Well, we made it to Las Vegas! Even now I'm not quite sure what to make of the original 'Sin City'. I think that John O'Brien summed it up fairly succinctly in his novel Leaving Las Vegas:
'Las Vegas stinks. It is loud and hot.'
I dont think that many people could argue with this. It was also colourful, engaging, vibrant, fun and entertaining, but boy did it stink and it was 114* F. This is not to say that we did not enjoy ourselves. There is no denying that the strip is impressive, who wouldn't be impressed by a 365-foot, 30-story pyramid encased in 11 acres of dark bronze glass?
Our difficulty with Vegas was that no matter how distracting the lure of the casinos and colourful cocktails, we were always aware of the people in the background with their air of desperation. Vegas seems very much a place where people go with the aim of reinventing themselves, a sort of last chance saloon. Unfortunately for too many, the saloon had closed but not before taking everything they had.
But, like I say, we did enjoy ourselves!
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| View of The Strip from our hotel. |
The Venetian was my favourite casino. It was so elaborate and over the top. There were loads of weddings happening the day we wondered through. I noticed afterwards that there was a bride in every shot we took here, kind of like a Where's Wally? (or Walldo if your American) of the bride world.
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| Spot the bride? |
Inside of the Venetian, walking in and out of the shops it was easy to forget that you were actually inside.
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| The sky is always blue in the Venetian |
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| And the water has the light aroma of gentle Chlorine |
Coming in at a close second for most over the top casino has to be Caesars Palace. The spiral escalators blew my mind, I'd heard about them, I'd even seen pictures but then you experience escalators Vegas style.
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| Just one of Caesars massive lobby areas, we actually got lost here. |
New York, New York is very impressive and almost like being back in the Big Apple, although it was a lot more crowded than the real thing.
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| The Flamingo. Just because flamingos always rock. |
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| Paris - Las Vegas style. |
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| Some of the thousands of shops we visited - you can buy anything on the Strip. |
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| Harley Davidson - Just for my Dad :) |
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| Elvis spotting. |
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| The Mirage; using animals as money-making entertainment since 1990. |
As darkness fell on Las Vegas, the drunk and desperate descended on the strip, but a beautiful neon heaven also emerged....
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| Our hotel - the Stratosphere. |
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| New York New York - More bulbs than Times Square |
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| It is handy having the Hoover Dam 20 miles away to power this place. |
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| Paris about 2000 ft from Hollywood |
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| The Bellagio's fountain show |
I think it is apt that I end this Vegas blog post with the following lyrics courtesy of the king himself.
Viva Las Vegas with you neon flashin'
And your one armbandits crashin'
All those hopes down the drain
Viva Las Vegas turnin' day into nighttime
Turnin' night into daytime
If you see it once You'll never be the same again.
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