Las Vegas, Nevada 1 July 2007
Las Vegas is a town with a short memory. This is a city that is constantly reinventing itself, from a waterhole oasis to a gambling mecca to the tourist destination to an entertainment hotspot. The demolition of former gloried casinos can only elicit a slight sigh of nostalgia before the wave of sweet anticipation takes hold. For what is coming is only going to be bigger, bolder and therefore better. In its prehistory the area used to be marshland. The waters eventually saturated into the ground creating artesian wells that gave certain places extensive green areas--las vegas (the meadows). Today, those extensive green areas are million dollar golf courses. And each hotel is a city within itself. As a student of landscape architecture these hotels are wonderful demonstrations of creating a sense of place. When you enter The Venetian you are immediately thrust into what makes Venice memorable. The gondolas and opera-singing gondaliers are key.
A reproduction of the Piazza San Marco replete with the Campanile, Doges Palace and even the Bridge of Sighs is necessary. All it really needed to get that truly authentic feel is to paint fake pigeon poop all over everything and scent the outdoor misters with a more piscine aroma. Then the true aura of Venice in the summer time would have been captured. There is even gondola rides inside the gallery with an ever changing sky and a view of all the boutiques that you can fraternize after your ride. But if you have ever been in the gallery you will no doubt remember the smell of overly-chlorinated water mixed with the heady smell of overly-sweaty people. This is not a good combination and it really does behoove you to get away from the melee of photographers taking pictures of people they don't know (oh wait, we did that, too).
Directly across from The Venetian is The Mirage. And to the south of The Mirage is Caesar's Palace and next to Caesar's Palace is The Bellagio, our ultimate goal so that we could see the fountain display. On the map it looks roughly like a 2 block walk. But we come to find out that each of these hotels span at least 2 city blocks. I think it was a heat mirage that duped us into thinking things were closer than they appeared. Outside it is just too hot and the blazing summer sun could singe Bell's nipple hairs through his shirt. And what appeared to be a short festive jaunt to see some water shooting into the air artistically timed to a Wilson Phillips ballad quickly eroded into the trail of tears. The best way to get around LV in the summer is to walk through each hotel going through a myriad of corridors, casinos, lobbies, walkways, going down escalators, going up elevators. This venture could take up quite a chunk of time and all the while listening to Celine Dion could be pure torture. But it is worth it if you never have to experience the full force of the desert heat because it is a lot hotter and drier than Djibouti.
There are many free things to do with kids in LV. Lucy has not stopped talking about the fountains at the Bellagio, the volcano erupting at the Mirage and the pirate show at Treasure Island. But all she really wanted to do was go swimming and the Venetian was sure to please this little girl. There are 3 acres of pools in this hotel alone.
Water, water everywhere and only a small percentage is used to drink. It just seems so irresponsible. If you are not familiar with Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner it should be a must read for everyone.
Overall, we really liked our hotel. We enjoyed our restaurant and the pools were awesome. But it was still sensory overload. You definitely need more than one night to take in the sites. And only $1.00 was spent in the casino. Yeah, we are high rollers. At least we refrained from the buffet gluttony.
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| Las Vegas July 1, 2007 |
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