Vegas = Money + Mojito's

Where to start when describing a place like Las Vegas. I'm not quite sure any description really will incapsulate it all. It is a 5 tier experience, this place affects you by smell, sight, sound, taste and touch, not to mention how mental you feel at times being there.

We arrived in Vegas about 10.30pm which was about 1.30am due to the 3 hour time difference. Coming in on the plane at night was was pretty incredible. Seeing all those lights and tall buildings flashing non stop, with a big strobe light coming off a pyramid hotel that beams brightly into the sky. We got in the Taxi and drove behind the famous Vegas strip to get to our hotel. Even looking at the strip from behind is pretty extraordinary. We first came across the hotel Excalibur which is a replica of the Disney Castle, moving onto the hotel New York, New York which is basically the outline of the New York skyline including the empire state building and the Manhattan bridge. Then we saw the pyramid hotel which was the Luxor, with the light beaming out into space. We could not wait to explore the other side, the real side of the strip.

We arrived at our hotel, Treasure Island (TI) and checked in. To our surprise they had upgraded us from a normal room to a suite! We started heading to our room and realized how true and sad this gambling concept is here in Vegas as we had to walk through the TI casino to just get to the elevators to take you to your room. And along that short stroll through the incredibly annoying high pitched digital sounds of the slots, comes that hard to breathe environment from all the people smoking ciggies and cigars while loosing all their money hoping the next dollar will bring them fortune. As an ex-smoker, I cannot believe we all used to be allowed to smoke in pubs and restaurants many moons ago. It is disgusting, yet all the casinos in the hotels allow this even the ritzy ones and yet none really smell like smoke when you walk in.

We got to our room and the first thing I think Tim and I both saw was the big bed! We have not slept on a big bed since we left ours back home and we have truly missed it. Next came the amount of space we had in the room, along with two bathrooms and a spa and all for $49 a night. I think it is fair to say that it has been one of the best hotel rooms and beds we have ever come across!

Just as we got to our room, the famous Siren's Cove pirate show was on outside the front of TI and the window of our hotel room looked down on it, so we watched while sipping our first of many cocktails. We got to bed around 2am Vegas time which was 5 am our time and back up early the next day to explore the strip.

 

THE VIEW FROM OUR ROOM BY NIGHT

 

BY DAY (complete with Navada desert background)

Vegas = Venice + Vino

Upon our first day exploring we started with the Venetian which so many people had told us about. It was literally across the road from TI and it was such a huge beautiful looking place. Outside the Venetian is a bright blue canal with tall tanned singing Italian boys rowing the Gondolas that start outside and continue on inside the hotel. The architecture of this hotel was amazing, every little detail was just exquisite! The whole time we stayed in Vegas Tim loved walking past the Venetian as they had speakers outside on every lamp post blazing out Phantom of the Opera because it was showing inside in one of the theatres as you can see from the poster high up on the picture below.

We ventured on inside and of course the first thing you sight and hear upon entrance is the flashing lights and high pitched squeals of the slots and it does cause the beauty you just witnessed outside to fade somewhat...until you look up at the roof and see this magical ceiling brightly painted and magical.

We headed up stairs to the main part of the hotel and as we arrived on the second floor, it was like the elevator doors opened to another universe, almost like a section of willy wonka's factory, only not chocolate but shopping! As we walked on with mouth continually open in awe, above us was the ceiling painted as sky, and it looked so real and almost like it was moving. It alluded me so that I started to feel quite sick trying to watch it. Not only was the ceiling meant to look realistic, but the facade of every shop was made to look like your typical Italian streetscape shopfront complete with beautiful arch windows and balconies. As we strolled down the cobblestone corridors of this inside/outside miniature version of Venice we couldn't help but wonder how close was this to the real thing. There was entertainment happening on every corner, from human statues to a small performing troupe of jugglers, singers and musicians. It was incredibly surreal.

