Sunday 5 and Monday 6 July Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS.....

Business had not been so good on the July 4 weekend, it was only expected to bring $128 million !!

Maybe the Topless vampires went on strike or the "little people" (quote from the BP chairman) ran out of money..

Or maybe the Sin City brewery ran out of beer..

I was lucky because I had a Sin City Amber and a Hefe Weizen at the Mandalay Bay bar.

The new Hotel Casinos are quite impressive. I walked through the Encore Wynn Hotel and stood amazed at the luxury, thousands of metres of precious rugs inlaid into marble floors, exquisite furniture and art, a very tasteful decoration and many cozy corners to sit and poner your losses in the casino.

Treasure Island offers a street performance in which two life size pirate ships do battle over the heads of the spectators, complete with gunfire and a music performance. The Fashion shopping mall next door is home to the best designer stores and restaurants.

At the Sahara and other casinos, roller coasters run right through the building. The shows are booked solid, no way to get tickets for the Cirque Du Soleil, David Copperfield is still there and other shows cater to nostalgia like the Rat Pack.

And Elvis lives.....!

Temperatures were around 110 F at noon and several sidewalks are sprayed with cold mist to cool the strollers. Nobody has ever heard about an energy crisis, nor global warming, nor water shortage...the show must go on.

If you would like to see Paris or Venice..., come to Vegas. Here you can get closer to the Eiffel Tower and you don't need to learn French!

I was surprised to see so many college age customers and so many middle aged women gamblers.

At night Vegas remains lighted up like a christmas tree and you can walk from your room to gamble a little at any hour of the night and find plenty of company.

The fireworks on July 4 were impressive, as expected.

It was fun to be there a few days but I look forward to leave Sin City in the morning. Despite so many people it is difficult to talk to someone. Everybody is too busy living his own personal phantasy to bother about others. The only communication is with the gambling machines.

Maybe Vegas is a window into our future???