Viva Las Vegas, Post 4: A Vegas Sunday

On Sunday morning we headed off to the union meeting, the details of which we'd been given by the family Megan and Justin had stayed with in Vegas the previous month. It was at Alan and Julia's house, and afterwards we were invited to stay for lunch, along with 6 others. Despite this being the first time we'd met any of them, we had a wonderful visit and in fact have been invited to stay at Alan and Julia's when we return to Vegas (which we hope to next year)!



After lunch, Alan and Julia (in the foreground in the above pic) took us for a drive - the only time we left the Las Vegas city limits while we were there. We had hoped to visit Red Rock Canyon and the Hoover Dam during our stay, but this turned out to be a bit too ambitious and we didn't make it to either place... there was more than enough to see on the Strip alone; plus we'd ended up seeing three shows in two days! But since A&J knew we wanted to see the Hoover Dam, they set out to take us there - in quite a rush as we didn't have long before the afternoon gospel meeting.



As it turned out, we only got as far as Lake Mead, and from there the traffic was already backed up waiting to get through security at the dam (apparently quite strict since 9/11)! So this is Lake Mead, a manmade lake in the middle of the Nevada desert...







Then we rushed back to the city just in time for the gospel meeting. Afterwards, we were introduced to Errol and Glenna - Errol is Australian and grew up around the Kingaroy area, but Glenna is American and they have lived in the States for many years. Although we hadn't met them before, they know a LOT of people we know, and we also know their daughter Heidi, who now lives in Queensland! So they invited us back for dinner and we had yummy burgers and a fantastic visit with them. Looking through their visitors' book was amazing - in it were Ben's parents, his aunt and uncle, Glen M, Lincoln H, a couple from NZ whom we met in Austria, and many more people we know!!!



After leaving Errol and Glenna's place quite late, we headed back to the Strip as we still had not seen the Bellagio Fountains in action, an absolute Vegas must-do. It was incredible!! Every 15 minutes from 8pm to midnight (and every half hour during the afternoon), the large pond in front of the Bellagio is transformed into the scene of a stunning water show, with "dancing" fountains choreographed to various songs. The song was a classical one for the performance we watched properly, but we also overheard Faith Hill's This Kiss while in the area. Here are some photos of this magical sight...







But even better, here are some videos...

Video 1
Video 2 (the better one)

Amazing, isn't it?! We took the videos for you, so please let us know what you thought! :D

After the song finished, we went across the road to have a look inside Paris Las Vegas. From the outside it looks amazing, but we weren't quite as impressed by the casino floor inside; it looked a bit weird with one of the Eiffel Tower's legs disappearing at ceiling height! We didn't go up the Tower as it was rather late by this time (and it also costs - just like the real one I guess!).







Then we went into the Bellagio to explore their indoor Conservatory and Botanical Gardens (really, these casinos are something else!!). It was gorgeous - an old-fashioned (decorative) ferris wheel all lit up, little water features, lovely flowers, and a collection of colourful exotic birds (who were all asleep since it was after midnight). It was not a large garden (about the size of a house or two), but it was extremely well done - and apparently they change it regularly.



In the entrance nearby, there was an amazing display of coloured glass plates on the ceiling...



And maybe some of the above explains why the Bellagio was one of our favourite two casinos on the Strip (the Venetian was the other one; refer to previous post)! :)

On our way back downtown to our hotel, we stopped at the Little Chapel of the Flowers, one of Vegas's famous wedding chapels. We saw a lot of them, but this was the only one we got a photo of. (We also saw ads around Vegas for "Half-price Lawyers - Divorce $600"...)



The next morning we flew home. And that was our fantastic four nights in Vegas! :D

Photo album links:
Album overview page
Slideshow starting from Sunday