Half Around The World In 80 Days

Tuesday September 21st sees me bid farewell to the Canadian Foley outpost and fly southwest to the capital of kitsch in Las Vegas, Nevada. Many people hate this place but I think it is just magic. To me it seems like one giant amusement park that keeps going night and day. The hotels are so large that they call themselves 'resorts', and every one is built around a theme. For instance I stay in the downmaket (i.e. cheap) Circus Circus which has clown motifs everywhere and has its own circus ring with acts performing all day long. Some other themed resorts are shown in the photographs below.

As a place to visit Las Vegas teems with free entertainment; pirates battle with the British Navy in Treasure Island, fountains dance at Bellagio, dragons breathe fire at Excalibur and in Freemont Street the entire street canopy become a video screen after dark. As for eating you can gorge yourself for half-nothing in 'All you Can Eat' buffets, but after two days I never again want to hear the words 'Prime Rib and Shrimp Dinner'.

Gondoliers ply their trade at The Venetian; indoors, upstairs, in electric gondolas!

Eiffel Towers above the Academie Nationale de Musique in Paris, Las Vegas

Fire breathing dragon scares me senseless at Excalibur

Paris By Night

The sky comes alive in Freemont Street