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Published: December 3rd 2006
The morning after Disney was like waking up on Boxing Day as a kid. Had we really met Mickey Mouse Yesterday?? Still, it was going to get even better as far as I was concerned, for today we were driving to Vegas…..cue Elvis music.
The road to Vegas is long, even longer than long, and much longer than you’d think. However, it did throw up some memorable views of the Nevada mountains and sweeping clay coloured plains. You could almost see the cowboys and Indians. The Mustang was performing well ; ) much better than the music on the radio, country FM or something! We were getting excited as we got closer to Vegas. We were due to meet Mike & Claire at the airport and we were bang on time. After parking up we wondered into the terminal building only to find out their flight had been delayed. To cut a long story short the plane landed and we were a bit concerned that there was no sign of Mike & Claire only to be told that we were waiting in the wrong terminal (For future ref. International flights fly into and out of Terminal 2 - although no
where in the airport or on the signs approaching the airport does it tell you this!).
Anyway, with Mike & Claire safely landed we made our way to our hotel and after a couple of swift ones we were getting ready for a night out on the town. Only problem was that we were all shattered!! But still, a few drinks on and we were getting into the swing of things…or things were going with a swing, one or the other!
Aladdin’s was the first Casino we visited on the way to Bellagio’s. We just walked through it, but still, what a walk. A big blue sky bowed across the shopping area, impressively authentic helped by the high ceilings. It was our first introduction to the indoor sky scapes that make Vegas a truly 24/7 environment. Outside Aladdin’s we were on the Strip at night and it blew us away. I literately didn’t see the Eifel Tower standing proud, straight out of the Paris casino right next to us. The many blinking lights that lit either side of the road as we walked were truly mesmerizing.
Across the road we stood by and watched with beaming smiles
the well known water cascades of Bellagio’s fountains, much better in real life than on the tele. Right next door was Caesars Palace where we strolled through the impressive entrance halls, past the casino floor and onto the cheese cake factory. After a large (American style) meal and a couple of surprisingly strong cocktails we were on the roulette table frivolously gambling with our backpacker budget of $40.…big bucks!! Nevertheless, due to some consistent betting conservatism on Jo’s part we left the table an hour later with our money doubled. On that note it was time for bed, well and truly shedded from a busy day.
The next morning we were up and out bright and breezy early doors. The Wynn was Mike & Claire’s shout for breakfast and an early Birthday present for Jo. Breakfast turned into a three hour foodathon and in fact we carried on eating so long that we ate through breakfast and onto the lunch service : o !! Before you comment, you should have seen the food on offer….every imaginable cuisine was catered. There was literally every type of fruit, meat, seafood, fresh cakes and puddings, homemade ice creams, everything. We rolled out
of the place and decided a walk would be good for our digestion! We headed into the Venetian and went up stairs to see the gondolas….this is what is expected in Vegas, not only do they recreate the Venice canals, but they put them upstairs!! While we were there Mike & Claire took us into a gallery to show us a picture they had wanted to buy last time they were in Vegas. The picture was brilliant. Painted by Waldemar Swierzy a Polish painter it depicted the scene of the last super. Only in place of Jesus and his disciples there were gangsters, possibly Capone and his buddies. Swierzy had traveled to Las Vegas to create a widely-admired collection of lithographs and paintings all capturing the essence of Las Vegas nightlife. ‘The strip” pictured below was our favourite, as the guy at the gallary explained (without us knowing the title of the painting!) that it was in fact the strip. The gangster’s tie being the Stratosphere and so on down. Coool. Check out their website
www.s2art.com On from the Venetian we crossed over for a whistle stop tour of the Mirage to see the White Tigers after which we
jumped in the car for a trip to a complex of discount fashion outlets. Only we mistook the one’s we had seen on our way in to Vegas the day before, which turned out to be some 40 miles down the road in Primm!! It turned out alright in the end as Mike & Claire had a chance to drive into the desert and get a feel for how utterly out on a limb Las Vegas really is, you don’t really feel it when you’re just in town surrounded by the huge buildings and busy streets. The outlets we had spotted turned out to be the wrong ones and were a bit pikey so we got back in the car and drove back to Vegas to find the proper fashion outlets. There was however a little bit I’ve missed on our trip to Primm! I ended up leaving the car keys in one of the stores and on realizing I didn’t have the keys on our way back to the car, I ran back with Claire to find them, Jo went round the other way to look with Mike. I don’t know which of them suggested it, but Jo went
off to guard the car in case someone tried to steal it having found our keys with the helpful car plate registration the hire companies put on the key ring! I don’t think poor Jo knew quite what to do when the central locking started going off and the locks popped open and shut. Luckily it was only Mike having a laugh hiding behind a pillar, you should have seen Jo’s face she was getting ready to jump on the bonnet!! She managed to find the funny side of it too, well at least after the adrenaline had warn off!!
