also tried our hands at pulling mandrakes, and as to be expected they let out a loud squeal. We had a lot of fun in here. I really enjoyed rediscovering small details I’d forgotten over the years since I’ve read the books and watched the movies. The exhibition got to a point though where I had to say “Nope, Savanna look away! Spoilers ahead!” I think though that we managed to get her through there without ruining anything. (S: I completely understand that it’s ridiculous that I don’t know the story yet. I’m working on it. I don’t know how it hasn’t been spoiled.)

After the Atomium, Mini-Europe and the Harry Potter exhibition, we were still giggling and up for more. We had our eye on a particular kind of crêpe at the Christmas market, so on the train we hopped. It was very tasty. We still haven’t had any French fries yet, which were invented in Belgium, so we hunted around the market for these. They were nowhere to be found!

S: Unfortunately Belgian fries will have to wait till tomorrow. We got some gourmet bagels at the Winter Market and sat on the steps of the gorgeous Christmas light-covered Stock Exchange building, chatting away about our travels. To keep up with the advent calendar we stopped at a candy stall on the way home and bought original flavoured ‘boules de neiges’ which is like a little icing sugar cookie covered in soft cocoa and more icing sugar. Sugar sugar sugar.

S&M

(S: side-story – I applied for a few jobs back in Canada today, and had that horrifying thought that all new graduates have. Am I actually educated in this? Did any of that knowledge actually stay in my head? What jobs am I qualified for? Is Pillsbury looking for a new mascot?

Just kidding. Sort of.)