I’m sure most of you have either been to this city or have already heard so much about it from friends and relatives who have had the opportunity to visit. Although my siblings and I have been to Las Vegas many times before, we decided to hold our family reunion there because our Cebu-based younger sister flew in to celebrate her 70th birthday with her daughter, who resides there.
Las Vegas used to be part of a vast desert with many oases concentrated in the area where the city is now. In the early 1700s, many Spanish traders traveled to that location, and one of them, Rafael Rivera, gave it the name “Las Vegas,” meaning “The Meadows,” as there was an abundance of wild grass in the oases.
Of course, these days, the city is far from being a desert, as it is now an internationally renowned major resort city, known by its many monikers—The Gambling Capital of the World, The Entertainment Capital of the World, America’s Playground, Sin City, The Marriage Capital of the World, and many others. Its casinos and entertainment venues are the reasons the city receives an average of approximately 45 million visitors annually.
Apart from the casinos, visitors flock to Las Vegas because of the internationally acclaimed shows presented by the different hotels. During this visit, I would have wanted to watch David Copperfield at the MGM Grand, but tickets were all sold out on the evening that my siblings and I were available. So we settled for the Carpenters Tribute at Planet Hollywood. I should have taken a bow at the end of this 1.5-hour show because I was singing the whole time. They were all my favorite songs, all top hits of the famous sibling duo.
I was surprised that Cirque du Soleil’s O is still showing at the Bellagio. I remember in the year 2000, I brought my children to Las Vegas for our summer vacation, and we checked in at the Bellagio so that it would be easy for us to watch this show.
It was really an amazing visual experience, as the mammoth stage was transformed into a real pool in a matter of seconds and brought back to being a dry stage also in the blink of an eye. The circus acts and acrobatics were out of this world! No wonder the show is still popular now.
There were many other Cirque du Soleil shows running in the other hotels, plus tributes to Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, and Tina Turner by performers who sound and look like them. I would have wanted to watch these, but my siblings and I were busy with other family bonding moments, which was the reason for our Las Vegas visit.
We did have the time to enjoy Fremont Street, a famous thoroughfare in downtown Las Vegas, as it was the original “Las Vegas Strip,” where the big and famous casinos in the 1950s were found, such as Golden Nugget, Binion’s Horseshoe, El Dorado Club, Fremont Hotel and Casino, the longest-running casino in the city—Golden Gate Hotel and Casino—and many others. This street has now been converted into a canopy-covered pedestrian tourist area, still with these casinos in operation, but peppered with many restaurants, souvenir shops, and street performers. A zip line traversing over the entire length of the street is also available for adventurous tourists.
Somewhere outside the downtown area is the High Roller, the tallest ferris wheel in the entire USA. It is 550 feet tall and has 32 capsules or cabins, each accommodating a maximum of 40 passengers. A complete turn of the wheel takes approximately 30 minutes, and an admission ticket costs US$67 each. Once inside the capsule, one has a breathtaking panoramic and dazzling view of the city.
The latest attraction in Las Vegas is the very colorful The Sphere, located off downtown and connected via bridgeway to the Venetian Resort Las Vegas. Inside, it has venues for concerts or large gatherings, including a theater showing a 1.5-hour 4D presentation, Postcard From Earth. This is projected on the highest-resolution LED screen, which also allows attendees to experience the sensations of the on-screen action, like a bumpy ride, changes in the weather, moisture of a rain forest, a cool breeze, etc.
At the Atrium, there are also interactive exhibits and five individual robots you can converse with. Looking at The Sphere from the outside is also entertaining as its dome is continuously lit up with all kinds of colors and other interesting visuals.
These many attractive and interesting sites compel me to share with you the details of my visit. There’s no way I could follow the popular mantra, “What happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas,” because the city’s mesmerizing colors have to be appreciated and its supercharged energy vibe has to be experienced. Viva Las Vegas!
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