![[title of show]](http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b285/ShephardSummers/titleofshowsm.jpg)
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
When You Can't Get to the Real Thing
I beam fondly when I think back on our trip to Venice, Italy. It's the most magical city I've ever been to. I look at the photo above, and it brings back such fond memories of B and I strolling the calles and shopping and eating amazing food al fresco. Which... is actually interesting, considering the above photo is from the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas. 
Even their version of St. Marc's famous Campanile tower is eerily close. Ok, so the resort could never match the charm and richness and legacy of the real thing... but if you can't make it to Venice... this resort is a slice of that pie. Quite impressive really.
Their Rialto bridge.
Yes... even canals and gondoliers. 
Our French guests were bowled over by the sheer lengths to which these resorts go to approximate some of the beauty of these places. 
Inside or outside?(inside)
The interior ceiling is painted with Renaissance murals.
And there are of course lions... the symbol of The Venetian Republic.
And a very grand lobby.
And an even grander promenade.
Zoom to see the detail and color.
And shopping. No, I didn't buy this skull encrusted with Swarovski crystals.But according to our friends, George Michael did!
The yummiest red.
Not far from The Venetian... Caesar's Palace has a massive mall called THE FORUM SHOPS. Look at the statues and detail work. Amazing.
Almost the Tevi Fountains.
The mall interior... not like any mall you're apt to walk into in any other city but Vegas.
That's a circular ESCALATOR. 
There's a shop there that I always go into, because it's Swarovski overload. I marveled at the detailwork and the composition of this $5000 mirror. Which I did not buy. It wouldn't have gone with the skull anyway. 
We had so much fun showing our friends from France the gaudy, bawdy, tawdry city of Las Vegas. And I think they thoroughly enjoyed it too. We had a blast. . . shopped and dined and ooed and awed. And we didn't gamble once.More photos from Vegas and our adventures coming soon.
~Shephard :)
posted by Shephard @ 