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Published: July 14th 2007
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If you haven't guessed from the heading...Vegas is BIG...and I mean Huuuuuggggggeeeee!! Everything here is done to the max...hotels, food, gardens, shows...it's nuts! But we are having a ball, as there is just so much to see and do.
We touched down in the desert city yesterday at 2:00pm, 15 mins ahead of our flight...nothing wrong with that! As soon as we walked off the plane, the heat of the tunnel hit us...it was scorching! You'd think being Aussies, Iz and I wouldn't have noticed it much...but it was like a sauna in there! We quickly grabbed our bags, and our shuttle to the Pyramid Hotel...the Luxor. What is it?? BIG!!
You can see the entire strip from the plane, so if you ever fly into Vegas, demand a window seat...we didn't, so unfortunately we only got small glimpses...but the pyramid was rising high into the sky. We walked through the massive sphinx and past the Egyptian statues of pharoas, into the pyramid itself, and had only gone a few paces, when we were ushered over to a 'special counter'.
Iz and I were coerced by the lady (with way too much make-up...I was thinking to myself,
'This is what Paris Hilton will look like at 50') and agreed to do a tour of a new hotel opening soon. In exchange, we get a major discount off our choice of 10 Vegas shows. We leave for the tour in about 30 mins, and it may be a total rip off, but we thought we'd chance it. You could choose from Mamma Mia, Crazy Horse or a Knights Jousting Tournament and Dinner...but we went with the show I had been dreaming about seeing while here...Cirque de Souleil's 'KA'. This is a martial arts inspired show, that has acrobats performing on a vertical platform. The trailer on the web looked awesome, but ticket prices were pretty dear...$129 American. We are now getting tickets for $35 because of the tour to the hotel...sounds too good to be true...I know. Will keep you posted!
After we signed our lives away, we made it up to our room in the East Tower....it's BIG! At least half the size of our house in Boyne! We didn't stop for long, and did a quick tour of our hotel, the casino, the pool (couldn't believe people were sunbaking!) and the hotel next door (Mandalay
Bay - this is linked to the Luxor, as is the Excalibur). Our hotel keeps the Egyptian theme running, and has water displays, spires, statues and sphinx EVERYWHERE...it is very cool!
We didn't stay at the Luxor for long, and went in search of a bus. Outside, it was smokin!! We crossed the road, which felt like it would melt beneath us, and to the first bus stop we saw. You can catch a bus here called 'The Lucky Deuce' for $5 all day...it's the cheapest way to get around. A bus finally arrived, and we made our way up to the top deck, and crawled along the stip at a snail's pace. Everyone was heading Downtown...just our luck!
Finally, we made it to Freemont Street, where the temperature sign said it was 41 degrees...at 8pm!!!! CRAZY! This street has one of the best shows we will probably see while we're here. The entire street top is covered by an arched visual display, that comes to life every hour. We got to see two amazing shows, one with a nature theme, and the other with a racing theme. We walked down the street, looking at all the bright
lights, and tried our luck at one of the Casino's...go Iz...he won $40 on the pokie machine. This casino (I think it was called the Mermaid) gives away $10,000 every 30 minutes. The lady who walked in just after us won!!
At around 10pm we headed back down the boulevard, to Caesar's Palace (do not make the effort to see the Atlantis show - BORING) and then on to the Bellagio - and the famous fountain display. They have over 1000 water fountains that shoot jets of water up at least 100 meters into the sky, all choreographed to music. It was like watching water dance...beautiful...and BIG!
We made it back to our hotel around 1:00pm and then decided to give mum and dad a quick call on Skype. They had just woken up in Belfast - lucky ducks! Vegas is go go go 24/7. You can do anything you want, anytime - gamble, dance, drink or just take in a show. We are definitely here more for the entertainment than the gambling, and there seems to be A LOT of that. Oh well, off to our tour. Will touch base again this arv. Over and out from
the BIG GUNS!
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Simone
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The memories!
I can't believe Stephen and I were there nearly 4 years ago, it hasn't changed a bit. Glad we didn't have the heat though. Enjoy!!!