Another Great Day... Another Wonder of the World!

Yesterday, with no tickets in hand, the five of us, Ken, Jenny, and Cindy Gangloff, my mother, Diane, and I hopped on a bus and went to the Great Wall. We went to a part of the wall called Mutianyu. Because of the cycling competition, the part of the wall that is usually popular amongst tourists was closed so we actually got to visit one of the most beautiful stretches of the wall. The tour guide said that in Chinese culture if you climb the wall then you are considered a "real hero". Well, we are about half a hero each because we took the chair lift up and the toboggan down (the chair lift is just like a ski lift and the toboggan is on a metal slide, kind of like a luge--it was AWESOME!). I took plenty of pictures and video that I will post when we get home.





So, was the great wall great? Yes... it was amazing. It was hot, but we were able to actually see blue skies being that far from the city and we were able to see for miles. It was breathtaking. The smog in Beijing has been worse than even we could imagine. Think about L.A. on its worse day and multiply by at least 100! So, needless to say, escaping from the city and being able to breath clean air while experiencing one of the wonders of the world was fantastic!

My mother and I met a couple of friends for dinner last night at the famous Courtyard restaurant in Beijing. It was delicious! While at dinner, Mark called me to fill me in on his day. Yesterday Mark received a letter from a new fan, Lynn Cheney's executive assistant! She wrote him a personal note telling him how proud she was of him, that she was a former swimmer, that her favorite movie is The Guardian, and that she would be cheering for him. She also invited us to the White House this fall-- cool, huh?!

Today, my mother and I have a busy day... we are going to diving and then straight to football (soccer)- Go USA!

Tomorrow we are hoping to visit Mark in the athlete village. Mark did say earlier this week that he ate breakfast with Roger Federer, so we are hoping to see someone really amazing (in addition to Mark, of course!).

Still, we are having the time of our lives here in Beijing and we can't wait to tell you more about it. If there is something specific you'd like me to tell you about in my next blog, please let me know in a comment and I will do my best fill you in.