What’s the plural of Elvis, anyway? On the Las Vegas strip I saw three, two talking to each other. Frankly, that doesn’t seem right and it kind of blows the illusion. When the one in the baby blue jump suit is three blocks away from the one in the black rhinestone jumpsuit, it looks like a costume change. But when the one in the rhinestone jumpsuit is talking to the one in the white jumpsuit with the jujitsu jacket, well… Elvis can be in two places at once, sure, as long as they’re not right next to each other.
Also, the Alladin? Not so good. Cute, but no Venice. And Paris? Wow, that was impressive. The Luxor? Not bad. Excalibur? Craptasitc, as advertised. We took the monorail back to the hotel, walking past a place where you can test drive a Hummer over fake terrain to experience the challenges of four wheel drive. Nope, it’s not a dealership, you just get to drive a Hummer for the fun of it – for about ten minutes.
At the Greek restaurant where we ate dinner, Angelo, the waiter, got quite eloquent when I asked him why he would leave Greece’s beautiful coastline to come to Las Vegas, of all places. He told me that I would only understand if I knew something of the world, something of history, and then mentioned Nazis, civil war, crushing poverty…It was the realest thing I’ve experienced since arriving in Vegas.
That’s the thing about Las Vegas. You can’t expect real from it. It’s a cartoon city with charicatures for people, at least when you’re on the strip. You were right on track with the $10 cocktail thing.
I hated Las Vegas but loved the Grand Canyon.
You know, a good book for the Greek thing is ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin’ … different to the movie they tell me.
Yeah, the thing about Las Vegas is that there are a ton of people living there, just trying to make a life. Like LA. It may be known for the film industry, but there are a ton of other people, just trying to make a life.
It’s not always easy to get a job.