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Day 2 concluded: a trip to the Olympic Green Stacy has a great sense of direction, so i wasn't worried about getting lost. and we ended up with a small group that she led on the subway to the Olympic Green it's a very large park area, that's home to several well known sites from the Beijing Olympics: the Birds Nest (Beijing National Stadium), the Water Cube (Beijing National Aquatics Stadium), the Fan (Beijing National Indoor Stadium) , the Speed Skating Oval, the Fields, and the Promenade - home to the Olympic Tower and the Beijing Olympic TV tower. I liked that you could watch the operator of the train at the front of the car, if you chose to do so. stepping out of the Metro station onto the Promenade one of the multiple Olympic Mascots for the 2008 & 2022 Beijing Olympics. the tower in the back is the Olympic Tower (which you can go up to the observation levels) and the closer one is the Ling Long Pagoda (Olympic TV tower) that was used for Broadcasting here's the "Birds Nest". . .it just looks incredible at night and the "Water Cube" - also amazing. . tho now home to car/truck ads on the outside. thanks to Andy for these wonderful pics of the group of us that went to the Olympic Green this night. LOL. . we were trying to do "rings" and now attempting the Olympic Rings. hey. . it was an attempt! loved this sculpture in front of the Water Cube some Winter Olympics Mascot the base of the Ling Long Pagoda is home to a giant "Friendship Store".. . we didn't go in, but seemed to offer a lot of Russian themed things looking at the Bird's Nest from the Field next door (where the outdoor events were held) the Olympic Torch from across the field Anth and I sitting, while others with more energy walked to the Olympic Torch. (I was saving my steps for the Olympic Tower) here's "the Fan" . . where all the gymnastics were held not sure what this one is. . but it was all lit up, so must have been used for something (perhaps the Tennis Center?) walking the Promenade down to the Olympic Tower wasn't too expensive to go up. . and we walked all the way here, no way was I NOT going up. some of the floors have glass panels up here. . . oh my! gahhh!!!! incredible views up here. that blue blur is the speed skating stadium. . the lights on it are amazing. oh wait, that building next to it is the Tennis Stadium a bit overcast / pollution. . but great views of Beijing at night from here Birds Nest and fields on the left straight ahead, Water Cube and the Fan on the right, with convention center next to it. time to say goodbye and head back. . it had been a very long day, lots of steps. and the metro would take us about an hour to get back. it was a little busy, but once we got to the Universal Line? it was a TPR Train Takeover! the metro station at Universal was pretty neon. some folks rushed to get a last drink before everything shut down for the night, but Stacy and I were exhausted. . so one quick stop to ride the "Snail" sculpture in front of Dogfish at City Walk (thanks Sara for the pic!), and then it was back to the hotel for me. signing off with a great pic of Birds Nest from Andy that he shared with the group. he's such a great photographer! back in the room, a shower, and then collapsed into bed and out immediately. tomorrow was another packed day: Most of it would be spent at Happy Valley Beijing, but then some of us were gonna head to Tiananmen Square as our guide had managed to get us tickets to go tomorrow. but for now? sleep! hope you've enjoyed following along. SO MUCH MORE to come in future weeks.

Day 2: Forbidden City, Lunch, and Sun Park! Bonus visit to Olympic park area this night with smaller group too. Day 2 part 1: up and ready to go, but first, breakfast! another character from Despicable Me. . one of the girls, no idea which one tho this time I remembered to snap a pic of some of the food on my plate before diving in and then it was everyone onto the bus, as we headed back into Central Beijing from the Universal Resort area. today was gonna start with Culture, and end with our first "traditional" Chinese park. view of some of the massive clusters of buildings as you approach the outskirts of Beijing this is where it starts to get interesting, as we get into the "inner walls" area of the City, over the Canal guardians. the building on the far left is the Southeast Corner Tower, of the Beijing Ming City Wall. it's over 550 years old, and anchors an area called "Beijing Ming City Wall Ruins Park" - that features an almost 1 mile long section of the Beijing City wall from the Ming Dynasty. we didn't stop to see it, but got a great view of it as we passed it on our way to the nearby Forbidden City. closer view of the southeast corner tower and some snaps of the actual wall, as we drive along side it. the tightening Security is VERY noticeable as we get closer to the Forbidden City Imperial Palace - a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is arguably the most famous palace in all of Chinese history, and is the largest preserved royal palace complex still standing in the world. (per Wikipedia). tour buses and cars are not allowed within a few blocks of the Forbidden City, so a tourism spot has sprung up in the blocks around it, as buses and taxis drop of groups that then