23 April 2007

Vegas, Baby

Just got back from 3 days in Las Vegas. Five of us were celebrating the 35th birthday of a very good friend. As the tv commerical will tell you, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." But I can tell you a few things:

1) See "O" at the Bellagio. It will be worth every penny you spend for the tickets. It is a complete enchantment. This is a production of the Cirque du Soleil for which they created and built a special stage. The stage in and of itself is fascinating. Sometimes it's simply a solid surface and other times it gives the illusion of people walking on water and other times, it is deep enough to entertain high divers and scuba divers!

2) Trattoria del Lupo at the Mandalay Bay serves excellent pizza and pasta by the chef and restauranteur, Wolfgang Puck. Through the glass window you can see the fresh pasta hanging like laundry from the drying racks. The prices are very reasonable.

3) The Buffet at The Wynn. I'm not usually one who enjoys a buffet but this is exceptionally good featuring standing rack of lamb encrusted in spices, prime rib, a Chinese station, an Italian station, a cold seafoods station, a dessert station (with loads and loads of bite sized selections), and more that I'm sure I've forgotten. It is $40 per person but take your time and enjoy it and get your money's worth.

4) Shopping at the Venetian -- many of the stores you would see in an upper-middle class mall but with a canal and gondolas and opera singers and street performers. When you walk into the shopping area, look up. The lighting and the painted ceiling will convince you that you are outdoors. Secondly, take a deep breath, and that too will convince you that you are outdoors. The air seems like fresh outdoor air, not the typically stale air inside a mall.

5) The fountain water show in front of the Bellagio is fantastically beautiful. The streams and jets of water dance in coordination to the music and runs every half hour in the evenings. It's romantic. Especially when the vibrant crescent moon hangs just so in the sky, just left of center of the hotel itself in the background on a clear and lovely evening.

6) Pamper yourself at The Bathhouse spa at The Hotel at Mandalay Bay.

The rest, I'm afraid, really needs to be left unsaid. ;-)

No comments: