The real Vegas this time - promise

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Due to popular demand we figured we should at least let you see our rock and roll life style in Vegas


The drive to Vegas was deserty (bet your learning so much reading this blog aren’t you!) and wow was it hot, we only stopped briefly for gas and food but boy was I glad to get back in the car with the air con. I was really hoping to get excited on arriving in Vegas as so far I hadn’t been that impressed with what I had seen of California, so I was pleased to feel a small butterfly as the strip rolled out in front of us. This place is mad, madder than a bucket of mad things on the 3rd maddest Friday in June, it’s in the middle of a desert, all sand and rock and suddenly its there big brash and impossible to explain. (For more of this sort of commentary go to my web page www.thebloodyobvious.com).

I’d booked a hotel on the strip itself (Excalibur) as the rooms were cheaper than the hostel, which claimed it was on the strip and technically it is on the same road but miles out of town!! I’d searched ages for where to stay for cheap and Excalibur had come up with the best reviews. For anyone ever looking to stay here, the cheapest options are: Circus circus, Excalibur, Imperial palace and the Stratosphere (at the very top of the strip so it’s a big walk to everything else). However if you prefer slightly less tack in your day and staff that perhaps have evolved from our ancestors successfully then I would pay a little more and go with the mid range options (or just stay off the strip - Nath on the other hand recommends the hooters hotel!!!).

Anyway after dropping Sonja and Anna off at their perspective hotels we arrived at ours. The shimmering white and blue turrets of Excalibur reminded me of the “my little pony” castle I’d had as a girl, and I couldn’t help but be glad with my choice of the tackiest looking place on the strip. Check in was quick and our room was big, and the king size bed was so soft at first I thought it was a water bed (3 nights later and 2 aching backs the soft bed was no fun!). However a big turn off for here and everywhere in Vegas was the smell of smoke. In Vegas it seems you can still smoke in a public place and we noticed it straight away, even now I’m sat here sounding a bit like patty and Selma from the Simpson’s! (No Nath I know I don’t look like them so be quiet!)

We were aware of how expensive eating in these places was gonna be and luckily had quite a few guide books and hints on where to go, but as we’d arrived tired so it was good old MacDonald again for dinner (and breakfast and lunch and dinner and breakfast and lunch……). So on our first night we decided to keep t simple and just have a look round our own hotel. The only thing the guide books don’t tell you about, and I guess I should have known having holidayed in Spain many times were the time share sharks! We got clobbered by the “free show tickets aka time share” vultures who waited for you to walk past, within minutes of arriving and then on every occasion we walked past (on route to our room) - only once did we go to find out about this “free” show only to find the only one we wanted to see they couldn’t get free for us, so we walked away. I think our faces and Nath barking “don’t even think about it” as we walked by was enough to stop them from then on. Anyway with the time share gauntlet survived and the hotel and casino given a good once over, like the rock and rollers that we are we went to bed pretty early…hey we were tired…Vegas could wait.

Next morning bright eyed and bushy tailed, well more mixamitosis like, we emerged to have our breakfast (MacDonald’s yes) and finalised some bookings with the only wifi in the hotel we could find. It was all very well leaving the last few weeks of chance bookings and last minute decisions but we hadn’t planned on not having some internet access nearer the time to book something. I had ruthlessly planned our few days at Vegas so that we could visit all of the hotels and still do everything else in the evening. The strip was not that much to walk at all, however the stopping at each hotel and walking miles around them (yes they are that big) meant by the time we had visited 4 hotels we were ready to head back to base. I think New York New York was my favourite hotel, it bought back memories of our trip and I think Nath enjoyed riding the roller coaster they have there. Next on the strip the Monte Carlo, done!, we then went into the Bellagio - wow talk about silver spoon in your mouth, it was beautiful and dignified and we would never be able (allowed) to stay there. Next we moved on to one of my other favourites, Caesars palace (especially as it was fresh in my mind form the movie “the hangover” - how funny was that film and the guy in it mmmmmmmm).anyway this hotel in particular was huge and as with all of them, just as you think you’ve gone down most corridors you end up in a whole other area you didn’t know existed. The challenge in Vegas is not to win money at gambling, it’s to find your way out these bloody places!!! After enquiring whether the real Caesar lived here - it seems he doesn’t - we watched the fountains at the Bellagio and headed home tired again so off to bed - still no gambling done yet - dam it! But I did point out to Nath as we walked through the casino that this guy was doing really well because he had loads and loads of chips! But Nath just wet him self laughing and pointed out that the guy was the dealer!! (I was tired)

Next day more hotels to see, I’ll stop describing them all as well as its dull for you reading, but anyway they’re all big and different - the end. We went and bought half price tickets to one of the Cirque Du Soleil shows that evening at the Treasure Island hotel at 9:30pm. Feeling a little sick and grumpy (I think eating all this crap fast food is not helping my mood - I’m sure I’ve read articles about that) we had a siesta and got ready for a night on the town (lucky pants on and ready thanks kids). We WALKED up to the hotel with just minutes to go (me in flip flops not a good idea but they went with my outfit!!) and sat down next to the most noisy family we could find, I mean hey I love nothing more than paying a huge amount of money and then having most of it spoken through, I don’t know about you I don’t think you get enough of that at theatres and shows these days!!! Sorry felt another rant coming on there but I managed to subdue it, let’s move on before it comes back……
The show was great, I was sure at times the people were gonna fall, but as true professionals they managed some amazing acrobatics. It was overall a bit trippy, it was based on the imagination of a child which I get but I would say that that child is already hooked on meths or something coz my god it was surreal.