walk to the front entrance. so these next pics are walking from the drop off, up to the palace walls. the "fruit on a stick" encased in Sugar seemed to be VERY popular in China, and saw it at every park we went to, and at many street stands. it basically is just fresh fruit and sugar, but it IS very good, and I had it several times. finally approaching the outside (side) wall of the Forbidden City. . tho we still had to go around to the front for entry we'd be heading up this way to go thru the gates around the corner for the main entrance / security screening but this is the inner canal that surrounds the Forbidden City. .the last line of defense against attack other than the high palace walls. TPR listening to facts from our guide about the Forbidden City. walking along the side wall to get to the front entrance it really is quite impressive from the outside. . and once you're inside, it's even more so - with courtyard after courtyard opening up, and seeming to go on for miles! some folks out doing photo shoots off the canal that goes around the Forbidden City still heading towards the main entrance and here are the main gates into the front of the Forbidden City - not into the actual palace, but into the area that gets you into the palace the "Door Nails" that the wonderful Dumpling I had the day before were named after! and NOW we're in the courtyard that serves as the main entrance to the Forbidden City complex. yeah and this was on a TUESDAY!!! just the crowds were impressive this is the security screening line to get it and have tickets scanned thru these main gates, you are then in the Palace grounds our guide, with her "fish on a stick" so we wouldn't lose her in the masses of people! to see it with your own eyes. . truly, you aren't prepared for the sight once you go thru this tunnel. breathtaking and this is just the first, of many, courtyards a quiet back alley off the main square (we had all gone to the side for a bathroom break) the people lined up in these stanchions are for entrance to the building just off to the right, and it's to view the Imperial Jewels. A separate ticket (and wait) was required for that, so we didn't do that on this trip - perhaps a visit back just for that in the future. . .but I saw enough stunning things to not miss at all not going into the Imperial Jewels building. up the stairs and thru these buildings to the next courtyard over the beautiful carved bridges. TPR at the Forbidden City - thanks to Robb for the picture up and thru to the next courtyard. and it's just as breathtaking and awe inspiring as the entry courtyard up the next set of stairs, and we come across flame pots to light and warm the complex and thru to another courtyard. this one including a building with intricate woodwork laced with gold, and containing a throne (it was gated off, but the doors were open to peek in. there were SO many people there tho, I got the best pics I could of said throne) these giant golden / bronze vats that were used to store oil were on either side of many of the "main" buildings in each square. Our guide told me that these are replicas, but they are all so worn from visitors rubbing them for luck. all of the buildings in the Forbidden City complex are beautifully detailed, and have intricate carvings on each corner, that represent many things (that I can't recall, or would share with you) going into the next courtyard - that building way, WAY off in the distance? is part of the complex. . that's how big this palace is. but that far back is not open to the Public, which only can view a portion of the Palace. Oh, it's a HUGE portion of the complex, but not even close to a third of it. stepping down into the next courtyard. it truly is awe inspiring and overwhelming looking down into yet another courtyard, as we made our way thru the areas open to the public this carving up the back side of one of the main buildings in this courtyard is made from just 3 giant pieces of stone. it's incredible. one of the many maps in the Forbidden City. This one just for the Inner court courtyards. our guide specifically wanted to bring us down this way - saying it would be less crowded, as many aren't aware it's here (and she was correct) she wanted to show us into this building/vault that contains some really amazing Jade carvings. just a sampling of the wonderful pieces on display here: and then it was off to the back of the "open to the public" areas - the Imperial Garden area - where the Emperor allowed his Concubines to relax, and play (since they were confined to Imperial Palace grounds) it really was a bit of surprise to turn the corner and find these amazing gardens back here! and with that, we had walked a (mostly) straight line thru the public areas in the Forbidden City, and headed towards the back gate. we were off to have our first group lunch on the trip before heading to the next stop. I am so thankful I got to experience this, it truly is a wonder to see in person. one of the other buildings off in the distance that's part of the Imperial Palace / Forbidden City the back exit gate is just as crowded, but less chaotic than the front entrance an overall map of the palace sections that are open to the public walking back towards the bus. . one final look back at the Forbidden City to be continued. . .

