Las Vegas holiday views

Over at the Bellagio, the Christmas decorations weren't up yet, but the lobby had added this statue to its amazing collection of Chihuly glass.

Click an image to see a larger version.

Meanwhile, at the shops at the Aria, the decorators felt a little Christmas tree might spruce up the place.

Sister hotel The Cosmopolitan had its own smaller but brighter tree up on the terraced roof we visit each time we're in town.

At the other end of this section of roof, people were ice skating in the early evening chill.

Not to be outdone by anyone, the Wynn's lobby opted for a very different color scheme but an equally opulent effect.

The Palazzo shops featured this ribbon construction that I found lovely and almost mesmerizing.

And, of course, they added a giant bit of love in front of an indoor waterfall.

Vegas certainly bombards you with excess, but sometimes it also offers great beauty. 

On the road again: Las Vegas/CES, day two

Morning was work, then an early lunch, and then off to the Sands to see the exhibits that couldn't afford the main halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center. We hit the Sands on the first day of the show because most people are at the main areas; avoiding crowds to the greatest degree reasonably possible is a good thing.

Two years ago, the Sands had many interesting tech products. Today, we saw very, very little of real interest. One of the oddest and most memorable products was a fairly old one: the Paro robotic therapeutic seal. Unlike this correspondent, we were not particularly charmed by this thing. When we heard the sales weasel proclaim its price tag in the U.S. was a hefty $6K, what little charm it had held for us evaporated quickly.

The most amusing thing I saw at the Sands was the set of AVN Adult Entertainment Expo information booths that the AVN show organizers had sprinkled right in the pathways of the CES attendees. The CES crowd thus had to walk by scantily clad women offering information about the AVN show. Great move by the AVN folks for their show, which is running concurrently with CES.

Late afternoon brought another work session, after which we headed to the Wynn to see La Reve, a show by former Cirque producer Dragone. This was my second time seeing this show, and I enjoyed it quite a bit, though it just isn't as magical as a Cirque production.

Afterward, I remembered that Bill is a fan of seafood, so we strolled over to Barolotta, a restaurant in the Wynn that just happens to be one of the best seafood places in the country. We were able to get a table immediately, and we then enjoyed a tasting menu whose highlight, for me, was an appetizer portion (just two bites) of mackerel that completely redefined for me how good that fish could taste.

We haven't hit the main CES hall yet, but so far everything I've seen reeks of a bad economy and a smaller CES than usual: casinos running at less than half their usual crowds, sparse attendance at the Sands part of CES, an instant table at a major restaurant, almost no cab lines, and so on. Not good signs for Sin City.