Show over with we emerged out onto the strip and decided to look at a few more hotels. Now this is the first proper time I had seen Vegas with all the lights, and I must say I was beginning to think what’s all the fuss about but, at night it is amazing, so much better, especially if you have had a drink or two, which we had!! I can now safely say that my favourite “wow hotel” was the Venetian - you have to see it to believe it so I wont say anymore……
One thing I had also noticed after a few days of walking the strip was the amount of porn blatantly on show, kids of a certain age must love walking with their families and getting a free sneaky eye full. What was even funnier was the number of Mexican workers on the streets handing out “subtly” call girl cards, behind the back of any lady walking past to their gentleman traveller.
Anyway after my blisters had blisters we got back to the hotel at 2:30am and decided that gambling would have to wait for yet another night - what’s wrong with us!!!

Very late next morning/afternoon we eventually rouse for the “all you can eat” buffet lunch and stayed on long enough to get some free dinner as well!! The buffet itself was huge and had a great selection of foods but as with most buffets the look did not represent the taste. However the pudding selection did. Here is a list of what I can remember was at the pudding buffet:
Ice cream: strawberry vanilla, chocolate
With toppings: hot choc sauce, 100’s and 1000’s mini m &m’s, jelly sweets, cinnamon crunch
Mousse cake slices: vanilla (sugar free), mint choc, choc, strawberry, and fruit
Rice pudding
Choc pudding
Vanilla pudding
Bread pudding
Apple crumble
Cherry crumble
Apple pie
Cherry pie
German choc cake
Carrot cake (2 different types)
Cookies
Biscuits
Donoughts
Muffins
Gateaux choc
Gateaux strawberry
Rice crispy cakes
Lemon meringue
Whipped cream
Jelly
Cheese cake
Coffee cake
Pastries with cream
WOW WOW WOW VERY HAPPY MANDY AND NATH!!!! Watching Nath pick out his desert (ice-cream with sweets on) was like watching a child in a sweet shop, his little face all lit up! And I enjoyed about 4 bowls of chocolate slop desert (like custard).

Anyway with so much left to see we headed out in the car (I can see why no one drives in Vegas talk about stand still traffic) to the stratosphere which is two miles from the start of the strip where we were, so we could see the view of the surrounding area and so that Nath could go on one of the scariest rides I’ve ever seen. Again having been up lots of tall buildings now, I’m getting a bit poo pooey about this sort of thing, so it was ok, yes high up and no not worth the $16 the cheeky buggars charge you to go up there, but someone had to take pictures of Nath spewing over the side of the tower onto onlookers (only joking). The ride was called “insanity” and I would have to give it 10 out of 10 for the name but couldn’t comment on the experience because there was no way I was going on it. It was a type of arm that had about 5 fingers which swung out over the edge (96 floors up) and then spun you with a force of up to 3 G’s (apparently). Nath enjoyed and I took the pictures!!

We then moved onto Freemont street which I’m glad we drove to as, not only is it some distance form the strip you travel through a rough part of town I wouldn’t want to be walking in. Freemont is a long gambling street much like the strip but smaller and it is covered by a canopy, I don’t know how long, but the canopy is actually a TV screen!! It’s again brash and in your face as is most of Vegas but it was a wonder to see. There were also a lot more tits on display in this end of town, so anyone looking to visit Vegas for the “night life” may want to stay here. We quickly headed back to see the Bellagio water show with lights this time (being 10pm now) and then back to the hotel as we had to leave in the morning and still hadn’t done any gambling. With our lucky pants back on (sorry second day running but we can’t go without our pants) we headed to the gambling floor at 12pm. Two hours later and a few bevies downed, I had made back $18 of the original $20 I had started with and Nath, well, he had had a good time!!! By this point at 2 am we were thinking that playing some black jack rather than the machines etc was not a good idea as we could just about keep our eyes open, so planed the heavy gambling for the next morning before we left.

On checking out I had decided to complain about the time share vultures only to be told they basically weren’t the hotels staff so I guess weren’t their problem, I repeated in case she hadn’t heard me that I would not be returning to this establishment and would stay at a hotel next time where guests views were considered more important - she didn’t care and hey I’m not coming back anyway but I wanted to make my point!!! Nath and I decided to play some roulette in the end being one of the only games we got the jist of and the cheapest minimum bet you could place being $5 a chip!!! We managed to win $50 (having started with $20 which I thought that was enough excitement for me) so we left whilst we still had some cash in our pockets and our lucky pants on for the 3rd day! On taking the chips and my loose change to get exchanged at the cashier desk, I got abruptly told that because I didn’t have any id they wouldn’t exchange my money and that they could in their complete right chuck me out of the casino and take my winnings -oooo someone obviously didn’t get any last night - after realising it was nothing personal and coming back down form my new easily reached mood level (dam junk food) we cashed our winnings with Nath’s id and left for our next stop the Hoover dam.

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Photos

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My view on the way down

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The Nevada desert

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Dust storms or road runner i'm not sure?

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Vegas baby

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Our Excalibur room

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The view from our bedroom window

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The Luxor

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New York New York hotel

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Outside the Monte Carlo

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Wow look how thin Nath is getting!!

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Planet Hollywood hotel