Another Night Strippin'

George’s brother Thomas and his friend Linda came for a visit over the weekend. So of course, the four of us had to go the Las Vegas “Strip.” It turned out to be a very fun and long night.

The Strip was busy and crowded like we haven’t seen in quite some time. Apparently, the economy is approving. Or people are just slipping back into their old habits of living beyond their means just to have a little fun.

Either way...it was a fun night “strippin’.”

Very heavy and slow moving traffic along the Strip.

George, his brother Thomas and Linda at the Café Bellagio.

Spiegelworld is part of a touring varieté and circus show, which is currently performing on the grounds of Caesars Palace. http://www.absinthevegas.com/

A surreal world unfolds every evening behind these Roman columns of Caesars Palace. “Absinthe” is the alternative to Cirque du Soleil, another once alternative troupe gone mainstream. This little place brings some bohemian flair to the epicenter of pomp and glitz.

More from the “beer garden” of “Absinthe.”

From a subtle bohemian world right back smack in the middle of pure decadence. This is the hotel lobby of Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip.

The opposite end of the hotel lobby of Caesars Palace.

George, Linda and Thomas in front of Caesars Palace.

Here are George and I on the Strip, with the Eiffel Tower of the Paris Casino in the background.

George, Linda and I in front of the Bellagio, waiting for the next performance of the dancing water fountains.

Currently the absolute “it” place in Las Vegas, the new Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino.

Desert Snow

A lot was going on this weekend. On Friday, we have spent a nice evening on the Las Vegas Strip which included meeting some friends, having dinner and a few drinks. Ultimately, we ended up staying until the wee hours of Saturday morning. Something we rarely do. One will see the most curious people out and about in the casinos and on the Strip around 3 a.m.

The view of the Las Vegas Strip from the MGM Grand’s Signature Towers around 2 o’clock in the morning. Still lively and sparkly. Las Vegas truly is a city that never sleeps.

Despite our long night out on the Strip we got up fairly early on Saturday morning. But we couldn’t believe what we were seeing when we looked out the window. It was snowing. Were we still dreaming? Nope, there was actual snow falling in Las Vegas. In the desert. In April.

There’s a German saying: “April, April, der weiß nicht was er will” (April does not know what it wants). It basically means that weather wise anything and everything is possible in the month of April. Which is more than true for German weather during April. However, in the Mohave Desert it’s usually already nice and quite warm this time around.

And while the rest of Saturday was turning out to be a rather cold and dreary looking day weather wise, it would eventually turn into a rather inspiring and entertaining day cultural wise. That evening, George and I went to the Las Vegas Academy Theater to see “Dream.” It was a new play with music, loosely based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The metaphors of the current happenings in politics and society of today’s America were just gushing throughout the whole play. It was a very clever and well executed piece of theater.

An ad for “Dream,” the play we saw at the Las Vegas Academy Theater.

We were planning to check out a new bar but had it call it quits after the theater as we were just simply spent from the night before.

Sunday was spent rather leisurely. I suppose we needed to recuperate from all the excitement. Except for our walk in the park, some household chores and a little cooking it was a beautiful and quiet day.

First snow, then blooming cacti...just another day in Las Vegas. We saw many of these cacti at Pueblo Park in Summerlin.

I wonder what next weekend will have in store for us. Only four and half days to go to find out.

A Birthday in Vegas

Yesterday was George’s birthday. We celebrated his special day by doing some clothes shopping and getting See’s chocolate, a nice leisurely stroll on the Las Vegas Strip, and a nice dinner at the Bellagio. Most of the preceding week was rather cloudy and filled with chilly and gusty winds. Yesterday the sun decided to come out in full force. And boy, did it warm up quickly. The forecast for next weekend calls for temperature well above 90 degrees. Looks like the desert is once again skipping Spring altogether and heading right into Summer.

Below are some photos we took yesterday on the Strip.

The birthday boy at the atrium of the Wynn Resort on the Las Vegas Vegas Strip.

I call this photo “A Local Among Tourists.” This is me in front of the waterfall next to entrance of the Esplanade at Wynn.

The new Spring display at the Garden Conservatory inside the Bellagio Hotel & Casino.

A fantasy tree inside the Bellagio.

The Bellagio Garden with this year’s Spring display.

Art sprung to life. A “painting” made of real flowers.

George is enjoying the Spring show. We had a nice birthday dinner at the Bellagio shortly after this picture was taken.

More Of The Jimbo

It looks like Jimbo had a successful conference all week while being in our fair city. George and I met him again yesterday evening at the Bellagio. He had a light dinner and we enjoyed some gelato. Afterwards we wandered around the Bellagio, saw the new Christmas display at the resort’s garden conservatory, checked out some new glass art by Chihuly, and took in some of the dancing water fountain shows outside on the lake lining up the Strip.



Jimbo was leaving Las Vegas early this morning to fly back home to D.C. Safe travels! Below are some impressions from yesterday evening.


