Carmen

Sometime recently, I decided that I wanted to see 'The Egg', or National Center for the Performing Arts, up close.  It was built around the same time as the grand Olympic Venues and was supposed to complement 'The Bird's Nest' in name as well as in architectural design.  It resembles a huge smooth grey egg from far away, but up close and inside it has further wonders of design, as I discovered when I went to see an opera with Adam, Alison, and a french friend of Lara's (and mine) named Audrey.  

Audrey and I

There were wall designs evocative of the outside of the Olympic Stadium, cool statues, and - get this - the walkway from the outside into the atrium had a glass ceiling, with flowing water on top which was visible from underneath.  It was really quite impressive.  And the building glitters at night!

An upstairs atrium with the sloping outside wall on the left

A cool sculpture

We saw the French opera 'Carmen' since there were no Chinese operas showing.  It was really Carmen with Chinese characteristics anyway as all the actors were Chinese except for the 3 main characters, and there were more than twice as many extras as normal per Adam who is more experienced with opera than I.  I suppose that makes sense since 1/5 of the world's population lives in this country - lots of people auditioned!  We had a mild fiasco with cameras not being allowed inside; Adam and Alison got caught with theirs and had to check them - but I managed to sneak mine inside and got some good shots.  It was a very enjoyable evening on the whole :)

A scene in Carmen

Adam, Alison, and I

We were in the 3rd balcony!!

Adam and Alison outside the Egg after the show