"veni, vidi, yelpi"
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7689 Useful, 5293 Funny, and 8653 Cool
San Francisco, CA
Yelping SinceDecember 2005
Things I Lovehappiness, freedom, love, peace
Find Me Ina quiet little star system in the Milky Way galaxy.
My Hometown37 46 36 N 122 26 44.5 W
My Blog Or Website When I'm Not Yelping...I teach computers to be self-aware.
Why You Should Read My ReviewsThey are made fresh daily.
My Second Favorite Website The Last Great Book I ReadThe Secret Door to Success, by Florence Scovel Shinn
My First ConcertSupertramp
My Favorite MovieCasablanca
My Last Meal On Earthwill be delayed as long as possible.
Most Recent DiscoveryOracle 11g
It's just like North Beach, then! Our quest for Chinese food took us to the Imperial Palace, but the Italian restaurant inside turned out to be perfect for us. It was decorated like an Italian wine cellar, with the tuns of wine in the walls, old columns, the barrel vaulted ceiling. Like we were deep inside a hillside. Brick walls exposed through plaster finish. A mural of Venice, for some reason. It reminded me that everything on The Strip is a copy of something else.
The pizza was great. The menu had all kinds of Italian food, and it was a very pleasant experience. Dinner for two came to about $35.
After walking from the Sahara to the MGM Grand, I reaffirmed that the Bellagio is the place to be. OK, Caesar's Palace and Harrah's also make the cut. The Bellagio has an artistic flair that I don't see anywhere else.
Like the massive collection of huge Chihuly glass flowers in the overhead lighting in the lobby. Like the harvest festival in the conservatory. Like that crystal obelisk just between the conservatory and the arcade. Art everywhere.
The harvest festival exhibit in the conservatory took some time to comprehend. There were huge pumpkins, real ones, 850 - 999 lbs. each, all over the room. Great lighting, fantastic trees and fountains. One tree was animated, and it said its sole purpose was to make the guests smile. "I can see that I am successful," it said, as it surveyed the happy crowd. There was also a miniature of the Bellagio, with its own dancing waters fountains. I loved it!
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(888) 987-6667
Fountains of Bellagio
Categories: Performing Arts, Local Flavor
They play every 15 minutes, and it's a different musical score every time. It's great to watch the water at play, and to see in it echoes of the Busby Berkeley girls. OK, it's computer-driven, but the water pumps are huge. There's an impressively big BOOM that comes out of the pumps when a tall wall effect is called for in the "choreography."
After a mother with young children told us this was not a children's show, we eagerly anticipated the next sinking of the pirate ship. They sink it and haul it back out of the water four times a night. I felt it was a great show, for free. Nice dance review, really. Interesting innuendo in the dialogue, and I don't think those children understood it, Mom. Awesome heat blast when they blow up the town.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(888) 227-2279
Victorian Room
Categories: American (Traditional), Chinese
Outside, one of the specials on the giant marquee advertised a $9.99 "all you can eat" Chinese lunch. Inside, after a brief wait with a slot machine to keep us company, we found a special menu that was a prix fixe Chinese lunch for $9.99, with soup, fried rice, a fortune cookie, and a choice of ONE entree. As we looked at the quality of the food coming out of the kitchen, we decided to select something else from the main menu.
A turkey wrap and fries, a mushroom swiss burger with fries, coffee and tea, came to $33.47. Not a deal, but a meal. I must say the waiter was quite entertaining, though. He didn't know whether to be rude or accommodating, and kept shifting between two personas.
This was a big deal for us! We were on an early flight home on a Monday morning, so it was nice to have breakfast before we boarded our plane. A grande Awake Tazo, a bowl of oatmeal, a tall nonfat latte and a danish, as well as a bottle of Fiji water for the plane, cost $16.27.
Las Vegas, NV 89119
(702) 261-5211
McCarran International Airport
Category: Airports
Kinda like The Strip, which has grown all the way down to the edges of this airport. My opinion is kind of biased, because we have taken Southwest in and out of here, so the total experience has been sweet every time.
Paradise, NV 89109
(702) 730-7954
Starbucks Monte Carlo
Category: Coffee & Tea
In a fantastic city that is known as the entertainment capital of the world, the Monte Carlo Casino was less than impressive. We had expected something much more spectacular. If this was, as the other casinos were, a replica of the true-life experience, then Monte Carlo would not be on my Grand Tour itinerary.
It was almost a relief to find a little food court in the back of the casino, near the hotel lobby, filled with American concessions. Starbucks was there.
We ordered a grande Tazo shaken tea, a tall nonfat latte, and a raspberry tart for $9.95. As we enjoyed our snack in a common dining area -- this was a real food court, like you'd find in any mall -- we planned our escape to the next casino.
Las Vegas, NV 89103
(702) 871-8300
Cashman Photo Enterprises
Category: Photographers
Soon after we were seated at the Top of the World, Barbie came up to the table and offered to take portrait photos of us. My Lady pointed out that we didn't have any recent pictures of me, as I am always handling the camera. Oopsie.
In a few brief moments we had posed for several portraits, and then we returned to our arriving appetizers. Later in the meal, we perused the proofs and placed our order, and we had a beautiful souvenir folio ready to go before we left the restaurant.
Now the portraits adorn our apartment, and not only do we have a touchstone to remember our romantic lunch in the sky, we look great! It's good to have a photo with both of us in it, looking happy.
Prices vary according to what you order, of course. We ordered an album and a folder, something like 3 pictures, for $73. Cashman Photo is all over the country; there are a ton of listings in Las Vegas alone.
Date

Decades ago I learned to gamble at Harrah's, and the experience has colored all my views of Nevada. High payout slots, yes! And a buffet I can count on. I find the food excellent, the variety incredible. The era of $5 buffets seems to be over, but this place still draws me. Keno in the dining area. Waitstaff that genuinely wants me to have a nice day. Food that I can understand. $47.54 for 2 people wasn't the bargain that it used to be, but it didn't hurt the experience at all.