A colleague and I went to a national education conference in Las Vegas last week. Somehow my summer has turned out to be crazy-busy, almost as busy as the school year is. Between major summer projects going on at work and some voluntary home improvement projects going on at home, I'm not really getting the lazy, low-key summer the teacher legend says we get. The only difference is I don't have to greet the kids at 7:45 a.m. during the summer; I can sleep in a bit. So, the conference in Vegas turned out to be my summer vacation. I know, I live on the edge.
We decided to make it our challenge to find cheap evening entertainment in Vegas. Long gone are the days of $5.00 all-you-can-eat buffets and 2-drink-cover comedy shows, at least on The Strip. The cheapest shows we could find were $20.00. Bummer. So, instead we aimed for free. In a city where back-row-balcony seats for the popular shows can run $80.00, there is plenty of
free to be found. We managed to stay out until well past my bedtime without spending a dime. (Granted we did skip gambling. Big money savings there. And I'm not counting the cost of dinners and drinks. Those things can be hugely entertaining as well depending on where you go, although not exactly cheap. There are food courts a-la-shopping-mall if you need cheap eats too.)
We were staying in the Venetian. Turns out this casino/resort is amazing for free entertainment. This summer they had a Carnevale celebration going, a lot of bonus freebies. We spent one whole evening walking around and checking out the offerings. The Venetian complex is gorgeous. I know these days it is one of the "older" casinos, but it is definitely well worth the visit. After spending five days in the Venetian and walking around to some of it's neighbors, the Venetian is quite impressive.
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| Some random ante-room on the way to the hotel suite tower. It looked like it could be some alternate check-in area. I loved it. I would love to see it as a swanky cocktails reception area. |
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| The famed Grand Canal shopping area. Gondola rides are pricey, but it is free to watch and listen to the gondoliers sing. This is a picture of the turn around point at the end of the canals. |
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| The Waterfall between the Palazzo and the Grand Canal shops. This was the location of several of the free performances we watched. |
Vegas abounds with shopping areas. The shopping around the Grand Canal is very tempting. Buying wouldn't coincide with our self-imposed challenge. However, window shopping is free. We stopped in several art galleries. I really liked the Venetian mask shop. There is a wide variety of high-end shopping for anyone with expensive tastes.
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| LOVED this shop, Bauman Rare Books. They have an amazing display of rare books, documents, and signatures. A must-see for any bibliophile. At the time of our visit they had an exhibition of Revolutionary War documents. |
As we walked around the Grand Canal and St. Mark's Square area, little shows took place in multiple locations. The following pictures are only a couple of the things we saw. There were living statues in several locations. A group of jugglers and singers gave a 30-minute performance on the Grand Canal Shoppes stage while we ate dinner at Mario Batali and Joe Bastianci's Otto Enoteca Pizzaria. They were followed by the trio. On the performance stage by the waterfall, the piano trio performance pictured below was just the first of several. They were followed by a performance of the Carnevale parade characters, followed by a marionette show.
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| In the area called St. Mark's Square |
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| The performance stage at the bottom of the waterfall. We watched from the balcony on the second floor. |
The Venetian's website says this is their second annual Carnevale celebration. It is fun. I have been to the Venetian previously, and the Carnevale atmosphere does add to the whole experience. At check in Carnevale characters are walking around greeting customers and pointing the way to check-in. An accordion players performs by the fountain. The added shows with the celebration make free entertainment abundant.
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| My colleague with the Carnevale character that freaked her out. She didn't like the large looming head. |
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| This guy had a naval ship on his head. There were lots of different characters: spaghetti dinner headdress, fruit, flowers, a birdcage. |
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| Carnevale characters waiting around a corner for the parade to start. One guy spotted me taking a picture and waved. |
I posted creepy reveler's picture on FB, and confirmed that I am not the only one freaked out by him.
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