Back From Vegas and Still Scratching My Head

Veronica and I arrived back home last night around 11PM. It was a long day of flying and airports. I have been trying to figure out how I could accurately describe Las Vegas and I came to the conclusion that there is no easy way to describe it. There are areas that consists of really over the top opulence. The buildings/architecture are really nice. Many are made to look ancient but because they appear so perfect that it comes across as being rather fake. It was really a whole different world out there. Lights, noises, people everywhere you look. Food prices were outrageous. We had to really look around to find anything reasonable. Most of the reasonable places had to be driven to by taxis, which were also expensive. The constant sounds of the casino slots ringing everywhere. It was quite an experience. I have never seen so many huge and beautiful hotels in one area in all my life. Even with my bum foot, I was able to walk quite a long ways up the strip and back. Our hotel, The Palazzo was a fantastic place. The room was great. In several of the hotels, the Palazzo and the Forum at Caesars Palace to name a few, they had the most high dollar shops that I have ever seen accumulated in one place...Cartier, Tiffanys, Harry Winston, Louis Vuitton, Rolex...on and on it went....from jewelery to clothing to shoes to lingerie and off course the restaurants run and owned by the most well know names in the culinary world. Our hotel even had indoor and outdoor Gondola rides. Some of it was truly amazing. There were a few negatives...too many people, too high prices for basic items like soda and food and the worst was this....while walking down the streets you would have to go through this gauntlet of up to 12-15 people...both males and females holding these cards and programs in their hands.....they would slap these cards somehow so that they would make a loud snapping sound as they thrust them into your face...actually into every ones faces no matter whether they be a male or female. They had these "gangs of hawkers" all up and down the strip, usually in groups of no less than 6-8 people. Of course they were handing out cards and papers for some of the "seedier" clubs in town, but the way they tried to advertise these establishments was a real embarrassment for the city of Las Vegas. I did get quite a number of photos which I will be sharing as the days go by. Unfortunately I did not take my good camera and the one I took had some trouble handling low light scenarios so please forgive me if some photos are not of the usual high quality. I am not really a large crowd type of person nor am I much of a gambler, so there were a lot of things that I didn't like about Vegas. On the flip side though...I would like to go back one of these days and take in a few additional shows and maybe take a Grand Canyon tour. The weather was not bad while we were there. The temperatures were in the 80s....in the summer it can get up to 110-120f. I was told that there was actually snow in the city this last January, so that might be a good time for us to go back....at least when it is a little cooler.
Below are just a few of the many photos that I took. Below are photos of the outside of the Palazzo and the Venetian....sister hotels that are basically hooked together. Many more photos over the next several days.


This was inside of the Palazzo. There were many high priced stores and restaurants along with musical and street performers.

Here are some photos of the inside of our suite

Here are a few of the views from our suite window. There was a golf course and several swimming pools down below and the mountains on the horizon.