Birds Nest

I was also able to go inside the Birds Nest- otherwise known as the National Olympic Stadium. It was designed by Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron and it is made from intertwined ribbons of steel and concrete

And even more intricate up close

Even the lights surrounding the stadium look like mini-nests

I even got to go down onto the field- the stadium itself is massive

And partially covered over the seats

They even had two big balloons of a few of their mascots- the green one is named Nini the Swallow and the red one is HuanHuan the Olympic Flame.

Here are all 5 of the mascots together- the other 3 are named Beibei the Fish, Jingjing the Panda, and Yingying the Antelope. Each of these have stories about what they represent and how they relate to Chinese culture.

I'm totally jealous of Maren and Julia for getting to see an actual Olympic event in this amazing venue (and have some amazing photos to vouch for it!)