Las Vegas - The Strip


Even if you aren’t fond of throwing your money away (i.e., gambling) the Las Vegas Strip is an interesting place. Many of the big casino hotels/resorts have themes that range from tacky (Excalibur) to elegant (Bellagio) to amazing (Venetian). We enjoy just walking through the various properties on the Strip to see the designs and décor while quickly passing by the smoky casinos, overpriced restaurants and luxury shopping that hold no appeal for us.  If we hadn’t actually travelled to the real places the resorts are meant to represent, we could almost convince ourselves that we were taking a mini world tour within the several blocks of the strip by visiting the Luxor (Egypt), New York New York, Paris, Caesar’s Palace (Rome), Bellagio (Lake Como), The Venetian (Venice), The Flamingo (Miami), The Mirage (South Pacific), Treasure Island (Caribbean), MGM Grand (Hollywood), and Mandalay Bay (the tropics). And then there are the street hawkers and mall touts fishing in the endless river of tourists passing by. They offer photos with showgirls or superheroes, “escort” services, timeshares, skin care products, or the opportunity to fire a machine gun or throw axes!  Like I said, it’s an interesting place.


The MGM lion with the (fake) New York New York resort in the background


Luxor (fake Egypt)


Deborah at the Venetian



Upscale mall called The Shops at Crystals - cool building but we didn't shop there. 
Architect: Daniel Libeskind


Lobby at the Venetian



The Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian. Indoors but you've still got a canal and a painted sky.



Caesars Palace (fake Rome)



Fake Trevi Fountain by Caesars Palace



Impressive Christmas display inside the Bellagio Conservatory



Bellagio's nightly fountain show


The Chandelier Bar in the Cosmopolitan spans three floors







Excaliber (fake medieval Europe)



Christmas display inside the Wynn.



Chandeliers at the Wynn



(fake) Paris



Waterfall at the Wynn



Circus Circus







Is Blake A) bloated from overdoing it at a buffet, B) pregnant, or C) wearing his sling bag on the front? (photo by Deborah)


The Flamingo (fake Miami)


The Venetian (fake Venice)
(photo by Deborah)




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