Roman Ruins, the Eiffel Tower, Man-made Lakes and Glitter! Vegas is a one-time must. I know people (heck, relatives) who visit Las Vegas every year. I just returned a couple weeks ago from my own bucket-list jaunt to the Grand Canyon which I achieved by booking a cheap 'n' cheerful flight-hotel package through Orbitz to Las Vegas and then arranged a series of day trips outside the city (kayaking, zip-lining, touring the Grand Canyon by helicopter, a sunset horseback ride..). You can read about it here. Then there's the other side of Las Vegas - which you can't ignore even if you're bunking in a hotel off the strip as I did: mammoth hotels, artificial lakes, humungous fountains rivaling those of Italy, pseudo-French bistros - not to mention a replica of the Eiffel Tour. A little over the top? Certainly, but that's the beauty and the bafflement of Las Vegas. Here's a taste of what you'll see in Sin City: Greek and Roman Statues dot the Vegas Strip [caption id="attachment_9943" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Greek and Roman statues along the Vegas strip (Photo: Doug O'Neill)"] [/caption]   High-end shopping, faux skies, a touch of Venice [caption id="attachment_9944" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Indoor lagoons and faux cloudy skies (Photo: Doug O'Neill)"] [/caption]   Tacky meets titillating: casinos that look like coliseums [caption id="attachment_9945" align="aligncenter" width="270" caption="Fountains and casinos: the perfect mix (Photo: Doug O'Neill)"] [/caption]   Celebrity Factor - Everywhere! [caption id="attachment_9946" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Celine - on stage, on air, on the buses (Photo: Doug O'Neill)"] [/caption]   The must-see Wax Museum [caption id="attachment_9949" align="aligncenter" width="270" caption="An incredibly realistic Whoopi at the Wax Museum (Photo: Doug O'Neill)"] [/caption]   Hire your own gondolier [caption id="attachment_9950" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Are we in Venice? Indoor-outdoor gondola rides (Photo: Doug O'Neill)"] [/caption]   Live opera performance as you shop for designer hand-bags [caption id="attachment_9954" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Impromptu Italian opera in the shopping plazas (Photo: Doug O'Neill)"] [/caption]  

Mammoth lake-side hotels, reminiscent of Lake Como

[caption id="attachment_9955" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Man-made lakes and Italian villas (Doug O'Neill)"] [/caption]   Have you been to Vegas? Would you go back again?