Actually, this was taken yesterday morning. Another beautiful sunrise in the desert.


Part of this years huge holiday display inside Bellagio’s garden conservatory.


The tall Christmas tree is circled by a moving miniature train.



Outside the Bellagio one can see the new Cosmopolitan resort and casino next door, which will have a soft opening next week and an official grand opening on New Year’s Eve.



This is me and Jimbo at the Bellagio lake, waiting for the next fountain show.



George and Jimbo in the presence of some mysterious orb hovering over the lake. Area 51 is just outside the city. Or it is just a speck on the lens. Nah, a secret government conspiracy sounds more exciting.

Thanksgiving in Pictures

The long Thanksgiving weekend was a welcoming change of pace. Even though we didn’t necessarily get much rest we did enjoy it immensely. We got a lot accomplished too, doing Thanksgiving-related things and not so Thanksgiving-related things. Like taking our car for its much needed service and tune-ups. Everyday life necessities do not stop just because there’s a long holiday weekend.

In any case, our Thanksgiving turkey dinner was a great success. The bird came out more than perfect. Eat your heart out, Martha Stewart. And it was absolutely delicious. All the trimmings, side dished, gravy and desserts were superbly delectable. All of our guests just gobbled it up and went for seconds. We haven’t had such a scrumptious turkey meal in a long time.

All in all, it was a wonderful long holiday weekend. We even ended up going to the Las Vegas Strip and checked out some stores at some of the casinos and the Fashion Show Mall. On Black Friday...of all days. But since we didn’t do any shopping we weren’t fazed by all the madness. The clientele at the Fashion Show is usually a bit more sophisticated anyway and so the mall wasn’t all-out crazy.

Are you ready for the next big holiday? I know I am. Not so much for the whole Christmas and New Years hoopla as we really don’t make a big fuzz about that stuff anyway. We don’t even decorate our home or anything. But I will have some vacation time and I’m really looking forward to that part. We are still hoping to get away for a few days. Don’t know where yet. Maybe we’ll find some last-minute travel deal to a nice warm place? Or we’ll spend a few days in California. Who knows? Even a staycation sounds fine to me. As long as I don’t have to come up with some brilliant design idea to make a concrete flood control channel looks pretty.

I will not even waste one single second thinking about work on my upcoming vacation. My European side of me will not allow that. My American side will just have to deal.

I know, what a predicament.

Below are some photos from our Thanksgiving weekend.

Thomas drove in from California to spend a few days with us. That's him and Mary, his and George's mother.


Yeah, yeah, enough with the picture taking already. When can we finally eat that darn bird?

Uh-oh, boys in the kitchen. George, Thomas and my silly self.


Mary and Alice enjoying a delicious turkey dinner.

Thomas and our “chick magnet.” Or so he says. Oh, those heterosexuals.

Inside the atrium of the Wynn Resort on the Las Vegas Strip. They were already heavily into the next holiday spirit.


The pool area at the Mirage, right next to Siegfried and Roy’s Secret Garden. One of the hotel towers of Caesars Palace is peeking out from behind.

Mirage’s tropical atrium, all decked out for the holidays. Are you ready for the next big one?

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

Another weekend came and went. Too quickly, I might add. But I’m not complaining since George and I spent a wonderful time.



It started right after work Friday afternoon. George was off that day, so I had the car and drove home to pick him up before heading to the Las Vegas Strip for our big event that evening. But first, we had some dinner of course. We went to this little gem of a restaurant inside Neiman Marcus at the Fashion Show Mall. One can easily miss the unassuming door to the NM Cafe. Once you walk through the door you’ll be surprised by its simple contemporary design with bright warm colors.


The Popovers are a Neiman Marcus tradition.


The menu list is short and slightly in the higher price range. But the quality of food and a comfy atmosphere makes up for it. We both ordered...drum roll, please...cheeseburgers with fries. We figured if they can turn something simple like burgers into a great tasting meal than everything else on the menu is a no-brainer. We were not disappointed. The angus meat patties were grilled to perfection and the french fries tasted divine. Nothing was soggy and had just the right crunch and amount of spices. As an appetizer, George also ordered a Pasta Fagioli soup which was extraordinarily tasty. As some kind of an Neiman Marcus staple, popovers are served before any meal. These light scone-like breads usually are served with either a chicken broth dip or strawberry butter. The strawberry butter is a treat in itself.



After our meal we wandered through the Neiman Marcus department store, marveling at their eclectic array of unusual Christmas decorations, Japanese wafers and certain art work being displayed throughout the store.





Then the event of the day was drawing ever so closer. And it was finally time to take our seats for the Diana Ross concert inside the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. The place was packed. Not one seat was empty. I didn’t know what to expect. She is now 66-years old and couldn’t possibly be the same whirlwind she was when I last saw her in the 1980s. Back then, I was still living in Munich and she performed at the Olympiahalle. It was one of most energetic concerts I’ve ever seen and Miss Ross blew the iconic tent-looking roof off the whole Olympic Stadium complex.



