In 1989 I returned to Italy for the first time since immigrating to Canada. After landing in Rome I turned on the radio of the rental car eager to hear Italian melodies only to be blasted by familiar American music.
Last month, needing a dose of Italy, I booked the Venetian Hotel for my first trip to Las Vegas so that I could experience the Venice Grand Canal replica replete with singing gondoliers.
I had no idea that this hotel would be a trip back in time. What I wanted to hear on trips to my birth country was gifted to me by the city that never sleeps. That description is very apt as arriving at the hotel at midnight the streets were full of activity.
Inside, over a hundred people lined up to check into the hotel, a map accompanied direction on how to find our room. A maze of hallways and two separate elevators finally took us to the number on the key card only to discover it wouldn’t open the door. Calls to the front desk were futile and I finally made my way down to the front lobby waiting in line again to be told that they had made the error and given us the wrong room number, for that they would provide a credit to be used as we wished.
An hour later we were finally ensconced in a large, lovely suite and imbibing a bottle of water costing more than a dozen would at home but after the long day and exhausting maze of hallways I was feeling a little cross and not thinking about prices.
The next morning I ordered my first room service, starched white linens, silver dome covers, delicious food, I could certainly get used to such luxury rather quickly.
Nick and I went on a tour of discovery of the Venetian Hotel and its sister the Palazzo joined by an indoor bridge.
We saw magnificent frescoed ceilings reminiscent of the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome, stunning pillars and marble floors. Huge framed images and potted palms, fountains and ornate chandeliers so lovely that they left me breathless. In the Palazzo lights are in the form of walls of crystal, the décor is simply decadent.
Accordion players dressed in red and white striped tops and black bottoms played the tunes I recalled as a child, ten feet tall puppets, court jesters, jugglers and women in sumptuous dress strolled leisurely down hallways.
In the Grand Canal, gondolas glide slowly by as gondoliers croon traditional Italian songs and spectators clap in appreciation. In the square there is regular performance of music and acts including living statues that makes it fun to watch startled visitors realize the statue is a real person.
We observed a real wedding ceremony take place on the bridge over the canal, checked out the clerk dipping huge strawberries in Godiva chocolate, ate breakfasts in an outdoor café, and lunch at Zeffirino, a restaurant overlooking the Canal, renowned for its food and its lush elegant washrooms.
The Venetian hosts the two hottest nightspots in Vegas, Lavo and Tao. We wondered where young women dressed in stilettos and fancy attire where headed as we made our way to our room late in the evening, for them midnight was just the beginning of the evening as the clubs stayed open till four or later. This where celebrities hung out I was told, me, I was just happy to catch some zzz’s, although thirty years ago I might have joined them to dance the night away.
The Grand Canal Shoppes are high end stores with prices to take your breath away. I held a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes on sale for $2600, a pair of little flats at $1600. Another store selling bags had no prices. I remarked to the friendly sales girl that obviously I couldn’t afford anything in the store and she laughed and said the prices were all in her head, the bag I inquired about was only $650. In one shop the sales woman slipped a bracelet around my wrist, I purchased it as it was below $100 and after the other places it seemed a bargain.
In the Palazzo every high couture designer is represented. Window shopping in those elegant salons was fun and interesting.
We walked miles each day touring different hotels, Caesars Palace, Excalibur, Times Square in New York New York, saw a Cirque Du Soleil show, toured Madame Tussauds wax museum, caught a live puppet show, listened to Smoky Robinson’s Human Nature and saw Joan Rivers who insulted everyone and everything she could think of, and at the end of the show gave away the potted plants on the stage. We watched the dancing waters at the Bellagio, and all the man-made waterfalls at many of the hotels and had dinner at wonderful restaurants including famous chef Mario Batalli’s restaurant. We walked down Fremont in Old Vegas, enthralled by the roof covering the entire street, ate gelato and fried calamari and zucchini.
I now understand why so many make the trip. This City mesmerizes, there is so much activity, so many people, and so much entertainment to suit every taste. It is a place of dreams and I hope to return. If not, I have “Italian” memories from something spectacular and surreal but real enough in the moment that will last me a lifetime.
