Back from a Wedding in Vegas! - 2009-10-26 22:14:15
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It's only a model!
It was a quickly planned festival, but Jon and I scampered off to Vegas weekend before last to see Mike and Iris get married at the Excalibur hotel/casino. (Though actually almost everything in Vegas is a hotel/casino, so I probably don't need to add that.) I forgot that Vegas has spiffed up all the older casinos, so there are no knights in armor or tavern wenches wandering around the castle. In fact the only thing that you notice of the place being a "theme casino" is just the decor and not much else. Which is not a bad thing. And while you can find plenty of things to laugh at in Vegas it's still a perfectly acceptable place to get married without a lot of fuss.
Minus 5 at Mandalay Bay
One of the most amusing/bizarre things we did while killing time until the afternoon ceremony was to go to the
Minus 5 Ice Lounge. We were dithering about whether to try it or not - which of course made Jon go into "why of course we should do it!" mode. (Which always makes me laugh.)
You purchase drinks in advance (and an added entry fee I think, I can't remember) and then they bundle you up in coats and gloves (which they provide). Then you go in to the lounge itself:
"18 tonnes of ice have gone into the creation of this ice-cold experience. Everything within the ice lounge is made entirely from ice; the walls that enclose you, the seats that you sit on, the amazing sculptures that surround you and even the glasses that you sip our famous vodka-based cocktails from."
You choose your drink, they serve you, and then you stand at a table - made of ice - or sit on a couch - made of ice. And there's an Elvis ice sculpture, as well as several other statues, and some chandelier-like things hanging from the ceiling. And the place is
COLD. I knew I would be a wimp about it - what was funny was that the Montana folk in our group, who I was sure would be unphased by the cold, agreed that yes, it was damn cold. We were told that the cold could hurt our cameras - so we left them and all other gadgets in a locker (securely locked) outside. Jon of course brought his point and shoot, and so has some photos posted of the interior:
Jon's Vegas photos. He may add to that later - he only posted a handful in his usual "live, as it happens!" way of gadget silliness.
So not only did the ice lounge make the time fly by it also made us enjoy the warmth of Vegas more, once we got out of there. It's not something we'll rush to do again - but it's definitely something fun to do as a treat. (Probably great for a date because we were all cuddling up next to each other to stay warm. As long as you like your date, that is.) And what was so funny - on your way out of the cold area and back to the "normal" bar you pass what looks like a fireplace in a mountain lodge, with chairs around it and a blazing fire. Only you take a closer look - and the fire is actually a television screen with a continuously running image of a flickering fire. Stupidly I forgot to take a photo of that.
I put all the photos in a single set (
here), but in particular here are the things that made me say hmmmm....
Mystery house at Excalibur
I am still trying to figure out why there's a hobbit house (that's what I'm calling it anyhow) in the now-dry moat at the front of the castle at the Excalibur. I'm thinking there must have been some reason...years ago. Back when it was ok to waste water on a moat because the town was rolling in money, without a thought of conservation.
Ziggy at the Excalibur
Why why
why are there
Ziggy dolls hanging from the ceiling in the Excalibur's casino? I mean, I get the idea that they're prizes for something but why Ziggy of all cartoon characters?! I've always hated Ziggy - the comic has never been the slightest bit funny, and instead been the one strip that makes most everyone wonder "does anyone bother to read this?!" So not only are many people going to be uninterested in winning a Ziggy doll - it's also not a doll that's interesting to look up at. Because while there's nothing rude about the doll's anatomy, Ziggy still is wearing a dress and not any pants. Believe me, when you pass these dolls for the zillionth time on the way to somewhere else you start thinking about this. (Or it could just be me.)
Hermes at the MGM Grand
Apparently Hermes is the god of ice cream delivery. This was news to me, but apparently he's branching out from his commercial
work with flowers.
One thing I find fascinating about Vegas is the amount of statues and art that references works of art scattered throughout the world. And what confuses me is that the majority of the works of art don't have any plaques near them informing you of the originals. It would be nice to get some history as long as we're wandering around looking at things. Until I can get home and Google for more that is.
Egyptian statuary at the Luxor
I think this seated statue - one of a pair - is supposed to be a copy of the
Colossi of Memnon. Though I seem to remember that there's someplace in Egypt where they have four of those seated statues. I just can't remember the name.
Frieze at Caear's Palace
It kills me that I'm not coming up with a name for this frieze or the battle it represents. Because right next to it was another frieze of the
Rape of the Sabine. (Gold star for me and that classical education, heh.) So I'm betting if I recognize one I really should know the other one. So maybe it's a battle in the Trojan war? Bah, I'm going to have to ask my father and see if he has any ideas.
Fortuna can be found at Caesar's Palace
This is a statue of the Roman goddess
Fortuna - the hint is that she's holding a horn of plenty, also called a cornucopia.
Hallway in the Venetian
One of the more interesting things about the Ventian is trying to figure out what artwork is being copied from which Renaissance master. Unfortunately I have a fuzzy memory, so I can only look around and think "hmmm, that looks familiar" or "darnit, I wish I remembered more from those Latin classes."
Ceiling artwork at the Venetian
So while I can immediately guess that this is Venus, or perhaps a member of European royalty posing as Venus, I can't guess which master painted this. (It is a common theme after all.) I'm also rusty enough not to be able to translate all of "Ferro aeque sceptro potens." It's something about justice being able to rule - I think.
Ceiling artwork at the Venetian
This is also a familiar scene - with the rulers being portrayed as Roman deities. Again, I can't remember the artist who originally painted this.
Closeup of Ceiling Artwork
For some reason the detail that this woman has wheat in her hair (though it sorta looks like dreadlocks) really amuses me. (I'm betting she's
Ceres.) I'm also curious as to what the woman on the right is going to do, and whether that's a hat she's holding. ("Now put on this hat so you won't get your wheat all mussed.")
Gondolas at, you guessed it, the Venetian
I have to say that I do think the Venetian is one of the most posh of the casinos. Although the gondolas are even sillier than you'd think - they don't really have all that far to travel as the faux-canals aren't that long. But it does trump the original in that you don't see any trash floating in the water, and the water doesn't smell. That's one thing you don't realize about Venice until you get there - and it's not a pleasant smell either.
Mario Batali's Restaurant at the Venetian
I do highly recommend this restaurant: Enoteca San Marco. That tower-like cylinder thing is actually where they store cheese - and if Jon's to be believed it's a "
cheese cave." If you want to see photos of what Jon and I ate there, poke around in the
set of photos. It was extremely good. I won't make you drool by going into raptures over the desserts.
What all the fancy dress'd chickens are wearing this year
So if you buy a chicken suit...what do you wear on your feet? And what sort of store do you go to in order to find such footwear?
Just wondering - I did NOT buy the chicken suit.
I think they're made of glass.
I also didn't buy the frogs named Sonny and Cher.
Oh and I should add that Jon and I were particularly happy to meet up with everyone in Vegas to celebrate because we got married there ourselves five years ago October 30th.
The whole set of photos can be found
here.
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