Well, I didn’t need to worry. She’s still got it. The stage production wasn’t elaborate at all, which was fine by us. A live band, backup singers, a few dancers and Diana Ross. What more does one need? We just wanted to hear her sing those amazing songs. And that she did. This lady can sing the blues. And the Motown hits. And the all the other hits that followed after that period of her career. One song after another she sang. One hit after another. The audience went wild. We’ve seen Cher, Celine Dion and Bette Midler in this venue. But never have we seen people jumping out of their seats and dancing in the rows and aisles in this place before. She was amazing. These so-called stars of today, all these little flavors of the moment, don’t even come close to the talent and professionalism that is Diana Ross. Now this is whom I call a true Superstar. And there’s still no mountain high enough for this diva...


Diana Ross, as she was performing one of many songs at Caesars Palace’s Colosseum on Friday, November 12th, 2010. (Photo taken from the Las Vegas Sun)


The rest of the weekend was spent very leisurely. For the first time in a long time we both actually slept in both on Saturday and Sunday. That rarely happens. Later on Saturday, we had one of George’s friend, who does landscaping work on the side, saw off the top half of our apple tree. It started dying off and we suspected some kind of fungus. We’ll see if that helps to rescue the bottom half of the tree which is still green and growing. We had some additional tree trimming, pruning, raking and cleaning up done.



We also did lots of walking in the park, some shopping and caught up watching recorded movies on television. Yesterday we got our flu shots. And a big turkey for Thanksgiving next Thursday, where we’ll have the family over for a big dinner at our house. There’s going to be a lot of cooking going on. And I can’t wait for the feast.



Gobble, gobble!

It's A Zoo Out There

Another week has passed and we have really nothing new to report. Work has been once again out-of-control and George was busy with his studying on top of that. I suppose we will be enjoying a nice quiet weekend and try to recover from a busy work week.


Or try to re-energize for this coming work week which promises to be another out-of-control one. But next weekend will be a long one, due to Memorial Day.


Finally, our last official holiday was New Year’s Day, for crying out loud.


George and I will be flying off to spend that weekend in Tucson, Arizona. To visit everyone’s favorite archaeologist, to be exact. We’ll be staying at Homer’s casa and also get to meet all the infamous kitties. And apparently now there’s also an infamous bunny.


It’s like a zoo out there!


Here are some random photos, taken on the Las Vegas “Strip” a few weekends ago.


The Miracle Mile shopping mall inside Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino


George in front of the huge facade of Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas “Strip”


Looking southwards along the Las Vegas “Strip,” with parts of the new City Center, New York-New York and the Mandalay Bay towers visible

Still Talking About the Weather

It looks like the weather forecasters got it right after all. After my ranting in my entry last Friday that the weather forecast is never accurate anymore, I was proven wrong. With a two day delay, the cold winds did in fact whip through the Las Vegas Valley yesterday. They did not bring the freezing temperatures as predicted, however it was cold enough for us having to turn on the heater.

So I do apologize to all the weather guys and gals out there. But maybe next time, work a little more on the timing of predicted occurrences?

On Friday evening we took our friend Margaret out for dinner. Even though her birthday is not until this Friday, we celebrated this special occasion a little early. We always have a good time chatting and catching up on each others lives. After a scrumptious meal we walked around the “Strip” and by the time we said our good-byes it was already 2 o’clock in the morning. Time flies when you’re having fun.

The “Strip” can be a very educational observance platform on human behavior. Especially on a Friday night or early Saturday morning. It’s interesting to see how people become completely different beasts, given that Las Vegas has the reputation to be one big party town where everyone can just act out. It’s a hell of a place for people watching. Who needs television and those stupid reality shows? It’s all right here...Live and in Living Colors. We love it!

Oh, about that little destructo-porn movie “2012” which I also mentioned in my last entry. It made over $225 million worldwide on its first weekend. Not bad for a gay movie director from Germany. We have yet to see this film. I guess people still love watching another epic destruction of good ol’ Mother Earth. And apparently they are pretty darn good at putting it into practice too.

Below are some impression from a fun-filled Friday evening on the Las Vegas “Strip.” And two pictures from our brunch that George made at home on Sunday morning. Sage breakfast sausage, sautéed onions and tomatoes, and melted pepper jack cheese, all wrapped up in a fluffy omelet. Served with hash browns, toast and freshly brewed strong coffee. Yum!

Are you getting hungry?

Maybe we should open a bed and breakfast yet.

A Grand Lux birthday wish

Black and white shopping at Sephora

Plumbing

Men’s room art

The reception area at Paris Las Vegas

Bonsoir

Night traffic on Las Vegas Boulevard

George was cooking a delectable Sunday morning brunch

It was absolutely divine...as usual