The first time we saw the Bird's Nest was on our ride to the hotel after we arrived on Sunday. One week later the conference participants visited the Olympic Park.

Our tour began with the National Aquatics Center or Water Cube. It is a magnificent building. The bubbles on the walls reminded me of Voronoi diagrams (yes, that's a math thing). The building is translucent and reflective at the same time. It was a beautiful day and the color of the Water Cube matched the sky so that with a little imagination, it was as though you were just looking at a gigantic free-standing net.

While we were waiting to enter, we watched four Olympic mascots take pictures with children (for a small fee, of course). The Water Cube is surrounded by water flowing in a narrow moat. Inside the building are additional fountains. The interior at the entrance is stark white with bubbles carved into the walls and ceiling. There were many tourists, but they did not diminish the beauty of this building.

While sitting in the stands, it was hard not to imagine being there watching while Michael Phelps wins Olympic gold again and again and again and again and again and again and again. Dan was actually quite emotional remembering the August events.

The hallway below separating the main pool from the practice pool reminded me of the Long Corridor at the Summer Palace. The Water Cube is dazzling.

Our next stop was the National Stadium or Bird's Nest. This is certainly a sight to behold. The stadium is huge and the random mesh on the outside captures your eye.

Once we were inside, we did not feel like the stadium is as big as we thought it would be. We were able to wander freely around the stands and onto the field. Some structures were on the field that appeared to be from some kind of event. There were also people selling photographs of tourists digitally inserted into Olympic scenes.

The field was covered with thick, protective mats. However, the mats were separating in a few areas and the Olympic track was exposed. Ben is pictured with us below.

	Dan always tries to get interesting angles when he takes pictures. Here he is attempting to fit the entire uncovered roof into a single frame (photo above). Outside we were able to spot the Olympic cauldron laying on its side on top of the Bird's Nest.

The park around the Bird's Nest and Water Cube is immense. There are several other buildings including the indoor stadium and the tower pictured below. (Dan and Abby see a tower. . . Must climb! Alas, tourists were not allowed in this one.) The park also includes vast open spaces, food and souvenir kiosks, and many large statues.

One side of the Olympic Park is flanked by a very large hotel built for the 2008 events. We were told that this is classified as a seven-star hotel and is designed to look like a dragon. The oddly shaped  highest structure of the hotel has large video screens on the sides and was a landmark while driving to tell us when we were near the Olympic Park. Following the feng shui of the city, the Olympic Park aligns North-South with the main aisle of the Forbidden City several miles away.

We still had Sunday afternoon available to us before we had to repack all that we brought and all that we acquired. Of the "top 10" from the guide book, we had so far seen 9 plus the Olympic Park*. So, we decided to make our way to the Lama Temple. After a brief, generally positive experience with the subway earlier in the week, we decided to try it ourselves. The entrance to the subway at the Olympic Park was itself a grand site to see. There was a large temple-shaped entrance followed by interesting sculptures of musical instruments. The subway was no problem at all, even though we had two transfers. One thing we felt throughout our

entire trip was that we reaped the benefits of the Olympics having been in Beijing without having to deal with the hassles, people, and expense of the Olympics. *The book was written before the Olympic games, but it does contain a supplement to aid today's tourist. Certainly the Olympic center would make the top 10 on anyone's list of Beijing. Our vote would be to replace the Ming Tombs if they don't want to make it a book about the "top 11."

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