Viva , Viva Las Vegas!

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Blimey Pimey, oh my, where am I . Viva las Vegas This has to be the most over the top , glitzy, brash, noisy and fascinating city I have ever visited and that is saying something. Al and I weren’t fussed whether we came or not , well am I glad we did.

We arrived on Saturday evening after a long days drive from San Francisco over 9 hours in the car with Lucy and me sharing the driving. We passed through ever changing countryside from the fertile fruit and farming lands of the valleys to the rolling hills as we turned east inland, and then onto deserts and the start of the Serra Nevada. Saturday night in LV is show night as well as gaming eating and general fun night , as is every night ,but we had no hotel booked and those that know me can well imagine my rising stress levels and sharp tongue to match! Lucy again was a star and drove us through the heavy traffic across town with the rain beating down . We glided up the strip seeing major hotels but found it impossible to get to or at them . They are huge like mini towns with access that is difficult to fathom.

We did in the end get to one - Paris- s well I was so gob smacked I hardly have the words to describe what I saw. This hotel has a half size Eifel tower reaching up to the sky and an Arc de triumph on its doorstep. It is a town in itself as all the major hotels are , you need a map to navigate . The lower floor resembles the streets of Paris or tries to and the slot machines hundreds and hundreds of them and the gaming tables are every where. Bars, and restaurants deliver sustenance to the players The noise is incredible and the smoke from cigars and cigarettes unwelcome. But we were all spell bound . We felt we were in a pertetual twilight zone as the atmoshere in the hotel complexes resembles continual early eveing so it could be bright sunlight outside and you would never know!!!We booged in a bar with two guys singing and playing pianos it was great fun. We all walked about in a daze , with great smiles on our faces, it was so unreal..
We visited Bellagio and Cecsar’s Palace both of which are themed and have shopping arcades that match and beat those any where in the world. And the Venetian , this huge hotel complex takes the biscuit modelling itself on Venice with canals, st marks square and lots of Italian restaurants! . We all said that two days was quite enough, infact we really only had I full day, but managed to fit in all that we wanted to do except for taking in a show which was a pity. They call Las Vegas, “lost wages” and indeed cheap it was not!

There is something for everyone shopping, gaming, eating , drinking dancing and just plain people watching fantastic

We have now moved on and we are in The Grand Cayon national park - but that is for the next blog!!!

lots of love

caro
xxxxx

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Photos

just before las Vegas
the hills and clouds reflected in the lakes

Paris re created
rather like a film set

Lucy playing the machines
none of us knew how to play or gamble we did think of taking lessons but quickly dismissed that idea!

morew inside the hotel
its like a vast themed shopping mall!

Comments

[Francesca]

Fabarooney
Glitz big time what! Must be very confusing with all the imported sights - believe there is a sphinx somewhere along with many Elvis lookalikes... Thoroughly enjoying the blogg and appreciate all the hard work. Fran x