Trip to Las Vegas: Day 3

This one might be shorter than the previous two because most of our morning in Las Vegas on the third day was spent driving around off The Strip.  We took a shuttle to the airport, then a bus service to a huge car rental place next door.  The set up had all the car rental business with storefronts and a large parking garage where their cars were stored and waiting for their renters.  Because we didn’t use one of the big guys, we got to move through everything pretty fast (and yes, there were slot machines in the building).  We picked up our little compact car and set out to see some of what the rest of Las Vegas had.  While cloudy and overcast with some sprinklings of rain here and there, we didn’t get any downpours or storms like the previous days.

The Las Vegas that exists off the strip is fairly similar to the suburban areas you might find anywhere, with lots of neighborhoods and TONS of shopping plazas.  Most of the neighborhoods are enveloped by walls that were originally set up to block the wind (desert = no trees to block wind) coming from the mountains.  The walls still serve that purpose, but also act as a way to sort of delineate each neighborhood area.  The set up of outer areas is almost a grid-like pattern.  Driving down the roads one way, you are pretty much in the housing areas.  Drive the crossroads and you are quickly taken to where the shopping centers and stores are. 

When we had gotten up in the elevation – enough that my ears started popping - I got out to take a picture.  You can see that Las Vegas, as built up as it is, remains a city sitting in the desert.

I felt like the distant sky and mountains resembled a backdrop painting.

After returning the car, Mom and I decided to do something we had put on our list of activities before leaving Kansas.  The one we chose was to see the exhibit “DaVinci The Genius: An Inspirational Exhibition”.  Due to the popularity of the show, it had an extended stay at the Venetian hotel, which I was grateful for because I certainly would have been horribly sorry to miss it.

The purpose of the show was to bring to life the genius of Leonardo as an inventor, artist, scientist, anatomist, engineer, architect, sculptor and philosopher.  They used his codices to create life-size machines, including his concepts for a car, a glider, a tank and even a SCUBA suit to name a few.  Some of the machines were interactive so you could get a sense of how they were meant to work.  They had on display copies of his codices to view, along with replicas of his sketchbooks and journals.  To be honest, the larger flying machines didn’t look like they would really work, but the ones that were for everyday use, like the pulley systems were amazing to me because I hadn’t known the extent of his innovations and contributions to modern living.  Seeing all of it, I realized that we were blessed to have a man like that exist who not only dreamed of so much, but actually created it and brought it into the world.

Another part of the exhibit focused on his painting of the Mona Lisa.  Of course, the original Mona Lisa painting was not there, but they showed photographs of it taken by Pascal Cotte, who was given rare and special permission to view the painting out of its protective case and frame so he could use his camera to do a multispectral digitization of the painting.  Multispectrally scanning the painting in thirteen channels allowed for the reveal of many secrets hidden under layers of years of dirt, paint and simply the passage of time.  To learn more, see an article on the process and some of the images it produced here. 

It really was an eye-opener.  But the biggest surprise was the image on display of the Mona Lisa in its original and intended colors!  It was SO amazingly vibrant.  Gone were the ochres, greens and browns to be replaced by bright blues, blushed cheeks and reddish hair.  On top of that were the details I had never noticed, like the lace of her gown, the veil resting upon her head and the fact she was sitting in a chair!  It was a whole other painting!  It was seriously such a special treat to have a chance at appreciating this amazing masterpiece in its intended and original form.

Taken from: http://www.artsjournal.com/culturegrrl/2007/10/mona_lisa_revealed.html

I know that DaVinci kept the painting with him, having never been satisfied with it I suppose, but after so many years of seeing the Mona Lisa as I had known her, it was wonderful to see her in this new light – closer to what Leonardo wanted.

Mom at the DaVinci The Genius Exhibit at the Venetian Hotel and Casino

There was a lot more to see and be amazed at and Mom and I left feeling rather humbled, stunned and grateful for the chance to see such a breath and scope of his work.

Still excited and talking about the exhibition, we decided to walk around the Venetian for a while more.

The Venetian was built by Sheldon Adelson, a figure of controversy in Las Vegas for some of his business dealings.  Where the hotel now stands, once stood The Sands casino, known as the hangout of the Rat Pack, where Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and the rest of the gang hung out with movie stars and politicians.  When The Sands was imploded in 1996, some of Las Vegas’ history was destroyed with it.

Inspired by Italy’s most romantic city, The Venetian has replicas of landmarks of Venice spread throughout its sprawling real estate.  There are even canals cutting through it where you can have a ride on a gondola and be serenaded by men and women gondaleers. 

The Venetian, like some of the other newer hotels, have displays celebrating nature and its forms in the changing seasons.  Here, they had the falling leaves in golden colors made of glass allowing them to almost glow in the light as they hung suspended from the ceiling near the indoor waterfall feature.  In the cavernous area, all you could hear was the sound of the waterfall, which was nicer than the dinging of bells from the casino slot machines.

The hotel is rather beautiful with a lot of high-end stores that are fun to window shop and there is a lot of splendor sprinkled all over, but it can be a bit over the top.

Ceiling painting at the Canal Shoppes in the Venetian Hotel and Casino

By the time we headed back to the Luxor we were, once again, pretty tired from the day and ready for bed.  I was very happy – the DaVinci Exhibit igniting some wonder in  my mind.

Any of you have that sort of experience?  I would love to hear about it.