 | The Venetian was one
we spent quite a bit of time in, seen here from the 'sea' around Treasure
Island, which has its own collection of bird and animal noises as if in a
tropical jungle. |
| The Venetian has two canals, one outside and another inside. |  |
 | The inside one floats
around a plaza (St Marks Square) where musicians sing or play underneath the artificial sky
(they must have had the same sky designers as Caesar's Palace). |
| But the gondoliers serenade their passengers and some are quite
fine singers although their repertoire seemed a little limited. There are
even some female gondoliers who also sing, not badly, but you really need to
be a tenor both for the songs and to be heard. Most gondolas are black,
but this one is white and seems to be reserved for floating weddings. One
necessary attribute for this bridesmaid is the ability to handle a video
camera. |  |
 | This was a non-singing
gondolier we caught walking across the plaza. Just as well he wasn't on the
water because the bridges were low and he was fifteen feet tall. |
| And then there was the waxworks where you were welcomed in by
Whoopi. Jan just couldn't resist it. |  |
 | All the casinos sell
their own souvenirs, and the Venetian is no exception. This display of masks was in
a shop full of typical products of Venice. |
| These places are every bit as ornate as palaces. This was in one
of the
Venetian's main foyers with ornate painted ceilings and frescos on the walls. This was one
end of a huge corridor. |  |
 | The
ceiling panels just seemed to go on for ever. You can see why they cost so
much to build, just not where they find the punters to pay the money to keep
going. |
We spent two days in Las Vegas and were able to travel by free
coach from our casino/hotel/RV park to and from "the Strip". So we stayed over to
view the sights by night. Most casinos are part of chains and this one was owned by Harrahs
who are buying up casinos all over. We had seen their name at South Lake
Tahoe. |  |
 | Everything is lit up
and it all looks very colourful at night on the outside as well as inside.
This is the view up the Strip which is over a mile long. |
 | I mentioned one of the casinos had a French theme. This included
its own Arc de Triomphe lit up at night and virtually the same size as the
real thing. And towering above it
all was the Eiffel Tower lit up at night like a Christmas tree.
|  |
 |
| This shows well the huge size of the hotels. This is Caesars
Palace again, now showing clearly the three huge tower blocks of bedrooms as well as all the shopping
malls and the casino. Note that they also have car parking for the guests
going down as much as five or six storeys. |  |
 | New York, New York
(nowadays without Liza Minnelli) is lit up complete with its roller coaster.
Each of these 'skyscrapers' also contains bedrooms. |
| Just across the road is the Excalibur inside its fanciful Camelot
towers, with the Arthurian theme continued inside with life-size knights in armour mounted on horseback. |  |
|