pics from yesterday's visit for "Feliz Fiesta" during Holiday in the Park. (and yes, they got TONS of lights from SFA - I asked and was confirmed that the Texas parks got things from several other parks as well that were no longer doing Holiday in the Park) the park is looking amazing, and the shows remain top notch! Majesty of Christmas, and the Dickens shows alone are worth price of admission, tho all the other shows are great as well. because of Texas Department of Transportation sending out a crapload of warnings about how I10 & Loop 1604 (ie: right were the park is) being closed all weekend for construction, we allowed just over 2 hours for the trip to the park from Austin today. so of course, we were so early that even tho the cones were up, they hadn't started any work yet, and traffic flowed - resulting in us being the first ones at the park, and stopped at the entrance gate. so we took advantage to get out of the car, and snap this pic which typically you only can get while driving by. but after about 15 minutes, the parking gates opened and we headed in (with all the other folks that had backed up behind us). of COURSE, this was right when the Six Flags app decided to update, and that made getting thru the toll booths a nightmare - how nice Six Flags stopped handing out physical (hard card) passes JUST before they updated the app and made it a huge mess to access your digital stuff. note: we did chat with mgmt about this during the day as lots of folks had issues, so it came up. they are aware of issues, and are working on solutions, so "please stand by" anyways, the park looks great. the Day ended up being PERFECT (low 70s after a week of temps in the 40s and 50s), and the construction kept many away from the area, resulting in a very crowd comfortable day. lots and lots of photo ops thru the park. as mentioned, I'm guessing some of them came from other parks no longer doing HitP and no trip to SFFT is complete without a stop in to say hi to "miss Connie" in Sangerfest halle. she's a celebrity, and my friends all know I tend to go there first to get a pic. after 1st rides of the day on Chubacabra, those of us attending Feliz Fiesta got to go backstage for a tour of the construction site that I posted yesterday. as part of that tour, we also got to go down into the Gully Washer reservoir (drained during the off season upkeep) for some fantastic shots of Iron Rattler's drops. and then it was time to eat something for lunch (as our dinner wasn't until almost 5). we headed into Blues BBQ, where here at Fiesta Texas, the Turkey Leg with stuffing is still included on the meal plan. and as it's Holiday in the Park? Santa was out all day, so we had to pop in and say hello. naughty bert! (and how fantastic that Santa played along) one of the shows in the main square. . I believe this was the Tinker-Belles and the wooden soldiers one of 3 large trees SFFT has on display. this one is at the end of the main avenue into the park (and the tinkerbelles stage is at the bottom) many, many characters were available today for Meet and Greets. not just the Looney Tunes in Holiday garb, but also multiple DC Heroes, and tons of Holiday themed characters. and the "handlers" are happy to take your phone to snap pics for you. this makes me laugh - this is what happens when they start snapping before you're ready for the picture. . . LOL durrrrrrrr. . . . . but we did get some great pics regardless another throne. .and I do love my thrones more characters. . a bit horrifying, I thought, but happy to take pics after this great meet and greet in DCU, I asked them how about an "action pose". .and that's the 2nd pic. they understood the assignment - particularly Flash walking back to the front for dinner in the picnic grove, caught the end of a Tinkerbelles & soldiers performance, and they were hanging around for pictures. and yet, ANOTHER throne. they must have gotten these from other parks. a night time shot of the tree at the end of the main corridor. here's the MAIN tree in the park, in Rockville, during the Tree Lighting ceremony (that includes fireworks, Looney Tunes characters, dancers, and Santa on the stage in front of it) .. oh, and "snow" Jim and I in front of the main tree, before heading into the Rockville High Theater to see the Dicken's show - one of the parks two signature HitP shows didnt' take any pics of the 1st part of the show, but it's a full on production with sets, dancing, and very good singing. the camera came out during Ghost of Christmas Future, as I love the design of it. ltr: Scrooge, Ghost of Christmas Present, Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Marley, and Ghost of Christmas future. Scrooge seeing the error of his ways before he gets tossed into his own grave by Marley (oh. . "spoilers". . . LOL) after the show (and a few rides) we made our way up to the "big" theater in the park, for the amazing "Majesty of Christmas" - which, yes, includes live animals on stage in a wonderful production. after this show, the park was about to shut down, but attendees of Feliz Fiesta get some ERT on the CrackAxle coasters (Iron Rattler, Roadrunner Express, and Dr. Diabolical's Cliffhanger). . so we took the "Holiday Express" which is what they transform the train into, for a full loop around the park complete with Holiday songs and tons and tons of lights. including new this year, lights representing the 12 days of Christmas. . . that you pass on the train, AS the song is playing synched to what you are passing. so simple, but so effective and impressive. another photo op in front of Hurricane Harbor area and the 3rd and final tree, in Crackaxle, which I was told came from another park that is no longer doing HitP. it's a great event, and well worth going to.