Merry Christmas, Australia! Hope you have all had a lovely day.
We started the day downstairs in Bellagio at the patisserie where the world's largest chocolate fountain is. It comes down from the roof cascading over glass plates. It looked pretty cool.
We went to the Factory Outlets this morning. It wasn't too crowded when we got there but by the time we left it was crazy. There were queues outside some stores. Of course there was a massive queue outside Kate Spade by the time I found it. Probably a good thing but I do really like that bag!
There are a stack of people in Vegas now. The check in queues at Bellagio when we got back were 10 deep. The overwhelming majority of people here are Asian. I am surprised by the number of children around. Las Vegas really isn't the place to bring kids for Christmas. You have to go through the casino to get to the hotel and it is full of cigarette smoke.
Tonight I walked up the Strip to the Guardian Angel Cathedral for the midnight mass. Being a non Catholic, I found it quite interesting. The service was taken by the Bishop of Las Vegas but there were 7 other robed priests on the altar & another 4 off to the side. In the middle of the mass 2 more appeared carrying candles. There was a small orchestra & a choir all decked out in dinner suits & bow ties. I thought it was strange to do 2 collections, one straight after the other. They use a basket on a stick - looks like a pool scoop - to collect the money. No passing the plate along the row here.
When I walked up the Strip tonight I saw the Venetian has a huge Christmas tree outside. At least they went to some effort outside their buildings.
It is now 3.07 am on Christmas morning & time for some sleep.