 

  

Trust me, this Corona action was so big that it was nearly taller than the juggler on the left and the human statue on the right! Well maybe a little bit exaggerated but it was one of the biggest bottles of beer we have seen. Pictured below are some Italian versions of a toffee apple. So many different varieties and flavours and so big. Two hands were definitely needed to hold up this delicacy.

 

The canals with gondolas inside the casino and shopping complex believe it or not were actually on the second floor. What an engineering feat that must be. All the shops and restaurants line the banks of the water and we could already see that we were going to enjoy a beautiful meal here one evening before we left sitting and watching in awe of this special place.

Vegas = Celine + Cirque

 

For those of you that do not know the reason we went to Vegas, it was because I bought Tim tickets to see Celine Dion for his birthday. Now Celine in Vegas has been a concert Tim has always wanted to see as he considers her to be a 'world-great' vocal phenomena! And I think she is pretty good too!

These tickets to Celine are rare and hard to come buy, you have to book at least 6 months in advance and I was very lucky to score some. Now these tickets are worth a small fortune. Lets just say front row seats at her concert would equal a months worth of my wage, however if you can afford these seats I suggest do it, as you will get your moneys worth! Celine interacts very personally with those audience members that she can reach, so all the front rowers were entertained on a more personal level by Celine!

I will let Tim speak in detail of her concert, but I will just add that for those of you that don't like Celine's songs, would still love her concert as this new show is more about her as a person, singer, wife and mother complete with slideshow of her life (and yes her without the glamourous clothes and makeup) with her children, husband and sister. I knew a bit about her life story but there were things I didn't know like her learning English at 15 years old because of Michael Jackson. She did sing a medley of the well known songs, which kind of got them out of the way and they were first up. But then the rest of the concert she sang Jazz numbers, a French number and she sang a few numbers where she scatted in them. And then there was her tribute section. It was just incredible.

Now before I sign off here and let Tim explain the detail, I have to mention the dresses! I am so convinced that Celine would look good in just about anything and I hate to estimate how much each of her dresses cost her for this show, but she had 9 costume changes throughout the concert and each one more elegant than the previous one!


TIMS BIT

There are some performers that we are lucky enough to hear/see/experience in our lifetime. Legends of their craft. They can be singers, actors, comedians, dancers etc etc. There are some that we never get to see at all because they were either not in our generation or geographically and financially we can never have the opportunity to experience them live. In the singers category I have been lucky enough that I have been able to see some of the all-time greats. From Pavarotti, Bocelli and Brightman to Sting, Elton and Michael Jackson. There are still many more that I hope to see in the future, but one which rated highly on my to-do list was to see Celine in her specially built coliseum at Caesar's Palace. To be honest I am not the most hard-core Celine fan. There are some songs that I really like and then there are others that I might turn the radio station over because of the commercialism, but there is no denying that she has one of the most unique voices ever heard and boy can she hit a note and hold it. I really wanted to see how she could sing some of those mega ballads live and what a kind of effect it would have as an audience member. And let's face it, the facts don't lie. A five-year contract at Caesar's Palace, 3 million audience members, $400 million in ticket sales. This French-Canadian must be doing something right.

We decided to go out for dinner at the Venetian beforehand at this beautiful Italian restaurant right in the middle of the main courtyard right beside the canal. It was a perfect start for what was to be an incredible night.

I was so excited when Mel had told me she had brought me the tickets for my birthday. It was really an out of the blue present and a really special one knowing the experience we were going to have in Vegas but also a concert we could both share together. I couldn't wait to see Celine in her element. Her own coliseum. Who gets that? I can only dream ... maybe one day.

The theatre itself was massive. One of the largest auditoriums (that wasn't a sports stadium) I have ever seen. I was told by the usher that it seats over 4000 people and that blew my mind even more knowing that she had sold out this concert 3 months in advance.

