Our first impression and the the King drama are past us, the first breakfast is in the stomach. So we hit the road and explore the many facets of Las Vegas. By day and by night.
Las Vegas Boulevard
Las Vegas in January is just perfect. Not a cloud in the sky, the sun is shining and yet it is pleasantly cool, namely a fabulous 12 degrees Celsius - I refuse to state this here in Fahrenheit. Let me tell you, the weather is superb.
Las Vegas Boulevard is commonly referred to as The Strip and stretches 6.8 km from Mandalay Bay in the south to the Strip in the north. Along it are numerous luxury hotels such as the Luxor, MGM Grand, Belagio, Caesars Palace, Venetian and the Wynn. The Hotel New York New York is located relatively south and thus rather at the beginning of the Strip. Personally, I would even say that this is where it all starts, but I'm sure the hotels further down have a different opinion.
On Friday evening we gave ourselves - not accepting the first impression - around 12 o'clock (0 o'clock) to the hustle and bustle on the same strip. Dazzled by the ultra-high resolution and inconceivably huge LED screens, we stroll along the light-flooded street. The range of stores and restaurants, bars and nightclubs is gigantic, and probably too gigantic for two overtired tourists like us. Almost like moths, we flutter after the light, are dazzled, but fortunately burn neither money, nor ourselves.
In daylight and with wide-awake eyes, the world here looks quite different. And when I say the world looks different, I mean it. Because in a few hours you can actually walk once around the globe. And that's exactly what we do. We immerse ourselves in the most diverse cultures and architectures of the globe, or at least in an American idea of them. It's all unexpectedly detailed and well-made. But in the end it is kitsch and fake and doesn't really do anything but decorate massive shopping malls. It's all fake, but it's beautiful.
Schritt für Schritt bemerke ich, dass mir Las Vegas gefällt. Es ist im Grunde genommen wie ein riesiges Disneyland für Erwachsene. Es ist sauber, die Gebäude und deren Einrichtung sind penibel geplant und thematisch ausgearbeitet, überall läuft Musik. Selbst auf der Straße muss man damit rechnen, dass einen Rihanna aus einem zwischen Kakteen versteckten Lautsprecher ansingt. Eventuell ist es aber auch die Sonne.
Food
On Friday evening, after the rather disappointing start at the hotel, we had still gone in search of something to eat. In a city like Vegas, no problem. However, the already mentioned overwhelming offer makes it a little more difficult. Everywhere you suspect rip-offs and then you just don't venture in. So it's all the more wonderful when you embrace modernity once again and consult apps like Yelp or Groupon.
Our first night meal (Friday) we eat at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. There is supposed to be a secret pizza place there, where the pizza is good and cheap. You find the whole thing on the second level, actually hidden at the end of a hallway paved with album covers. But the problem is that the adjective secret has been stripped of all meaning, because you can't even guess the end of the line. Well, not then. Right next to it, there's "Eggslut." Here you can get everything that somehow has to do with eggs. We eat an egg burger and a glass of mashed potatoes with poached egg and are absolutely thrilled by the taste explosion. Eggslut at Cosmopolitan: an absolute recommendation.
If you stroll the Strip all day, you will eventually get hungry. We wander and hungry! So I ask Groupon and discover a deal: All-meat-you-can-eat for two people for $26 instead of $44. Pampas is the name of the Brazilian grill and is located in the Planet Hollywood Hotel. Meat Rodizio Lunch for Two is what it's called and consists of an all-you-can-eat side buffet with salad, vegetables, rice, etc., and is complemented by delicately prepared spit-roasted meats that several waiters permanently bring to the table and cut fresh onto the customer's plate. There are chicken thighs, sausage wrapped in bacon, tenderloin, maple syrup honey ham and grilled pineapple - everything a carnivore could possibly want.
Entertainment
More than ten years ago, a recording of Cirque du Soleil's then newest show, Ka, was shown on Arte on New Year's Eve. People flew through the air on ropes and an unbelievable stage moved through the room seemingly weightlessly, erected itself vertically in the room and demanded a lot from the performers. I remember exactly how we both sat there with open eyes and mouths completely stunned. To see that in real life was a dream. A dream that we have fulfilled today. We'll see Ka at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Around noon, we set off for the MGM Grand to find the theater for the evening. One wants to be prepared. When we find the theater, we are directly approached: Hi, you must be here for the free guided tour of the show." - Yes, of course ... we knew ... yes absolutely ... absolutely and wow. Every half hour you can look behind the scenes and see the theater once empty and the stage in action.
We are already blown away by the sheer size of the theater, but when the stage is then entered, we both fall over almost simultaneously. Breathtaking and awe-inspiring. There is actually no conventional stage here. Instead, there are several movable platforms, the auditorium. But the main actor is the so-called "Sand Deck". 56 tons move almost weightlessly. The platform measures just under 7 x 15 x 2 meters and rotates 360 degrees around its own axis:
In the evening then the actual show and I lack the words to describe what I saw. It is indeed an epic performance. I have never experienced anything even remotely comparable. Partly the tension pushes you into the seat, because you actually - as stupid as it may sound - fear with the artists if they will make it. Be it the fighter, who falls from the top edge of the stage standing vertically on edge in the room and falls into the seemingly bottomless, be it the rope artists, who glide unsecured through the room and hold themselves partly only with the foot in the neck of the other. Breathtaking! Indescribable! Iconic and Epic!
By the way, the screen on the following photo is said stage. Just as a hint.