After that mini adventure we did find the right place and after a good look round we all bought something, mine was a pair of Calvin Klein Jeans for £12. Bargain!
That evening we had some great nacho’s at Margarettaville while enjoying great views of the strip and of Caesars Palace opposite. After dinner we headed for New York New York and a go on the roller coaster which runs around the outside of the casino. Again great views, great roller coaster, a must if you’re in Vegas. After my hearing eventually corrected itself from having sat next
to Jo on the roller coaster we walked through a passageway into the Luxor Casino next door. After a quick look around we returned to the casino floor of New York New York and in the space of forty five minutes lost all our winnings from the previous night. But hey, it was another Vegas experience and besides we ended up even ; )
The next morning we were all feeling pretty jaded so we thought the best thing would be to go to the Stratosphere and do a nuts of a ride. After traveling in the elevator up about 80 floors in 8 sec the girls soon bottled any participation in any sort of a ride….me & Mike had our Male ego to thank for what appears from the photo to be a possibly ‘touching cloth’ moment!! Even a coffee and muffin didn’t settle the nerves before going on that ride. Not surprising with its name being “Insanity“. Still after a couple of spins we soon relaxed into it!!
The Stratosphere gives a superb 360 degree view of the city nestled in between the mountains on either side. From the top we noticed a race track down
below opposite and were soon watching Claire and Mike take on the challenge of driving a convertible corvette round the track followed by a Hummer over an assault course. All for a fiver!!
It was then back to the hotel to pack and wish Mike & Claire Bon voyage. It had been a wonderful couple of days. We really couldn’t have asked for a better time in Vegas. With their help we didn’t have to think about where we were staying, or what we were going to do next. They took care of everything, which meant that all we had to do was enjoy ourselves and that we did by the bucket load. Cheers guys, that was one mother of a couple of days and if your tired reading about it, then you aren’t even close to the way we felt that afternoon when we checked into our hotel for our last night in Vegas and our last night in America. We came round about 7.30pm after sleeping for about 4 hours. After debating on whether to venture into town again we settled for room service, TV and reflection. We had finished another part of our journey and it
had certainly been memorable.
Our (mine) overall opinion on the States is a mixed one. In one respect everything is catered for in America. It is the convenience capital of the world, you find yourself saying to yourself that you could make a good life out here. Then scratch the surface and there’s another America, one that you don’t have to look too hard to see, and one that I think a lot of Americans just don’t choose to see. Homelessness and a huge class divide are easy to spot. Compassion and simple common courtesy towards the less fortunate by the fortunate is for what would appear in our time here, non existent. One thing that made me sit back and think about this and which certainly won’t be on the minds of those that see a life in America as a road to fame and fortune was something a long term resident of the hostel in Hermosa said to me. “You’re only a pay check away from being homeless”. And unfortunately, when that happens there is very little support. No medical help, no housing benefit, no dole. A system which doesn’t provide a safety net.
But that
is America, love it or hate it, it is so diverse it surely has something for everyone. Like the careers of many an American Star we had started in a place where we’d seemed to be stuck going nowhere (Seattle), only to get our big break and be somewhat disappointed by all the hype (San Francisco). Then in the realisation that you have to make things happen to happen, get completely blown away by something beyond your control, the force of nature (Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Big Sur) And then, before you know it, the bit that you were really looking forward to the most, had past (Driving the Pacific Coast Highway). This in turn throwing you into a period of reflection (LA), and as if you can sense the end is near, propel yourself head long into a blazing finale and finish all burnt out in Las Vegas!!
America has been an adventure far more rewarding than we had imagined.
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Mike & Claire
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You're back!!
Blimey we were getting withdrawal symptoms without a regular blog to read!!. We had a fantastic time with you guys in vegas, our only concern was that we had run you ragged for the two days...you both looked exhausted when we left (and i certainly felt it, so god knows how claire managed to work the flight back through the night!!).. Looking forward to you instalments again guys. A belated happy B'day Jo, and congratulations to you both xx