How to Plan an International Trip: Travel Tales and Tips : NEVADA HOLIDAY: LAS VEGAS Day 5 Bellagio, Caesar's Palace

DAY 5: Monday, December 19, 2011

We went to the garage to take our car and return it to the rental office. Some idiot had damaged it. The security told us an old couple had seen it happening and reported the guy's car license plate no. but he refused to share the details. He also misguided us saying we had to make a police report. We went to the police station but they told us we can't make a report. We had to settle with our insurance at the rental. All quite annoying but we decided to put it out of our mind and go on with our life. What else could we do??

Las Vegas Strip:

We started on our visit to the lovely hotels on the Strip. Our hotel Flamingo circled in red in the map is right in the center of the famous Strip.

The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of South Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip is 4.2 miles (6.8 km) long,and sits immediately south of the Las Vegas city limits in the unincorporated towns of Paradise and Winchester but is often referred to simply as Las Vegas.

Many of the largest hotel, casino, and resort properties in the world are located on the Strip, known for its contemporary architecture, lights, and wide variety of attractions. Its hotels, casinos, restaurants, residential high-rises, entertainment offerings, and skyline have established the Strip as one of the most popular and iconic tourist destinations in the world and one of the driving forces for Las Vegas' economy.

The Sahara is widely considered the Strip's northern terminus, though travel guides typically extend it to the Stratosphere 0.4 miles (0.64 km) to the north. Mandalay Bay, just north of Russell Road, is the southernmost resort considered to be on the Strip (the Klondike was the southernmost until 2006, when it was closed, although it was not included in the Strip on some definitions and travel guides). The "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign is often considered part of the Strip, although it sits 0.4 miles south of the Mandalay Bay and Russell Road

Here we are outside Paris--Eiffel tower in full view...love the limo as well.

BELLAGIO:

Outside Bellagio... Inspired by the Lake Como town of Bellagio in Italy, Bellagio is famed for its elegance. Bellagio was conceived by Steve Wynn of Wynn resorts which is one of the finest in the world.

This is the sunroof dome.

Bellagio has won the AAA Five Diamond Award twelve years in a row, from 2000 to 2012; it was the first Strip hotel to receive the award ten or more times in a row.

This is the famous Chihuly ceiling at Bellagio lobby.. Dale Chihuly's Fiori di Como, composed of over 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers, covers 2,000 sq ft of the lobby ceiling. The artist's glasswork is included in more than 200 hundred museum collections worldwide. He has been the recipient of many awards, including eleven honorary doctorates and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.

This is the entrance to Bellagio conservatory.

There are five horticultural shows every year coinciding with seasons.Each year more than 5 million visitors, 15,000 -- 18,000 per day, take time out from gambling, clubbing and shopping to experience the floral extravaganza in the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.

The Bellagio has 120 people working on its horticultural staff in the conservatory. This doesn't include the numerous employees from engineering, electrical, water design and more who all help contribute to the final product of these seasonal shows which are never the same every year. Each seasonal show is put up in just 7 days...The logistics of the show change-outs are staggering. Over the course of seven days, the staff of 120 works 24-hours a day to transform the 13,573-square-foot conservatory.

From January to mid-March, the Conservatory celebrates the Chinese New Year with bromeliads and Orchids, as well as the animal of that particular year that the Chinese zodiac celebrates. The theme then changes over to the Spring display, which lasts until May, and features a butterfly house as well as tropical flowers. During Memorial Day weekend, Bellagio then switches over to its All-American Summer display, featuring a large recreation of the Liberty Bell, as well as several American flags throughout the Conservatory.The Summer display is usually very patriotic featuring a lot of red, white, and blue, and is dominated by hydrangeas.

Bellagio holiday theme well represented with flowers

From late September until Thanksgiving weekend, there is Fall display featuring several varieties of chrysanthemum and several large pumpkins throughout the display. The Conservatory switches over to its winter holiday display after Thanksgiving, which is dominated by its large centerpiece Christmas Tree and several varieties of poinsettia. Whatever the season, colorful displays are decorated with many real fragrant flowers, and fountains…

The "hose" fountains forming arches here.

Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art is a pleasure to walk through...In addition to the numerous works of art found throughout the public areas of the resort, Bellagio also houses a special exhibition space displaying art work on loan from various museums and private collections from around the world. Swarosky crystal tree here...

Originally they displayed the personal art collection of Steve Wynn, now it is a rotating exhibition space after he sold his hotels in 2000. Pretty trinkets here

Grinch at the pastry eatery--the gelato selection is great. So is the chandelier and the decor.

Chocolate fountain—yummy.

Here we are waiting for the Bellagio fountains to perform. This $40-million, 8.5-acre lake is a lovely water feature between the building and the Strip, which houses the Fountains of Bellagio, a large dancing water fountain synchronized to music. The lake is not filled with treated greywater from the hotel. The lake is actually serviced by a freshwater well that was drilled decades prior to irrigate a golf course that previously existed on the site. The fountains actually use less water than irrigating the golf course .Rushing water soars as high as 460 feet from a total of 1,214 water-emitting devices...

Every 30 minutes between 12 noon and 7 p.m., and every 15 minutes until midnight on weekdays water display with a network of pipes with more than 1,200 nozzles coordinated with more than 4,500 lights. The fountains cost $40 million to build.

Aahhh ... here they go...

never the same... as there are many choreographed musical routines.

The collection of 32 songs ranges from Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli to Elton John and Faith Hill, Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” The Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” and Glenn Miller’s “In the Mood. They incorporate

it was 13* during the day..crisp and cold..

Caesar's Palace

This is one of the many lovely sculptures at Caesar's Palace. The hotel has been built by Roman contractors.

The sky ceiling is a welcome relief.

Roman street

We watched the show, the Fall of Atlantis--decent animatronics show (on the hour, every hour)...but falls way below Disney standards...

The tale begins with King Atlas trying to decide whether his son or daughter should take over in ruling Atlantis. Both brag about how one's ability is better than the other. The sister waves her staff and shows off her water power. The brother waves his torch and bursts of flames erupt all around him. ...

The decision falls out of the father's hands . The other gods show their wrath and cause the Fall of Atlantis. A 20 foot beast with wings appears from behind Atlas' throne and watches the destruction of Atlantis.

Boy's paradise here. Son has a huge collection, still is glued to any such display!