Thursday, November 23, 2006

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Monday, November 20, 2006

Ceilings of Las Vegas

I spent this past weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada because a very good and generous friend of mine gave me a ticket to see Barbra Streisand at the MGM Grand. She's always been my favorite singer, and it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to go, so I went! I was last in Vegas nearly ten years ago, and I was astonished at how much it has grown. The number of huge casinos that have gone up since I was last there is remarkable. Hotels big enough to be cities by themselves, such as The Venetian, New York New York, Paris Las Vegas, The Bellagio, and the Wynn dot the Las Vegas Boulevard, or the strip as everyone calls it.

Barbra was fantastic. Her voice is still as golden as it ever was. The concert was definitely worth the trip.

I don't drink, and I don't gamble, so after awhile Vegas is a little wasted on me. I spent most of my time marveling at the size of the hotels and guessing at their cost. A friend of mine once told me that the most difficult and costly part of a building was the ceiling. I have no idea if this is true, but I found myself looking at the ceilings of every casino I entered. I've included some pictures of the best ceilings I saw. If anyone ever asks you, you can now say that the best ceilings in Las Vegas belong to The Paris Las Vegas and The Venetian. The MGM Grand Lobby is a close second.

A ceiling at The Venetian.
A ceiling at The Venetian.
A ceiling at the Paris Las Vegas
A ceiling at Paris Las Vegas.
A ceiling at Paris Las Vegas

Saturday, November 11, 2006