Saturday in Vegas
- first of all, here's a map of the strip in case you want to figure out where all these places are...
- this is the bellagio hotel, one of the swankiest on the strip.
bellagio.jpg
- inside the bellagio is a gorgeous and amazingly fragrant flower garden. someone was getting married in here when i walked through.
bellagio_flower_garden.jpg
- in the bellagio lobby, on the ceiling, is this amazing piece of glasswork. it's stunning.
bellagio_glass.jpg
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bellagio_glass4.jpg
- the bellagio has this amazing watershow every half hour. while i was waiting for it to begin, i took a photo of the hotel, with it's fancy shops to the right, and cesars palace in the background.
bellagio_shops_cesars.jpg
- then the watershow started... it was gorgeous! they played "hey big spender" and the water just danced with the music... ("speeeend a little time with me...")
bellagio_watershow_day.jpg
bellagio_watershow_day2.jpg
bellagio_watershow_day3.jpg
bellagio_watershow_day4.jpg
bellagio_watershow_day5.jpg
bellagio_watershow_day6.jpg
- since the watershow is every half hour, i amused myself for a bit then came back for the next one (which happened to be after the sun had set). this time the music was frank sinatra's "luck be a lady"... sensing a theme here? :)
bellagio_watershow_night.jpg
bellagio_watershow_night2.jpg
bellagio_watershow_night3.jpg
bellagio_watershow_night4.jpg
bellagio_watershow_night5.jpg
bellagio_watershow_night6.jpg
bellagio_watershow_crowd.jpg
- cesars palace is a landmark, but not really the most impressive hotel, from what i saw. the people in the casino looked older and wearier than the people in other, newer hotels. (what also bothers me is that it's "cesars palace" and not "cesar's palace". silly, eh?)
cesars_palace.jpg
- in the bellagio shops was this nutty shoe store that sold "art shoes"... these are inspired by andy warhol (as are the tomato soup can shoes at the top of the photo.)
crazy_shoes.jpg
- the excalibur has corny wizard/dragon shows every evening...
dragon_at_excalibur.jpg
- there are *lots* of fancy cars around town. there are at least 2 vipers sitting on the strip with "rent me" signs in them. these are just a few nice ones in the valet area of the mandalay bay hotel.
fancy_cars_at_manday_bay.jpg
- an extra-glittery mcdonalds sign to compete with the other neon on the strip...
fancy_mcdonalds_sign.jpg
- random hotels on the strip... the flamingo, and ballys.
flamingo-ballys_at_night.jpg
- i'm staying at the luxor hotel. it's in the shape of an egyptian pyramid, with an egyptian theme throughout. when you walk in the main entrance, this is what you see. (it's pretty dim... those pharoh guys sit alongside the entrance to the casino.)
inside_luxor.jpg
luxor_casino_entrance.jpg
luxor_casino_entrance2.jpg
- this is the luxor's official website, if you're interested...
- the luxor hotel is pyramid-shaped. therefore, the elevators have been renamed "inclinators", as they ascend on an angle. this photo is taken from outside my hotel room on the 21st floor, looking out & slightly down. (the pyramid is 30 floors high.)
luxor_inclinator.jpg
- at the top of the luxor's pyramid is an incredibly bright light, pointing into the sky. apparently this light can be seen from outer space, it's so bright. there are also cute little "droplet" lights that run along the 'rim' of the pyramid.
luxor_light.jpg
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luxor_light3.jpg
- i have no idea why this is inside my egyptian-themed hotel...
luxor_scary_statue.pjg
- this is the sphinx that greets luxor visitors... this was taken from the monorail stop in front of the hotel that takes you to the excalibur hotel.
luxor_sphinx.jpg
- the luxor has a more boring side... if you don't want to stay in the pyramid, you can opt for the luxor towers. (that's the sphinx's foot there at the bottom.)
luxor_tower.jpg
- when i walk outside my room and look 21 floors down, this is what i see... restaurants, imax theater, obelisk, slots...
luxor_view_from_room.jpg
- various views from my hotel window
luxor_view_from_window.jpg (looking right towards mandalay bay. that patch of desert is actually the airport!)
luxor_view_from_window2.jpg (looking left toward the tropicana & mgm grand)
luxor_view_from_window3.jpg (slightly left; that's the sphinx at the bottom right)
luxor_view_from_window4.jpg (yup, that's the sphinx)
- at the mandalay bay hotel, they have a "shark reef"... a walk-through aquarium that surrounds you, like walking through a tunnel of fish & water. however, it costs $13.95 to see, so i didn't go. but they had this lovely _free_ fish tank in their lobby. ;)
mandalay_bay_fish.jpg
- the mgm grand hotel... home of tom jones (if only he were in town this week!)
mgm.jpg
mgm_at_night.jpg
- the monte carlo hotel... pretty nice!
monte_carlo_at_night.jpg
monte_carlo_statues.jpg
- a nighttime shot from my hotel window
nightime_from_luxor.jpg
- "new york new york" hotel. it features a statue of liberty, the brooklyn bridge, and a miniature version of all of your favorite new york landmarks (you should see the inside... the whole thing looks like brooklyn... with slot machines.) there's also a roller coaster running around the exterior... by the statue of liberty, around the empire state building. it's very weird.
ny_ny.jpg
ny_ny_brooklyn_bridge.jpg
ny_ny_liberty.jpg
ny_ny_over_excalibur.jpg
- the paris hotel. (it's so weird to think that the major attractions in this town are *hotels*...)
paris_eiffel.jpg
paris_eiffel_balloon.jpg
paris_eiffel_night.jpg
- for some reason, in the mandalay bay hotel there are all of these plaster torsos in the side of a wall. can't explain it. but i like it.
torsos_at_mandalay_bay.jpg
torso_in_wall_at_mandalay.jpg
Sunday - Wednesday in Vegas
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