seekingmygreaterperhaps

Going to the Beijing National Stadium and the Water Cube, where the 2008 Beijing Olympics were held filled me with glee. I’m a swimmer, and a huge Olympics fan, so being in the same place where Michael Phelps became the greatest Olympian of all time was honestly pretty cool.

Weather being weather, it rained the entire time we were out, but if I’ve learned anything about myself while traveling, it’s that sometimes you have to put up with a little rain if you want to see anything cool. And apart from walking across Olympic Park, the majority of the time we were inside. The silver lining.

There I am, standing in front of the Bird’s Nest, a.k.a. the National Stadium. I learned that in Chinese culture, circle’s represent water, and squares represent land and the two together give off good vibes. I thought it was ironic that the water symbol was the stadium for the land events, and the land symbol was the stadium for the water events, but then again, that is probably the entire purpose.

We went on a tour and Frannie translated for us the entire time. Apparently the Chinese people on the tour were grumpy and saying we took away from their touring experience. Let’s be honest, the Americans probably embarassed ourselves in someway and they got a good story out of it to take back to their family. We’ve all been there. The tour took us upstairs where we looked at some of the props they used in the opening ceremonies of the Olympics and we learned a little bit about why they chose them. Nope, I can’t remember a thing, because I wasn’t paying attention. Typical. I do remember them talking about the Zodiac and how tickets were sold based on the year you were born, so you would end up sitting with people the same Zodiac sign as you. (I could also be making this up, but I’m vaguely certain it’s correct.)

We went on a VIP tour… with about 50 other people. It was completely in Chinese, but it was fun to walk around the VIP area. The best part was the bathroom. It had western toilets with toilet paper, doors, soap to wash your hands, and paper towels. That’s how you know we really were in VIP. Another fun part of the tour was putting on shoe covers so we wouldn’t mess up the carpet. I accidentally grabbed baby sizes, and they looked real funny on my giant feet.

Next stop- the Water Cube! The entrance is on the complete other side from where the entrance to the stadium is, which makes no sense to me planning wise. Regardless, we made it inside. Hehe.

There’s a panorama of the inside! I liked the inside quite much. It was surreal to be in the same spot where Phelps won all the gold. I remember watching the Olympics and the camera turning to his parent’s sitting in the stands when he won and their reactions of joy and pride. That was right here, in this very natatorium. Or at least this was the part that was open to the public.

I’m a happy little swimming fan. And Frannie is next to me- who knows what she was thinking haha.

I have been blessed to be able to go to 2 international Olympic Stadiums- London and Beijing, and they haven’t let me down. Maybe my next stop is Rio… who knows.