Vegas in the Dark

Its been pointed out to me I need to update this blog, as its been a very long time and 2 Vegas Trips since I had.  And 3 months since I started this blog.

So here goes.

This time I got to go a day early because I got free airfare from Southwest, and then got a seriously cheap deal on the room. So here I am, Vegas on a Saturday night. The first room I got was a ginormous suite in the South Tower.

The only good thing about this was the view from my room. Here's the view right before Earth Hour.

And this is the view right after Earth Hour started

What is Earth Hour you ask? Well askerer, its this hippy drippy thing where to promote energy awareness, people where to turn off their lights for an hour. Incredibly symbolic, and incredibly dumb. One hour in the dark is supposed to help cure a problem that keeps being shown as a scam. Its the perfect Hippy Idea; Good on paper, totally stupid in practice.

Anyways, it was kind of weird to be out on one of the most lit places in the world in the dark. Tons o people where wandering around in the dark cause it was Saturday night on the Strip after all. As dark as it was, with all these masses, it was a a bit like the coming Zombie Apocalypse, but I didn't get to shotgun no one, darn it.

The Bellagio at night. Kinda weird for there to be no Fountain show.

It reminded me of that show on History Channel "After People".  Ya know, where everyone has been Raptured, and what will happen to all our stuff when we are gone.

Here's the Eiffel Tower all dark. The only thing that they kept lit were the emergency lights so no planes ran into in the middle of this. Contrast that with this pic:

Wow, you can see how big a difference it was. Here's the Paris Fountains usually:

 And here is the fountain during the Earth Hour.

See, totally weird. I was glad I was there to witness this. Didn't plan it, but sometimes what happens on vacation is better when its not planned.

My Day at the Bellagio

Slept in way late, then finally dragged my lazy buttocks off to get something to eat. This was done at the Paris Buffet. A fine buffet, but I sorely miss the Ballys buffet. It was the best on the strip, but for budget reasons was shut down.

Here i am outside the Paris. Great Nostrils, huh.

On to the Bellagio and Check out their Conservatory. The theme right now for is Spring, and truthfully I wasn't looking forward to it. I had been here last year and their Spring Conservatory was all butterflys. What I didn't know was while the themes stay the same, the exhibits change.

Side Views of the Bellagio Lake from there walk way.

Awesome mural on the walkway to the Bellagio.

The conservatory at the Bellagio is the huge open area right next to the check in area that changes out 6 times a year. I've seen all of the different themes except the Christmas one, and always is it something to see. I've seen "Spring" more than any other because, well, thats usually when I am here. While the themes stay the same, the exhibits they have change every year. This years, I have to say, is my favorite of all the Spring's I have seen. Sometimes it gets very claustophobic in there because they pack so much into the area. This time was just the opposite. Very open, clean, and just very relaxing. Four areas this time: A Zen Garden, Water Globes, A hothouse with butterflys they always have, and a fountain with a broken statue.

First The Zen Garden:





In the center was this wonderful area with lovely flowers and the awesome water blobes. It smelled heavenly.

The biggest area was this awesome simple fountain that was a basin with this broken head in it and water falling around it. Very Meditative, and reminded me of something you would see in an Buddhist Temple.

Just some other shots of the garden. Again, it was so much nicer than any other Spring Theme I had seen because it wasn't all cluttered.

Here is a link to my pictures from 2008 that shows last years theme. Pretty, but compared to this all junked up.

Vegas This Time

Welp here I am off to Vegas again. Lovely, wonderful, gaudy, Vegas. Been planning it forever, got a huge discount on both my room rate and my airfare. So here are some quick thoughts so far:

Got dropped off at the airport by my Bro and Mum, and had about a 2 hour wait. It was made very bearable by this:



Those are the chairs in the waiting area for Southwest. Free Wifi, comfy chairs with electircal plugs, and my fave Russian Energy drink in the vending machine. Sweet!!

Gotta say the flight was the emptiest I have been on in years. Had the entire safety row all to myself. Watched Swing Vote (***) on the flight on my I Touch. Not a bad movie, but it just frustrates me that in a movie like that, the person given the extraordinary opportunity is such a dumbass. It is always like that. Why is it never given to someone who can actually use it?

Got this pic as we landed.



Very sweet view of the Stratosphere as the sun went down.

Now, why is the cab ride from the airport to my hotel is $15 while the to the airport from my hotel is $12? Same distance, same amount of time. WTF Anywhoo, got checked in, cleaned up and went looken for dinner. Found this:



Hot Roast Beef with Swiss Cheese and Carmalized Onions on French Bread, with a great side of Red Skin Potato Salad. Total yum.

Ate, then wandered around a bit, then crashed. Was a long day. Now, Monday brings me Love . I saw it three years ago and loved it. Here's the weird thing: When I went to buy my tickets this time, you put in what level of ticket you want, and then it randomly chooses a seat in that price level. It chose the exact same seat I got when I went 3 years ago! WTF! How weird is that?

Anyways, more to come.