Viva Las Vegas!

Sunday 17th December

Paul - It's another full day with Greyhound! This time with added freaks and weirdos, plus as a special BONUS feature, we will actually be stopping somewhere with more than just Burger King to choose from for lunch. Yes, we'll be including MacDonalds as well. Enjoy!


Monday 18th December

Paul - Arrived in Vegas last night pretty late so we checked into our hotel and went to sleep. Let me just say, the hotel is AWESOME (said in a true American surfer dude accent). We even have a bath AND a King size bed. The best thing is we are 23 floors up so we have some fabulous views over Vegas to enjoy.

Woke up and generally loved our hotel room until we decided to venture downstairs to the casino. Our hotel is the Stratosphere, the tallest tower west of some US state, and it's located at the northern end of the Strip. Nothing can really prepare you for how ridiculous Vegas casino's are so Laura and I spent the next hour being dazzled by the lights and sounds of the slot machines. It's seriously hypnotic.

Spent the afternoon in one of the outlet malls searching for a coat for Princess. Amusingly enough Laura didn't find one but I am now the proud owner of a nice new coat.

Spent the evening marveling at the wonders at the southern end of the strip. New York, New York with it's Brooklyn Bridge and NYC skyline, MGM Grand and the pyramids, the Venetian with it's canals and Paris with it's Eiffel Tower. It's seriously dazzling for the eyes.


Tuesday 19th December

Paul - Laura still wanted a coat so we spent all afternoon in the other outlet mall and finally got her one (and a scarf). It was all terribly exciting but at least she won't complain about the cold. Hurray! Had a fun time casino hopping again and watching the various free shows. What cheap skates we are!

I like Vegas because,

a) we have a nice hotel room

b) we get free drinks

c) it's good, tacky fun

d) we get free drinks

Maybe I should explain that when you gamble in the casinos you get free drinks. It's brilliant! We would literally sit on the penny machines and put a penny in every couple of minutes or so and, VOILA!, a free drink would appear.


Wednesday 20th December

Laura - Vegas is really cool. Okay yes, it is the epitome of tacky but it is good fun for all the reasons Paul lists above. Although the waddling obese Americans are slightly disturbing. They make me want to shout "Just stay away from the buffet!!". Which, by the way are amazing. We went to a French buffet in the Paris casino and it was so good. We came out feeling ill, we ate so much.

Anyway, we fitted in more tacky fun today, including some lions, tigers and an amazing fountain display. I don't want to know how much money is getting turned over in this place! They must spend gazillions on their shows and displays. It's a bit sickening. Oh well, at least it entertains the kids!



Thursday 21st December

Paul - I'll make today brief as there's only so many times I can tell you how OTT Vegas is. We had free tickets to head to the top of our hotel so after taking in the views from the top we watched the show in our hotel today called 'Viva Las Vegas'. It was so unbelievably awful that it was fantastic. We watched the Fremont Street Experience after that, something that has to be seen to be believed. A ridiculous display of light and sound that runs for about 1 km over your head.

We made a quick dash down the strip to watch the free show at 'Treasure Island' called 'Sirens of TI'. It was practically a porno (thus great!) but good fun all the same. Finally settled down in Slots A Fun for some proper betting involving Roulette and Craps. We managed to make a whole $6.50. Woo hoo!

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