Vegas, baby

So, since my blog has taken a turn for the whiny of late, I will tell you about my trip to Vegas, which was really nice and lots of fun.

I've mentioned before that I don't really love Vegas.  I've been once before, and my strongest memories were of inflamed sinuses from the cigarette smoke and the whore peddlers handing out trading cards on the street.  Yeah, those things were still there.  The cigarette smoke is pervasive, and I felt vaguely headachey the entire time we were there because of it. I guess the good news is that it kept us out of the casinos.  I'm not really a gambler anyway, but I was not inclined to spend any time sitting in a haze of smoke while losing my money.

But other than that, I really enjoyed our trip, and I think a weekend is just the right amount of time to spend there. 

We stayed in the Bellagio, which is fantastic.  Our room was gorgeous and I wanted to bring the entire bathroom back home with me.

We saw three shows while we were there: Love, Absinthe and Mystere.  Love was really the reason for the trip and it did not disappoint.  It was simply fantastic.  If you are a Beatles fan it is a must-see. There was so much going on that I would go see this show again just to catch everything I missed the first time around.

I'd heard that Love is different from the typical Cirque show, and some people don't care for  it because it is more about the music than the acrobatics.  So we made a last minute decision to see Mystere when we found discount tickets--just so we could experience a classic Cirque show (because we had never seen any Cirque shows before this trip). 

I really did not care for Mystere. I thought both of the other shows that we saw were infinitely better. I can't put my finger on why I didn't care for it.  It was weird and abstract--but so was Love.  The Love music was definitely better.  The Mystere music felt a bit dated.  There is a bit with a giant baby in Mystere that I just thought was dumb.

Finally, Absinthe. It is a fairly new show in  a tent in front of Ceasar's.  We had heard about it before we left and were interested but didn't know if we would have time to see it.  But on our first night we were walking by and tickets were available, so we made the spontaneous decision to check it out.

Absinthe is vulgar, obscene, offensive and fantastic. We both really liked it (DH said more than LOVE--and he is the Beatles fan!--but I would probably put it right behind Love.) If you are offended by racial or sexual humor, don't see this show--it is really, really offensive to people of all races, colors and sexual orientation.  And multiply the Hangover 2 by 10 to understand the obscenity.  But it was really funny, and the athleticism of the performers was amazing.  There was a tiny 10 foot diameter stage, and it was astonishing what the performers could accomplish there.  It's also a very small venue--we were only 3 rows back--and I doubt there was a bad seat in the house.  I highly recommend Absinthe, with the caveat that it is offensive and if you are sensitive you should skip it (and definitely do not take your grandmother).

Other than shows, we shopped, we ate, we wandered around.  The spiked milkshakes at BLT Burger in the Mirage are definitely worth checking out, but I thought the food was mediocre.  The service at Cabo Wabo in Planet Hollywood was the worst I have ever encountered anywhere. The breakfast buffet at Bellagio was eh--nothing was warm, hard to justify the price. Room service was cheaper--and I do love eating in bed in a hotel room! Didn't try any high end restaurants--fancy food is not really out thing.

I'm glad to be back home and I think I can wait another 8 years to go back. By Sunday afternoon , we were both kind of bored. But I'm glad we went--it was a much needed, relaxing weekend.