Vegas!

OK, so I guess we'll tell you some about Las Vegas, for the benefit of those who haven't been there before. This was our first time in Vegas, so we weren't quite sure what to expect. I think the best way to describe it is a city that offers everything on an exquisite scale.

The casino hotels along "the strip" are large, extravagent affairs, many with elaborate themes in their interior and exterior styling. A perfect example is where we stayed, the Venetian. It's a hotel which, as you might guess, is themed around the city of Venice, complete with St. Marks Square and gondalas running up and down the Grand Canal which winds through the middle of the shopping plazas.

Absurd, greater than life statues, gimicky attractions and bright neon signs have been something of a continuing theme along the old Route 66. Las Vegas kind of took that same concept and ran with it in overdrive. The city has just about any other oddity we have seen on our trip beat by a hundred fold, though perhaps lacking some of the charm.

People say Vegas is the sort of place you either love or hate, but I think we both loved it, and we didn't even have time to more than scratch the surface of it. The nickname "Sin City" is maybe a little unfair. It's much more than a casino town; it's a show town, a restaurant town, a shopping town, a fun town - and certainly one that doesn't take itself seriously. And you can legally walk down the street carrying a glass of beer

Who go to Paris, bring Paris to you.

The volcano explosion in front of the Mirage

The famous water fountain show in front of the Bellagio

A replica of the Rialto Bridge. It has moving walkways to take you across, of course.

Gondalas on the Grand Canal

St Marks Square

Though gambling isn't really our thing, we couldn't go to Vegas and not gamble at all, so we ventured a few singles on the slots (are they still slot machines if you don't put quarters in them?). Just to prove it is possible to beat the bank, we ventured $8 and left with $10.50...