48 Hours

That's about how much time I can spend in Las Vegas on any given trip.  I enjoy being there for a small amount of time to take in the bizarre spectacle that this unique city is but after that, the seedy and sad qualities of this so-called "sin city" take over.  But I have to say, we did enjoy our 48 hours there this time around!  My dad had gotten a crazy good deal on rooms at the Rio...(two nights free for one room, $25.00 a night for the other...crazy good deal, right?).  The Rio is off the strip but close by and the rooms are all suites so they are huge.  The view from our room was great!  A free shuttle took us to the heart of the strip so it was really a very nice and easy stay.  The thing about Vegas is that it imitates reality so the huge hotels on the strip reflect world city themes.  Italy is seen in the Venetian, (by far my favorite hotel for its sheer beauty and elegance), Caesar's Palace, which has grown ginormous in size, and the Bellagio, with its own "Lake Como" in front that boasts the best water fountain show and the most stunning hotel lobby I've ever seen.  For some reason, I just could not bring myself to take pictures of the fake canals in the Venetian even though I thought the entire hotel complex was stunningly beautiful in a bizarre, copy cat kind of way!  Further down the road is the Paris complex which sports an Eiffel Tower that is one-third the size of the real deal across the pond and a miniature Arch de Triomphe.  
We enjoyed walking around the Strip and taking in the grandeur of these huge hotel complexes.  Many offer free entertainment to try to lure you into their casino and the best free show remains the Pirate show at Treasure Island.  It's a classic tale of girls vs. boys as the Sirens of the Sea seek to lure the bad boy pirates onto their ship.  Filled with dancing and acrobatics, and shirtless men jumping into the water from the ship, with a good measure of pyrotechnic fun thrown in, it was a fun spectacle to take in.  My favorite show however were the water fountains outside of the Bellagio.  Running every 15 minutes after dark, these 5 minutes of music, water and light dazzled.  We stayed for two performances and the beauty of the dancing waters was mesmerizing.
I think Stockholm could install something like this downtown outside of the palace and it would be so lovely and wonderful to watch all summer long.  Of course, it's never dark in the summer so you couldn't light the water in the same way but the music and dancing waters would definitely attract a crowd and what better place than a city filled with water to give it a try!
I enjoyed walking around The Strip and taking in the sites and sounds of Vegas.  The huge hotels, the free entertainment, the bright lights and big city atmosphere is fun...for about 48 hours!