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Published: March 14th 2006
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As soon as we landed in Vegas we were hit by the slot machines in the arrival hall....bloody crazy stuff! We stayed the first three nights in the Sahara Hotel & Casino on the strip. First hotel we had stayed at since Thailand. Was great fun and just like the movies...gambling going on everywhere. Just beside oour hotel, the "Wedding Chapels" were located. Horrible neon dingy places...I swear, the height of tack. There were even tux and bridal rental shops next door to them! We visited the Strathosphere. Its a pretty cool place. There is a mini theme park on its roof with rides practically dropping you off the edge. Most of the Hotels and Casino's put on free entertainment. We saw a magic show in the Sahara and it was very funny. Treasure Island puts on a show 3 times a night outside the main entrance. It's called "Sirens of TI" and it is a mixture of song, dance and humour. Very well done and very impressive. A must for any tourist. We saw the exploding volcano at The mirage and the Belaggio's Fountain displays. All very good. The Strip is a crazy place with everything lit up. Even the
McDonalds sign got pimped up! There is a scaled exact replica of New York city, Venice and Paris. All very impressive. The MGM Grand is the biggest and by far the most impressive of all the Casino Resorts on the Strip. The Flamingo also has a nice nature park with penguins and other wild life including of course flamingos. We visited an exact replica of the Coyote Bar. Cool place, but to Darren's distress we were there too early for the dancers! We done a bit of gambling but we were very restrained...sticking mainly to the 1c slots...big spenders. But even though, we still got into the Vegas spirit without losing a fortune. We also enjoyed a few of the $1 margaritas...not as nice as Mexico's but ok all the same. We also went to see a show - "V - the Variety Show" in the Aladdin casino. It was a great laugh and very well done...a lot of talented people.
After staying in the hotel we stayed in a hostel downtown. Wasn't as enjoyable there as the hostel was in a very dodgy area so ya had to be too cautious. Alot of strange, weird people around Vegas.
It was very sleezey too with these blokes flicking cards of naked women at every fella that passed. Got very annoying. We'll just put it this way...Vegas aint a place you'd bring your kids! Downtown the Fremont Experience was pretty good too. Its a cheaper version of The Strip and the hardcore Vegas prefer it.
While here we got a tour to the Grand Canyon. On the way we passed Hoover Dam. An engineering masterpiece. The Grand Canyon was awe inspiring. So glad we went to see it. It was HUGE! One of those places you need to see once in your life. The only thing is that it is very hard to capture the enormity on camera and just how great it is. If we ever went back again, we would love to go down into it...just to see what it would be like being swallowed up by it and to see the river and waterfalls. The whole trip was very worthwhile but we were wrecked after it as the day lasted 15 hours - 10 or more of which were sitting on a bus!
Another of Jo's favourite trips was to the Premium Outlets. It was
excellent. All designer and brand name outlets. We got a couple of good bargains so was delighted with that.
All in all we really enjoyed ourselves but stayed there too long. 3 days would be plenty if we were to go again.
San Francisco next - very nice city and bloody freezing but don't want to complain cos far rather that than the heat! Its been a very relaxing week for us. Well, relaxing or lazy..depends on how you look at it. Its also been raining any day we decide to go do any sightseeing but sure hey, it'll get us ready for Ireland in a few weeks. As I said it is a nice city with very hilly streets. The street that we are staying on (Sacramento St) is one of the worst so needless to say it is getting us fit. We went to The Golden Gate Bridge the other day. We had wanted to walk across it but unfortunately it was lashing hailstones so it was basically, grab a few pix and jump back on a bus. Great to see though cos you see it on so many films. We went to the Golden Gate
Park yesterday. It is huge but we only saw a bit of it cos it kept raining on and off. It would be lovely on a sunny day. Also visited Grace Cathedral and of course some shops. Found a GREAT one called "Forever 21". Its even better than H&M. Great clothes and soooo cheap. We went out a couple of nights and had a laugh with the others in the hostel. We are staying in a dorm for probably the second time on our travels and its been an experience. Man do people snore. We had to buy ear plugs! We went to Alcatraz today. Thought it was excellent. We took an audio tour which was very informative. It was great, you were even fit to stand in cells and "the hole" (the solitary cells). Learnt about the infamous inmates such as Al Capone, Robert Straud etc. Also learned about attempted escapes and about the most famous one in which the three convicts have never been found. It was strange cos you could picture ourself being a convict and looking out the window at San Francisco across the water and realising that freedom was just a mile away. I'd say
it would be very tough to deal with. We are definately glad we got to see it.
Anyways, we are off to new York tomorrow! Looking forward to that....bring on Paddy's Day!!!!:-)
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Tigs
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Wow Wow Wow
Wow wow wow, it looks bloody deadly and with all the lights and tacky shops i would just love it, i just love touristy tack!!! Cant wait to go. Didnt realise there was sooo much to do on the west coast. Alcatraz would be great to see. Well keep enjoying for the last month or so im sure ye will. Enjoy the big apple, try not to blow whats left of the budget there Jo!!! Chat to ye soon. Tigs