when we were in las vegas in may, we visited the hoover dam. it was after closing time, so not much was going on. we walked around, saw the massive concrete and all the beautiful ornaments on the dam; it was built in the 1920s and 1930s, and you can see that. i thought it was really pretty. but to be honest, somehow i thought the dam itself would be even more massive and impressive. perhaps because of what ive all seen on tv of it? tim was disappointed i was not more impressed, i think... :)
but... i was very much impressed by the statues above. 2 angels. their toes all shiny (i read later thats because of all the tourists that touch the toes; its supposed to bring good luck in vegas while gambling... blablabla). this is a memorial dedicated to those who died during the construction of the dam, the sculptures (and more details on the dam) were made by oskar hansen.
112 people died during the construction of the dam. the first being mr tierney, who drowned in 1922 while looking for an ideal spot for the dam. sadly, the last death was his son, who died exactly 13 years later, while working on the construction of the dam. in between these 2 angels there is a plaque that reads: "they died to make the desert bloom". more than 4 tons of bronze were used for these 30-feet tall statues, which were dedicated in 1935.
i had a hard time taking a good picture of them (in real they were so very beautiful!!), but i was kind of satisfied with this one... :) i would defenitely not mind going back there to see them again, but then when the water is high... (the water was very low when we were there)
