I'm serious, you have to go to Vegas...at least
once. For better or worse, there is no place like it anywhere else
in the world. Of course Vegas isn't the only city of its kind, but
it's the biggest. A giant adult playground, Vegas is a fictitious
city where you can find the entire world in one place, well... sort
of :-) Where else can you walk a few city blocks and get to see New
York, Paris, the Northern Italian lakes, and Venice? (I'm sure everyone
who wrote about Las Vegas asked that question). In Venice you can
even take a gondola trip through artifical canals and be serenated
by the gondoliers (for less than in real Venice). The Bellagio has
reproduced Lake Como which lies right across the street from Eiffel
Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. The Mirage has a volcano, erupting
every 15 minutes from 7 p.m. to midnight. Treasure Island has pirate
ships. Illusion is everywhere.
Needless to say, the big draw of the city is Las Vegas Boulevard,
better known as "The Strip". Its style and decoration range from
classy to tacky and everything in between. The pop culture
capital of the US, Vegas is kitsch but it can also be fun. And
yet ... there is something distinctly sad about the spectacle of
gambling, which pays for everything. There's a lot to do in Las
Vegas besides gambling but the end result of the majority of Vegas
fun is an emptiness that forces you to question some of the values
of the western world.
I find myself getting tired of Vegas pretty quick and after a couple
of days I want to move on, see things that are more real. The good
part is that one can find these places right around the corner from
Las Vegas. Within a relatively short drive one can see Hoover Dam
and about 5 hours further west is the spectacular Grand Canyon.
Death Valley in California and Bryce Canyon NP and Zion NP in Utah
are also reasonably close and very beautiful.
Still, I believe Las Vegas is worth seeing at least once, due to
the sheer size of it all.
