Forbidden in the City

It was a strange day in Beijingland. We had a full day scheduled - first to the Forbidden City, then Tiananmen Square, next to the Temple of Heaven, and finally the Ancient Beijing Observatory. Lunch is thrown in there somewhere. All of this is against a backdrop of a pouring rain. Although not dampening our spirits, the rain dampened our clothes, our shoes, our backpacks, and all the equipment contained within. Most of the places we visited had no place to stand out of the rain while we listened to our guides. Also, particularly in the Forbidden City, we had to slosh through puddles of water while trying to dodge thousands of people with their thousands of colorful umbrellas. Particularly interesting was the mad crush of people at the emperor’s throne – the hand to hand infighting got more intense; the closer one got to the viewing entrance. In the midst of the chaos, a lone American strolled out of the rain, greeting everyone with annoying Disney songs. Yes, our very own A.M. We tried hiding in a city of 18 million and he found us anyway. Here is video of the alien encounter. Least you think that you can avoid watching some future show, these are only the throw away clips. The best stuff is being saved.