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...and today I'm lounging about and relaxing.
The Vegas trip was a lot of fun--we flew out Thursday evening and returned yesterday afternoon. DF and I stayed at the Mirage in the heart of the strip. Beautiful place, probably best known as the former home of Siegfried and Roy's show. Our room overlooked the Strip, where we overlooked the Venetian and Wynn.
Amazing how huge the casinos are! We did a lot of walking and exploring. The Venetian (aka "faux Venice") features a replica of St. Mark's Square and a canal with gondoliers. Although inside, it's convincingly lit so it appears that you're outside, and the clouds move. Cool! Lots of gourmet dining. We ate at the San Marco, a Mario Batali owned place. Simple dishes, but very well done. There were also musicians, jugglers, and a "living statue" to accent the shopping.
I could not believe the amount of shopping. Every casino has a pretty serious mall inside, with every famous designer you could think of. In some cases, like Louis Vuitton, there were multiple stores located in several casinos. In addition, there is an actual mall in the middle of everything called the Fashion Show. It was so overwhelming, I ended up not buying anything except a T-shirt.
Friday night, we went to Fremont Street, which is the original strip. A little scruffy by comparison, but the light show was interesting. Quite possibly, one of the world's largest television screens--a block long. We also went to the Stratosphere and rode one of the rides. It was terrifying!!
Saturday, more of the same. We went off the strip to the Orleans in the evening to see George Carlin. 71, still sharp and as profane as ever!
Sunday was basically getting to the airport and people-watching. Oh yes, there were slot machines in there too.
All in all, Las Vegas is strange, glittering, tacky, beautiful, and compelling. Say what you will, but it was pretty fascinating and I'll be back.
The Vegas trip was a lot of fun--we flew out Thursday evening and returned yesterday afternoon. DF and I stayed at the Mirage in the heart of the strip. Beautiful place, probably best known as the former home of Siegfried and Roy's show. Our room overlooked the Strip, where we overlooked the Venetian and Wynn.
Amazing how huge the casinos are! We did a lot of walking and exploring. The Venetian (aka "faux Venice") features a replica of St. Mark's Square and a canal with gondoliers. Although inside, it's convincingly lit so it appears that you're outside, and the clouds move. Cool! Lots of gourmet dining. We ate at the San Marco, a Mario Batali owned place. Simple dishes, but very well done. There were also musicians, jugglers, and a "living statue" to accent the shopping.
I could not believe the amount of shopping. Every casino has a pretty serious mall inside, with every famous designer you could think of. In some cases, like Louis Vuitton, there were multiple stores located in several casinos. In addition, there is an actual mall in the middle of everything called the Fashion Show. It was so overwhelming, I ended up not buying anything except a T-shirt.
Friday night, we went to Fremont Street, which is the original strip. A little scruffy by comparison, but the light show was interesting. Quite possibly, one of the world's largest television screens--a block long. We also went to the Stratosphere and rode one of the rides. It was terrifying!!
Saturday, more of the same. We went off the strip to the Orleans in the evening to see George Carlin. 71, still sharp and as profane as ever!
Sunday was basically getting to the airport and people-watching. Oh yes, there were slot machines in there too.
All in all, Las Vegas is strange, glittering, tacky, beautiful, and compelling. Say what you will, but it was pretty fascinating and I'll be back.
2 comments:
Ooooh sounds great. A friend of mine once said on her visit to Vegas that it is like "blackpool on acid" which won't mean alot to anyone who isn't from the UK or who has never been to blackpool, but I think it was probably a good description reading yours ...
Juliab, you lost me there, as I don't know Blackpool. However, anything ending with "on acid" gives me a generally good idea of what they mean.
Interestingly (maybe), the local PBS featured Part One of "Las Vegas: a History", which was pretty interesting. In short: Vegas used to be even crazier during its early days.
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