Day 4, Wednesday 09.17.08

We woke up early enough today to nab some breakfast at the Queen Anne. Simple, yet yummy. Some of the best tomatoes Chris has every tasted. Seriously. Eggs, bacon, cheese, tomatoes, cold cuts, bread. These tomatoes rock.



Then it was the metro over to Cantillon Brewery for a tour of their establishment. Cantillon makes traditional lambic beer; spontaneous fermentation. Yeast is not added directly by the brewer. Wild yeast in the air and building fall into the beer and fermentation begins this way. Consequently, so none of the ambient yeasts are destroyed, there isn't a whole lot of cleaning going on. Cobwebs galore! Dusty barrels everywhere! Samples after the tour, with REALLY stinky beers to try. A mere five employees work here. A family business. Five employees. Incredible.

From here, another metro ride into town for a tour of the European Union Parliament. But first, lunch. An Italian restaurant (the best in Brussels) called Il Pasticcio, a loud bustling spot with complimentary wine that will grow hair on your chest. A 3:00 tour of the EU Parliament calls, so we make our way over. Headphones for everybody, all EU countries represented if you'd like to hear a different language. The tour was rather boring and bland, but the photo op was nifty:

Another metro ride way, way, way out of town was next to the Atomium, a gigantic model of an iron crystal. Brussels hosted the 1958 World's Fair, and the 50th anniversary of this structure was marvelous. But before entering the Atomium, there was...

THE PAVILLION OF TEMPORARY HAPPINESS!








A building made up completely of plastic beer cases. An expo of the 1958 World's Fair and the vision of the future people had. An oddity to say the least, but a novel concept nonetheless.














From here, up into the Atomium for a nifty view of Brussels. All throughout the orbs of the stucture were panels and exhibits concerning the 1958 World's Fair, so of course we read them all. Escalators, stairs, and an elevator to take us throughout the Atomium. Pretty cool.

Back into town on the metro to a hotel down the street from ours, the Hotel Metropole, which was mentioned in the Belgian Beer Guide as a place to hit for elegance and decadence. We got another salami and cheese plate, along with a Belle-Vue Kriek Extra, another tart sour one. Then a quick walk to Grand Place for another waffle and more chocolate shopping. We ended the night with a nightcap kriek at Les Brasseurs de la Grand Place brewpub.