The next hour and a half we were treated to one of the most perfectly structured rollercoaster performances, it had everything. Ups and downs, highs and lows. On stage was a 30 piece orchestra/band that were placed in one moving rostrums. They would break up into sections and magically roll away into the wings when not needed and then slowly reappear during introductions of songs they were playing for. It was seamless and very effective. These musicians were incredible and I'm sure are the absolute cream of the crop. In amongst all of her well-known power ballads that everyone was wanting to hear she also showed off her eclectic musical styles from a soulful Ella Fitzgerald jazz quartet set, to a Michael Jackson tribute complete with choir. She also did a Bond theme song medley which was very sexy and then sat down to sing my favourite Billy Joel song 'Lullabye' to a photomontage of her children projected onto screens around the theatre. Of course she sang her well-known songs like only she could, belting out some of the highest notes and holding them for what seemed a lifetime. I don't know how she does it considering her petite frame. I'm sure some of those costumes have some mega whalebone corsets going on, to help her diaphragm.

The show came to a close in typical pop style as she belted out River Deep Mountain High ( not that much better than my little sister) but she did have the crowd rockin. She took her bow and left the stage and the big red curtain closed. We all knew the night had not finished because she had not sung her signature tune. I was really hoping though that they would not going to roll her out on the front of the big boat. They had done such a good job to not make the show corny or commercial like every other spectacle on the Vegas strip. It didn't need to be cheapened by a giant Titanic. The music started up and the crowd went wild as the curtains opened. Thank goodness it was just her in a magnificent ballgown standing in the middle of the stage singing My Heart Will Go On at the top of her lungs. Just as she started the key change in the last chorus the floor started to lift her up metres into the air as a cascading waterfall surrounded her in a perfect circle. The water was falling from the roof and lasers projected some incredible images onto the water. It was spectacular and perfectly fitting for the end of the show. It literally did take you're breath away. It was an amazing performance from one talented lady. There was only one exit for the entire 4000 audience members so you got to hear a lot of the feelings and emotions as people left. Suffice to say there was not one dry eye and even the hardest of gambling men were gobsmacked. As were we.


Cirque du Soliel - 'O' and 'Love'

I am also going to let Tim write about the Cirque shows, but I just want to put a bit in here about 'LOVE', the Beatles Cirque tribute show. WOW is all I can say. We originally were not planning on seeing this show until Bernie Haldane encouraged us to and I am so glad we listened. This show was like watching a Fantasy movie right before your eyes, it was interactive and very clever! Every detail of this show was beautiful, and effective in every way. When I looked at how they made certain effects with the simplest of objects, it made me appreciate the creativity people have, but at the same time, you kind of kick yourself because your thinking 'how come I never thought of that'. I'm sure those who are in theatre would do this especially! I don't quite know if I will ever love another cirque show as much as this one! Oh yeah and Sammy, this show had a pretty outstanding skate segment. I reckon the race is on to see if you or Tim are the first to get into to Cirque!

TIMS BIT

I really don't need to explain how much I love Cirque du Soleil and how excited I was to finally get to see 'O' probably one of their most famous shows. We knew there was so much to do in Vegas so when we heard that the cirque shows featured twice a night we thought why not do two on one night! So we booked in to see Love the Beatles tribute by cirque at 7:30 pm and then 'O' at 10 pm. It was going to be one crazy artistic evening.

Mel's comments above are exactly spot on. Thank you so much Bernie for you recommendation to see LOVE. Of course the soundtrack and music was going to be great. I'm a big Beatles fan and I was really intrigued to see how cirque would interpret their songs into a visual spectacle. Well it was an absolute extravaganza for the eyes. It was probably the most creative piece of work we have ever seen. The way they were able to encapsulate the theme, era, meaning and characters from songs that were written over 40 years ago was so clever. There were moments where the performance on stage was very cirque-esque with acrobatics, gymnasts and aerial displays all combining to groove along a Hard Day's Night, then there were other moments where it was very simple and projections of the Fab four were shot up onto curtains surrounding the audience making you feel like they were just down there on the stage playing Blackbird.

I'm not going to go into too much more detail about the show because for the whole hour and a half it was literally a no holds barred performance of colours, sounds, sets, costumes, characters and daring feats. It was almost too much because it had everything and anything, but it really did leave you wanting more purely because you wanted to see what else they could create. Just quickly some of our favourite moments were the volkswagon beetle that appeared throughout the whole show, incredibly broke up and flew apart into different pieces right in front of our eyes and definitely the rollerblading landscape section that made us think of Sammy. Mate, you would have loved these drop-ins.

