Las Vegas, city of 1.8 million. 39 million people visit each year. 120,000 marriage licenses are issued annually. There is over 15,000 miles of neon on The Strip. The average spent gambling per person is $650, with the biggest slot machine payout being almost $40,000,000….this place is crazy, have I mentioned that? Yet, here we are. In Vegas baby!
Up early out of force of habit we cruised the strip at 9.00am…..the Operator was looking to drag the Chevy at the traffic lights, but there were no takers, we were the only ones up and about, the night time denizens were still sleeping off the excesses of the night before. The light is bright, the sky is blue and the heat is starting to win over the morning chill, we drove off the strip into the residential area. It is a nice place….lots of tidy modern apartment/condo type complexes all painted various shades of desert yellow, ochre and orange, they have names like ‘The Palms’ or ‘ The Dunes’ and peak out from behind gated leafy entrances. The streets are clean and there do seem to be plenty of Dog Grooming Parlours and Veterinary Centres…..The city is a town planners dream, nice tidy grids with beautifully manicured suburbs.
We drove out of the city and re entered the desert heading for Red Rock Canyon, a valley of colourful rock created over 65 million years ago, it was a nice morning drive on a lovely loop road back to the city. The colours of the sky and rock were intense and we cruised with the top down under the desert sun.
Back in Vegas we headed for the famous sign and waited in the haphazard line to have our photo taken (above)…..you have to be quick to get a clean shot on your own, just hijack the English speaking tourist in the line ahead of you to take your photo and of course you will do theirs!
We drove around Vegas town and had breakfast at a diner, The Operator checked out The Gun Store
http://thegunstorelasvegas.com/ a store with a firing range where you can basically fire any weapon you like…police issue 9mm Beretta? AK47? or how about a H&K MP5? All can be fired at a price…..make sure you get there early in the morning, the line was around the block and there was about an hour to wait before you got inside….The Operator wasn’t that keen to wait in the baking sun. We went back to the MGM and wandered up the road to do abit of souvenir shopping, then we had a wee siesta so we could rock the night.
For our second night in Vegas we had booked a show at the Bellagio casino. It was the newest of the 7 Cirque du Soliel circus’s currently playing in Vegas. Called ‘O’ it was one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen in my life…I know why they called the show such a simple vowel…it resembles the shape of your mouth as your draw drops in astonishment throughout the entire show. Please watch this link…but believe me it doesn’t do it justice! http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/o/media/official-video.aspx the whole performance is done above a pool flush in the stage…..I would love to see the ‘making of the show’ doco, just to see how this is all achieved. We sat right up front in the ‘splashzone’ but never got wet….I wouldn’t hesitate to see this show again from a higher audience vantage point.
The Bellagio is a smaller boutique hotel/casino and they have a beautiful atrium garden which is themed for the holidays and seasons, Halloween was in full swing…. and then the lights came on, everything is more magic in Vegas when the lights come on.
The living picture frame (below) was incredible!
We arrived just in time for the start of the Fremont Street Experience.
A pictorial light and sound tribute to Queen played above your head on a 1400 foot long arched steel canopy that covers Freemont Street for 5 blocks. The casinos turn off their lights for the 15 min display and the world above comes to life, the traffic stops and the people dance in the street. It was brilliant, a real rock concert played above your head. Zip lines run from the end of the street to platforms and people pay to zip along the street above the people, stallholders are selling goods, the casinos have open fronts with no walls so you can wander in from the street. People are everywhere in a happy alcoholic buzz not knowing where to look next as it is sensory overload!
These guys had the tallest shoes on ever…they were immaculately dressed and made up in the sweltering heat. You could have your photo taken with them for a tip…Rosie jumped in, the Operator took the snap…I told the Operator we needed to tip these dudes…he said we had no change….you are joking! These guys got $10 bucks from us…they were most grateful…The Operator was in a foul mood for 5 mins…till we went and got a beer, then it was all forgotten. The lights and the vibe were excellent here….loved Freemont.
It was still only about 1030pm when we left Freemont and headed back to the Strip. We wandered up the road and checked out a few casinos on the way home. Vegas is the perfect place to NOT spend
money…doesn’t make sense? Well, all of the casinos are free to enter, you don’t have to gamble to have a great time…every casino has some sort of theme to hook you in…for example the photo on the left is the Treasure Island casino, every night, every hour on the hour a pirate battle is fought on the lake outside the casino between two pirate galleons with skimpy lingerie type model pirates swinging from the ropes and dodging firing cannons. Circus Circus has a big top circus in the casino…trapeze artists fly above your heads, clowns and magicians do their things along with an jugglers and high wire walkers….all free to watch! The Bellagio has its lovely themed gardens as well as a beautiful outdoor fountain, light and music show. There is something for everyone here in this crazy town….at our hotel, the MGM Grand there is a huge indoor white lion enclosure….the poor lions walk through glass tubes above your heads…..Paris Las Vegas has a 1/3 scale model of the Eiffel Tower built through its building and its observation deck gives you a beautiful view of the strip and the Bellagios fountains when they are in full action. Caesars Palace has its indoor Roman forum and girls in skimpy togas roam the gaming floor serving drinks….the fountains out the front are the same ones Evil Knievel jumped in the 60’s, sorry, Rosie didn’t take a photo…The Mirage is Polynesian inspired and has an indoor rain forest and a huge tropical aquarium with a volcano that erupts every hour…mighty cool!
Above is the Venetian Hotel, it is a replica of the Venice Canals and city covering 5 city blocks, the buildings in the left hand photo include the hotel and entertainment blocks on the site. The most incredible thing about the Venetian is the replica canal on the second floor….it has a mini Rialto bridge and St Marks Square, all built inside and yes, Rosie didn’t make a mistake…on the second floor!
Here is the fake city, built inside a hotel, amazing eh….the ‘sky’ ceiling is painted and incredibly lit….it was 11.30 at night when we wandered around the canals….it is ethereal and unbelievable, truly a marketing triumph….as you wandered around in the fake daylight, you immediately lost any fatigue and tiredness due to the late hour you are probably there…the light makes you feel energised and…ready to shop…The Operator quickly trundled Rosie out of there back into the darkness.
On the canal are replica gondolas you can rent for a ride around the Venetian circuit, the attention to detail is amazing….all that is missing from the real thing said the Operator is the stink of the canals and the hundreds of years of coal and carbon that makes the real thing black and grimy looking. Vegas has given us a glimpse of the real sparkling and magical Venice back when it was first birthed.
The city that never sleeps was closing its doors at around 1130pm….the shops were packing up and the restaurants and bars that weren’t in the gaming halls were calling last orders….is it a sign of the American recession or falling visitor numbers? All in all it didn’t really seem to be as busy as when we were last there….
This pretty much closes off the Vegas chapter, it has taken me awhile to commit this episode to paper as this stop over has left me abit wanting, Vegas seems tired and jaded, its clinging onto the glory days of the past and not reinvesting in rebirth….I have musings which I will commit in my next blog.
Rosie and the Operator are blowing this joint…and will not be back…..
great photos Rosie!