the birds nest and the water cube

So... today after getting back from the Ming Tombs, I decided to go straight to the Olympic Green to photograph the Water Cube at night. I got there at dusk and the cube wasn't lit up, so I started to walk around the Bird's Nest. I haven't been inside the stadium, and I really wanted to. I was thinking about jumping the fence to get in, but decided against it (lots of CCTV cameras). I walked around and I found an underground tunnel, unguarded, with an open door. I walked, went down a lot of stair, got lost, and took a turn, and ended on the running track of the Olympic Stadium!

There are a lot of cranes in there at the moment, pulling down the centre thing that was used in the closing ceremony. I went in, sat down for a while and took some photos, before I was told that wasn't allowed. Curiously, the security guy that told me I couldn't take any photos didn't notice that I was not allowed to be there!
This is a photo standing on the curve just before the 100m start. The extinguished Olympic Flame is to the right.

It was pretty cool to be able to stand on the running track. It was also really exciting and nerve racking to sneak into the stadium! I walked past a lot of security guards, but I reckon as long as you act like you deserve to be there, they will see what they want to see.

But I did end up photographing the Water Cube, and here are some shots. There's a selfie in there, just to prove that I'm not using stock photos!