France v Italy in Vegas?

This afternoon we visited an area called the Town Square which lies just beyond the northern end of The Strip as my son had been offered a menu tasting at a new British style 'pub' where he is organising a Burns night for the Squadron. The Town Square turned out to be a delightful up market retail outlet which had a real village feel to it and the British owner of the pub - which in fact was actually a smart little restaurant - had been trying to source Haggis and was anxious for us to sample it. So we were treated to slices of haggis and boeuf wellington with accompanying vegetables. The latter was delicious but the haggis, while tasting a bit like it should, did not have the texture and 'feel' of proper haggis - it was more like a meat loaf. So there was much discussion as the owner was also disappointed with the sample - so we are still trying to source a decent haggis in the USA as unfortunately it cannot be imported from Scotland.

From there we ventured back into The Strip as we wished to see the famous Bellagio fountain. We parked the car in a huge carpark under the main complex where parking is free as in all of Las Vegas. The Bellagion Hotel and Casino was inspired by the Lake Como resort of the same name in Italy and is renowned for its elegance which is evident the moment you enter its doors. Plush carpets then marble floors lead you into a most exquisite conservatory which has different garden themes throughout the year. At the moment the display is quite stunning and mainly features poinsettias in all tones ranging from white through to red, white cyclamen and white carnations. One of the displays featured charming penguins sporting red mufflers, while in another a huge polar bear towered above us about 8' high - made out of thousands of white carnations. The baby bear, also made from white carnations, was rolliing on his back in a sea of white cyclamen. If you looked closely you could see that water was dripping subtly through the displays keeping everything fresh. The whole scene was totally spectactular. Although I was tempted to blip the floral extravaganzas I decided to opt for the fountains which we had specifically come to see.

We eventually made our way outside to the 9 acre lake which lies between the Bellagio and the road in order to see the famous fountains which "dance" every half hour to synchronised music. With our back to the main building we were looking towards the lake with the backdrop of "Paris Las Vegas" embodied in a replica of the Eiffel Tower. The dancing fountain was mesmerizing and while I took a number of photos I decided to blip this one where the waters are falling in interesting shapes at the end of one particular sequence and you can clearly see the Eiffel Tower. Quirky little shapes of water suspended in a moment but preserved forever on camera!

Following the fountain display we returned inside to the Bellagio and walked through the huge and busy casino where some of the tables required minimum bets of $500. Before returning to the car park below we treated ourselves to some delicious Italian icecream from one of the many shops in the complex.

Another wonderful and varied day.