This post is getting a bit long so I'm going to add a little bit of visual stimulation here for you. as you enter the foyer area of 'O' in the Bellagio, there is an exhibition of sculptures that were made of some of the Cirque performers. They were beautifully crafted and the detail was incredible. I was very tempted to buy one as a souvenir until I saw the pricetag of $30,000! enjoy the pictures Mel took.

Cirques 'O' is the odd one out in all of their shows. It is the only one done in water. And when I say water I mean this show takes place in, around and above a 1.5 million-gallon pool of water! There are 85 performers that vary from acrobats, synchronised swimmers and divers as well as musicians of course. One of the incredible things about the show is the platform stage but rises and falls within the pool that you actually can't see. It doesn't leave a wave or a wake as it moves because there are hundreds and thousands of little holes drilled into it. So all of a sudden someone could dive 10 m off a piece of set into the water and then seconds later another performer runs across the top of the water in exactly the same place that someone just dived into. It really plays with your mind and you are constantly sitting there wondering how much of a technical, logistical and creative nightmare it must have been for the stage managers. There were the typical Cirque du Soleil acts like contortionists, trapeze artists, clowns, Russian swings and aerial hoops that all incorporated either diving in and out of the water or creatively dancing on top of the platform or in the water synchronised swimming wise. They even had two gentlemen come out and do a fire act on top of the water which was very clever. As I was watching the show I couldn't believe how long some of the performers could stay under the water. They would often dive in and stay under there for minutes before reappearing and continuing on with their act. I then read that all of the performers are certified scuba divers and there is underwater communication systems and regulators as well as safety scuba divers that helped the artists stay underwater and breathe until it is their time to come back up. Once again, so clever and another visual extravaganza. What a shOw!

We shall never forget these three incredible shows that we had the opportunity to see. It is true to say that only in Las Vegas you could possibly see these things.

Vegas = Burberry and Beer

Not much to say here, the title says it all!

Vegas has about 4 main shopping complexes that are huge and extravagant. Two of them are our kind of shops; cheap affordable brands and the other two are your designer label - Prada, Gucci, Dolce and Gabbana and Burberry. The designer label shopping is still very expensive and although we looked through it we did not dare enter into the shops. We stuck to the more affordable ones and the shopping is just amazing, cheap and variety galore. We often had to stop to rest. We didn't buy many clothes but we did buy a lot of hats, Tim his beloved fedora's and my Cloche's.

I guess what blew us away the most was that in Vegas you can shop and drink all at the same time. I don't mean sitting in a bar in a shopping complex and having a beer, or daiquiri, I mean buying your alcoholic beverage of choice from a counter in the middle of the complex or even from anywhere outside along the strip and walking into Prada while sipping your beer, trying garments on with a beer in your hand. It was too bizarre. Tim reckons it would make men more interested in shopping. I wonder how many people make intoxicated purchases they later regret.

In each shopping complex there is some kind of display. For example in one there is a rain storm that happens every hour and water falls like rain from the ceiling and there is wind, thunder and lightening. In another shopping complex there were these lame mini statue shows like Sammy seal at Smorgy's. Tim of course loved it because it involved fire and smoke and all those things that the male inner boy loves!

We stumbled across a real estate section in one of the shops and were absolutely amazed at how cheap it was. As you can see by the picture, a simple 3 bedroom, 2 bath is under $100,000. Anyone want to go halves?

Tim's first music video release

BEYONCE EAT YOUR HEART OUT

While Mel and I were strolling down the Miracle Mile Shops in Planet Hollywood we came across this booth where I could sit in front of a green screen and the camera could superimpose my head into whatever music video we chose. Always wanted to shake my bootay. Well, actually, that's not my body just in case you may have thought otherwise. Las Vegas was very hot and we both did get a tan, but not that much!

Madame Tusades