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The Fabulous Aria
Aria is the largest LEED
Gold award building in the United States.
It's also the sexiest building I've ever seen
and I can't explain why.
Aria's not-as-pretty step-sister is called Vdara.
There's a saying in real estate - Can you see where the money went? In this case, the answer is yes.
The fountain was a favorite.
After doing some serious Florista research, one could watch that water dance for hours.
In the dark, the colors are even more dramatic.
The mist in the air grabs the light and color but there's nothing really there - it's like magic!
They could make a Star Trek monster out of what you can see that's not there.
One of the first things that grabs your eye in their Wall of Water.
The wall makes the coolest sounds - like a rain stick at The Guitar Center.
Inside, the architecture is another eye-grabber.
Sorry the pictures are so lousy - you see, I own an iPhone.
There are those who say that once you're in a casino they all look the
same.
That's not what you want to hear after spending $8.3B
(Yes, that's
billion.)
There was about a dozen of us, and we stayed together pretty well - until we got to the Pastry Shoppe.
They had tons of Gelato, too.
I'm not sure what you call these, but they make you want to put them in your mouth.
I got one of these - not sure what you'd call it.
It's mostly chocolate - and is that edible gold on top?
It was mighty tasty - once you spend $8.3B
on your hotel
you might as well spring for the good chocolate, you know?
Mrs. Bart had some raspberry graham cracker thingy. She said it "ruled the world."
Oh, and they had some chocolate, too.
I think what happens is, in Vegas you have to walk 1,000 yards to get
anywhere so they have chocolate available
here and there in case some slender, high-spirited person needs a pick-me-up
late in the afternoon.
More chocolate? Can't anybody make it stop?
See this thing?
Bad picture, but this is sugar architecture.
You've seen them build these on the food channel.
This a bad picture of a really cool bar.
I kept thinking of Star Trek while we were at The Aria.
It all seemed so other-worldly.
They had these funny ice sculptures for no damn reason.
Maybe those are extra-fun in the summer when the Vegas heat hits 116
degrees?
We stopped at one of their bars, Put a $20 in the video Blackjack which
qualifies us for free liquor.
Mrs. Bart is naturally lucky, so we drank for a while and left with
$24.
Everywhere you looked, there was architecture eye candy.
Can you guess what this is?
It's the Aria's Poker Room!
I want to play some poker there but we couldn't fit that in this trip.
Maybe we'll get back there for Thanksgiving's
Tequila-Turkeyfest 2010 :)
If you're older than me (highly unlikely) you might like the Elvis Cirque.
I understand the young girls swoop their hoola hoops and sex things
up a bit for that show.
Mrs. Bart gave me an elbow to the ribs and said, "Get a shot of that floor."
They also had tornadoes under glass.
Even tho we're Okies, we've never seen a tornado up this close before.
Walking around, we saw more wild (and very expensive) architecture eye candy.
Looking out the Aria's back doors, you can see the Bellagio ...and on
the left?
That is a collection of maybe 99 canoes glued together - not sure why.
When someone hands you a billion dollars and says, "Decorate the place," maybe canoes pop into your head.
More eye candy - look how this building leans.
And, architectually, if you have a building leaning this-a-way,
there's a law that you have to have another building leaning that-a-way.
What's also weird is this giant complex is right in the center of the
Strip.
Seeing these wonders located where they are is not unlike seeing a
giant UFO parked in your back yard. (What?)
As we were leaving, I got another shot of that fabulous fountain!
So, next time YOU make it to Las Vegas, stop by and see the complex
that finally broke Vegas - just kidding.
I'm sure they'll find a way to scrape together enough money to pay
the construction company.
I hope you enjoyed your mini-tour of Vegas's latest and greatest, The
Aria.
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