Spanish for "The Meadows?"

Have you been to Vegas? You have?

Why?

Even my best friend, who has spent many a weekend in Vegas, says the whole town is fake. And he's right! I took a walk down the Strip Wednesday afternoon. Here's what I saw:

• Venetian gondoliers paddling tourists down a fake Venetian canal spanned by fake Rialto Bridge.
  
• Guys handing out cards for strippers, wearing shirts that say "Girls in your room in 20 minutes."
• A lot of overweight people.
  
• The Eiffel Tower... well a 5/8 replica of such.

It was a spectacle, for sure. Here are the good things I can report on:

• The mountains, specifically the Spring Mountains and Mt. Charleston. I had an incredible view of this range from my hotel and let's just say I tried to keep my eyes there rather than on the Strip.
• The Bellagio Fountains. These were actually really cool. Though you have to wonder about any place whose best man-made attraction is basically a grand-scale version of something I once saw in a Cleveland shopping center.

Anyhow, I'm glad the conference I went to was wonderful. Really, I learned a ton and met some fantastic folks.

But the city itself? Blech. And to top it off, these casinos making money hand over fist? Yeah, my hotel also charged $30/day for the gym. FAIL.