If you’ve ever been to the Venetian Hotel and Casino, it’s as close to Italy as you can get in the desert of [...]]]>

Sorry, I haven’t posted in a while…. been busy with work but I did get a chance to take a walk today and snap a few pictures here in Las Vegas.

If you’ve ever been to the Venetian Hotel and Casino, it’s as close to Italy as you can get in the desert of Nevada….. now, that’s not saying much in my opinion. The piazza and shops at the Venetian are certainly interesting with plenty of Italian brands but it’s hard to compare Las Vegas’ Venezia to Italy’s Venezia. The brick isn’t really brick, the cobblestone isn’t real stone, the sky isn’t a real sky and I’m not sure but the water might not even be water…. the gondoliers don’t look or sound Italian although they sing away as best they can. As I walked through the windy hallways lined with shops and a random English Guard wearing his bearskin hat (what is he doing in Las Venezia?) and into the piazza, I tried to pinpoint the feeling that was coming over me. At first I thought it might be nostalgia for the beautiful Italian city but then I realized it was a sadness. Sadness because someone thought they could replicate a city that no matter how hard you try can never be replicated and along the way managed to patronize anyone who has ever had the good fortune of experiencing Venezia. How do you create a beaten path or a quaint corner in an old city brimming with history? It’s simple, you can’t. I know, I know, I’m in Las Vegas… It’s Las Venezia not Venezia but it still makes me sad or come to think of it, maybe it is nostalgia.