The taxi dropped us off at the main entrance to our hotel, the Bellagio, which of course in Las Vegas means the casino entrance. So we lugged our luggage through endless banks of slot machines and crowds of drunks, but eventually made our way to the wildly discordant lobby.

Since the Las Vegas architectural union seems to insist on a theme for each hotel, the Bellagio has chosen a Tuscan village theme, but the hotel also has to be over the top luxe and massive, and neither of those has anything to do with Tuscany. So it's all a bit of a mess, and the lobby is a good example. There's a beautiful faux Tuscan backdrop behind the lobby, but it's overwhelmed by an extravagant Dale Chihuly glass sculpture covering the whole ceiling like the Blob in technicolor. Then there's the requisite acres of marble and shiny metals to confirm the luxe label, and as an added bonus, our receptionist looked just like Morticia Addams (or Vampira for those of you not familiar with old American TV sitcoms). There' also a huge indoor garden off to the side, with its theme changed seasonally. Since it was fall, we got to see lots of vegetables, and a big wooden mill, just to further obscure the Tuscan theme. Despite the hundreds of people milling about the lobby, Morticia was able to check us in quite quickly.