Olympic Village

May 10

Today we have decided to be a little less inclined toward the historical parts of Beijing and focus instead on something a bit lighter for the kids to sink their teeth into….enter the Olympic Village.  We get going the same as yesterday…coffee on the 6^th floor, fruit from the local stand and pastries for our lady on the corner.  We get to try out our hand at the metro system today and are all up for the challenge.  We make our way to the corner of Tiananmen Square to metro stop Qianmen and find that we have to make several changes in order to arrive on the outskirts of Beijing at the Olympic Village.  We take the #2 to the #5 to the #10 to the #8 trains before emerging into the most dismal looking sky you have every seen….and this is a normal day in smog filled Beijing! We walk along and find ourselves at the “Bird’s Nest” or Track and Field Stadium.  After paying our entrance fee, we walk inside to find that the facility is being used this day as an equestrian competition.  The whole place is a bit deserted and it is too bad that they have not found a more viable option for utilizing these wonderful spaces.  We spend a long time here watching clips from the 2008 Olympic Games and Opening Ceremony.  We had forgotten some of the more interesting moments from the Olympics and it is nice to see it again.  We wander through the stadium watching the event and trying to understand the scoring of the jumping competition.  We get up our nerve and climb to the highest point in the stadium before departing and heading over to the “Water Cube” where Michael Phelps won his eight gold medals.  This place is amazing too and had we understood that there is now a water park inside the Olympic pool complex, we would have come better prepared to have fun in the water.  We check out the pool and the huge diving boards before going back to the metro for our labyrinthine ride back to our neck of the woods. We return to our lunchtime restaurant and since we are already familiar with the menu, we are prepared to order once we are seated.  Another great meal before heading home to rest up.  We are so exhausted from walking around that we sleep for quite a while before making a half-hearted attempt at an evening meal.  We walk next door to our “smiley” lady and have a snack before returning to the comfort of our room.