The Manneken Pis Tour
Day 5: Mini Europe, The Atomium
and Central Brussels.

On the last day of the trip we had until late afternoon until we had to catch the Eurostar back, so decided to see a little more of Brussels. First we headed over to the sight of the Expo 58. Sadly 50 years to late to try some of the rides that were at the Expo. We did though have a chance to see Mini Europe and the Atomium. After this we headed back in to Brussels itself for a little more sightseeing.

This is an entertainment village in the Expo area, it has a cinema, water park and a load of restaurants.

It's also the home to Mini Europe. The sign at the entrance of here called this a theme park, which if you ask me takes some audacity. It's a collection of scale models of famous landmarks in Europe. A bit like Miniland at Legoland, but it doesn't have the fun humorous touches, or the fun of being made out of lego.

This is the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen. You know I've been to Copenhagen 3 times now and I've never seen that statue.

They've put these models in the Scandinavia section. It strikes me odd that a place that promote European unity in it's brochures and signs would allow a cheap stereotype like this in it.

This is the closest they have to a ride in here, a model of a Ferris wheel. It doesn't mention a specific wheel it's based on anywhere, so I think it's just a generic wheel.

This one shows the Grand Place in Brussels. Just in case you haven't seen it already.

Another shot of the Grande Place model.

Amsterdam doesn't really have any stand out landmarks (at least suitable for a family audience) so the models is of a group of houses.

One good thing is all the models are on the same 25:1 scale, so you can compare the various monuments by size. You realise how tall the Eiffel Tower is, or how large the Houses of Parliament are compared to other landmarks.

This model represents a typical English village, although I spotted two things wrong with it. There was still a post office open, and the independent family shop hadn't been taken over by a Tescos Express.