Remembering the day the world changed
Remembering innocent people who died 10 years ago today and the day the world became a less safe place.
I was on an aeroplane at the time (the last flight into Cape Town before South African airports were closed), and I landed having had no idea what had just happened. When I turned my phone on, I had about 10 voicemails from family checking that I was ok. Thankfully nothing happened on our shores, but not so in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
It still shocks me that there are people that will willingly cause so many innocent people to die, for no other reason than to spread fear and terror.
Please spare a thought for our friends in USA commerating the day the world changed.
Las Vegas at night
Vegas never sleeps! You can walk onto the strip any time of day or night, and there are people walking around, street performers and traffic.
This street performer is one of the best acrobats I have ever seen. I can only assume that he used to work for one of the Circ de Soleil shows, because he was astonishing. I could not believe the positions that he put himself into.
The strip at about 10pm on a Sunday night, note the bumper to bumper traffic. I also love the hotel on the top right; it reminds me of the matrix.
This hot air balloon is outside the Paris hotel, one of the Vegas landmarks.
These retro signs are found outside many of the casino’s. It really reminds me of the old James Bond movies.
Finally, the entrance to Bally’s Hotel. The red lighting continuously merges into different colours, so you can probably shoot whatever colour you want if you have patience.
Venetian, Las Vegas
Of all the hotels in Las Vegas, the Venetian is one of the most realistic. You can visit St Mark’s Square, walk over Rialto Bridge, and even stop in a sidewalk café for drink before dinner.
To do something a little different, I am going to post pictures of the real Venice, and the Venetian in Vegas.
Gondola’s in Vegas
Gondola’s in Venice
Just like the real Venice, you can go for a ride on a gondola,and just like in Venice, they are going to charge you for that!
Rialto Brodge, Vegas
There are however a few differences. The Rialto Bridge is a road bridge, and you can ride moving sidewalk up the bridge. And while I can’t confirm it, I suspect that the bridge in Las Vegas is much longer than in Venice.
Rialto Bridge, Venice
The water in Vegas is chlorinated, and it does not stink at low tide (ok, there are no tides in Vegas). And in Vegas St Mark’s Square is indoors, so no getting wet in the pouring rain we experienced last year in Venice.
St Mark’s Square, Vegas. This square is indoors.
St Mark’s Square, Venice
Like most places in Vegas, you probably want to walk through the hotel and perhaps have a drink at one of the café’, and get a break from the chaos and noise of the strip.
Fremont Street
Fremont Street contains the world second biggest TV screen, reaching over 450m long over your heads, which shows a short show every hour at night. We saw a Queen show, showing live footage and music videos from Freddy Mercury and Queen. Quite fitting seeing as Freddy would be 65 today. When they do the shows, which are only about 10 minutes long, all of the surrounding lights are turned off.
The street contains the old Vegas signage which is featured in the old Vegas movies, TV series and music videos (think Elvis, James Bond and U2).
I am sure that you recognise this Cowgirl. And yes I know, in Vegas sex is everywhere.
In the past cars drive down Fremont street, but now it has been pedestrianized.
There are three stages, each paying different music, and they are all free, so grab a Margarita and head on down for some live music and entertainment.This was one of the 80′s pop band.
And here is a 80′s rock band (the theme for the month was 80′s). Situated about 5 miles from the main strip, it is just as busy, but far cheaper, even cheaper than a meal in Cape Town.
There are plenty of celebraties there, including stormtoopers and a suite of Disney characters. I doubt that any are official, but they all will swap a photo for some cash. 2-3 hours is probably long enough to take in the street, but a different experience to the main strip and worth a visit!
Hotels in Vegas
Now that we are finally home and (mostly) recovered from our trip, I have managed to get my photos in order, so the next couple of posts are going to be a catch up of the trip. Starting with some of the hotels on the “strip”.
The Strip, or more correctly Las Vegas Boulevard is the main drag in Vegas where everything happens. If you stay in Vegas, you should try to stay on or really close to the strip. Most of the hotels are on the strip, and certainly the big theme hotels are there.
Here are just some of the hotels that I passed on a couple of walks.
Starting with Paris, which contains a scale model of the Eiffel Tower which is approx 1/4 the full height, which is still several stories high. There is a viewing deck on the top level which provides great views of Vegas. Note the traffic at about 10pm on a Sunday night.
Next up is Bally’s, where we stayed. Bally’s is connected to Paris by a short walkway containing a few shops and restaurants. At about $40 per night, Bally’s is one of the cheaper hotels on the strip, but you pay for everything, including $3 per day for the honour of using the hotel safe. But still good value for Vegas.
The Bellagio is across the road from Bally’s, and it contains the famous water fountains, which play in time to music every 1/2 hour or so. The fountains, which shoot higher that the hotel are pretty impressive to watch.
Further down is Caesers palace, which is built to look like ancient Rome, complete with a Colosseum and Pantheon, and “Forum Shops”.
Treasure Island is home to regular evening ship battles as the “Sirens of TI…lure a band of renegade pirates into their cove with powerful and captivating melodies”. The show is a little cheesy, but well it is free.
Last on my list is the Venetian hotel, home to the Blue Man Group, one of my top shows. The entire hotel looks like Venice, complete with St Mark’s Square, the Rialto Bridge, and gondola rides.
Having being in Venice about a year ago, it was remarkable how similar this hotel is to the real thing. Notice how the docking poles are even a little bent, as if they had been in the Grand Canal for a long time.
This is just a selection of the hotels, but you can easily spend day walking around just looking at the hotels.
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