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Las Vegas

It was the lights. These are what drew me to the idea of taking a trip to Las Vegas. I pictured neon casino signs lighting the night sky, painting the streets below varied and changing colors. To be honest, that's about as much as I knew of Las Vegas, never having been there and seeing only images on television or online. As I experienced Las Vegas over the past four days, however, the most glaring omission from my mental picture became especially clear on Friday evening: the people. Throngs of people walked the "strip"--the name for Las Vegas Boulevard, where the major hotels and other attractions reside--alongside my friend and me as we explored the area. The only other places I had seen so many people in such a widespread space were other major cities: New York and Boston, in particular.

Lights and people aside, my friend and I enjoyed some of the attractions of the city. The most memorable, for me, was the Titanic exhibit, where a huge section of the ship's hull was displayed along with tools, utensils, and many objects from the passengers' personal belongings. At the beginning of the tour, you receive a ticket with the name of one of the passengers who took the journey, and learn at the end whether you--in his or her role--survived.* You are also acquainted with personal aspects of the tragedy, including the personalities of individuals who boarded the ship only because a coal strike prevented their passage on another vessel.

Witnessing the various themes across the hotels on the strip was an experience itself. The MGM-- in terms of number of rooms, the largest in the city and second largest in the world--bore the iconic lion statue, which we learned was the largest bronze statue in the U.S. Originally, guests entered the hotel through the mouth or a lion's head, but when it was discovered that one or more cultures believe entering a lion's head was bad luck, the hotel removed the entrance and erected the lion statue instead. Other hotels included the Luxor, a large pyramid with a sphinx in front to express an ancient Egyptian theme; the Excalibur, with a medieval theme, including a dinner theater with a jousting tournament whose combatants represent one of the other half of the audience; and Caesar's Palace, a Roman-themed hotel whose mall bore a ceiling that resembled the sky, an aquarium, fountain, and numerous Roman statues.

The city was like New York City in a number of ways--the number of people walking here and there, the lights, the anonymity; but whereas people in the streets of New York seemed ever determined to reach their destinations, those in Las Vegas--many of whom were doubtless tourists like myself--appeared more upbeat and festive. No one was in a hurry because they were all looking to enjoy the gambling, parties, and attractions. While we saw only a fraction of what there is to see, this was a trip that I will long remember.

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