We went to the Las Vegas strip on Monday morning with Jeffrey and Christi. We parked at the Treasure Island complex toward the north end of the strip. For some odd reason, though, we never walked to the front of Treasure Island, so we didn't get pictures of it until we went back Monday evening.
The first hotel we saw was the Venetian.
It's HUGE. It covers a lot of frontage on Las Vegas Boulevard, and it goes back forever. It took 3 shots to get the facade.
And it is a facade. The businesses on the strip are ALL about getting your gambling money. Every inch of real estate is utilized. Businesses are packed onto the strip like sardines. Some of the casinos have added shopping and shows and exhibits to appeal to a wider audience, but don't be fooled. It's all designed as a hook to entice folks to gamble. That being said, some of the added features are pretty interesting. And it's worth the trip to see some of the architecture and engineering that has gone into this place.
Here are a couple of the exterior details.
It's supposed to look like Venice, Italy, of course.
Water is a precious commodity in the desert. Every hotel that has water features must adhere to strict water use and reclamation guidelines. Just the sound of water in this dry environment is refreshing. And when I say dry, I mean a kind of dry that easterners have trouble understanding. While we were in town, the weather forecaster was lamenting the fact that the humidity might reach double digits in some areas. That means they were grieved that the humidity would reach 11 to 13 per cent in a couple of towns, for a couple of hours. I though they must be joking, but no. Amazing.
The famous gondoliers, of course. There's an outside ride, currently 10 minutes long, and an inside ride that 15 minutes long.
The Venetian is one of the few hotels that has entrances other than through the casino. We stepped into an area called the Grand Canal Shops.
The chandelier in the foyer area.
The ceiling in the next area.
And the ceiling to a hallway that leads toward the casino (I think).
The Blue Man Group is featured at the Venetian. These are the wax figures by Madame Tussaud's on the second level of the Shops. They're eerily lifelike--and at the Venetian, you can never be quite sure whether a statue is actually a real person standing v-e-r-y still.
Well, while in Rome, or, ahh, Venice......
......Everybody poses with the wax figures, so we played tourist and did, too. Later, we saw other folks posing with these guys and imitating the 'look' as well, so I don't feel too silly.
This is one of those living statues. I walked within two feet of him and would never had known, except that my brain apparently registered that he was wearing what I think of as 'hand bell' gloves. (They are white cotton gloves, and have raised seams along the back of the hand, for those of you who've never played hand bells. They're the same gloves anyone in uniform wears, from band members to military types to major domos, I'm sure.)
He was doing a great job. That's money on the railing in front of him. People who liked his 'act' left tips. That's the only time he'd move. If you left a tip, you got a very, very small inclination of the head, and he'd meet your eyes. It's not a job I think I'd want. I'm a little too hyper.
We ran into Nicolas Cage in front of Madame Tussaud's. I got a picture of Dean with him.
I always knew Dean was taller.
Dean and I went back to the strip Tuesday by ourselves for a while. Here are some of the shots of the Venetian we got then.
This is a shot of the inside gondola ride. It runs through the middle of the Grand Canal Shops.
And here we are on the our gondola ride. (When in Venice........) I couldn't resist, and Dean humored me. This ride is $15.00 per person, if you don't mind sharing your ride with other folks. The boat seats four. Or, you can rent a private gondola for $60.00. We shared. The nice couple from Iowa we shared our ride with took this picture for us. (Note the fried faces.)
And this is our gondolier. He was very friendly and informative. My understanding from programs I've seen on the Travel Channel is that this isn't an easy gig to get. These guys and girls have to audition because a song in Italian is part of the ride. And they have to learn to maneuver the gondolas without hitting things. And, they have to learn to speak with an Italian accent. Miss any of these, supposedly, and you're out. Our gondolier was great. He sang beautifully, and was a wealth of information to boot.
The Venetian is huge, like I said, and I wasn't always sure where we were, but I think these next shots are in the Palazzo. It's the newest addition to the Venetian.
Magnificent skylight.
This waterfall is immediately below the skylight from the last picture.
The fountain is immediately in front of the waterfall.
The floor of the fountain and the waterfall both are covered with beautiful mosaic tiles. I didn't ask anybody, but I'm betting that's all Venetian glass tile. It sure looked like it, and it would just make sense.
That's it for the Venetian. The only other hotel we spent a lot of time at was the Bellagio. I'll blog that one in an individual post, then put up the pictures from the rest of the strip. We got some night shots, too. Stay tuned.........
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