Livin’ the Vegas Life (not really)

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Sunset as seen from Stratosphere Tower

NOV 19, 2015 – Since I had decided to start my roadtrip through US National Parks in Las Vegas, I felt like I almost had to spend a night there. The city is a caricature of the American mentality – everything is possible if you got the cash, bright and shiny is beautiful, and fake is okay. In Vegas, you’ll find lots of fake boobs, lips, and people in general, but also a fake Eiffel tower, fake streets of Paris, and a fake statue of liberty. And many shopping malls have a fake sky to suppress people’s urge to go outside (and stop spending money). I stayed at Stratosphere hotel, which saved me the entrance fee to the city’s highest observation tower. In the evening I went to see Cirque du Soleil’s Zarkana show, which was a very impressive mix of many art forms: Apart from good circus artists and funny clowns, the show featured crazy stage settings and good live music, and everything was blended together to feel like a coherent narrative. Later that night, I walked through the Strip and visited the Mandalay Bay hotel, which had a good rock cover band playing. Overall, I didn’t notice that it was a Wednesday night – Las Vegas is always alive. Nevertheless, I was glad to leave it the next day, and not have to walk through mazes of slot machines and shops any longer. (As a sidenote, my total investment in gambling amounts to $2.)

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The Strip at Sunset
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My addiction to neon sign photography, continued...
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One of many cheap-looking motels along the Strip
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This one was a disappointment, they didn't even have nice postcards
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Wanna get married? Sure, no problem! We accept all major credit cards.
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Stratosphere Hotel
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Slot machines at the Mandalay Bay
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Fake Paris
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Fake Eiffel tower (only about half the size)
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The monorail (surprisingly useless as most stations are hard to get to)

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