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Published: July 18th 2007
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We certainly made the most of our last day in Vegas. Slept in till about 9am, then took a walk out to the pool...couldn't believe how hot it was already...and how many people were out sunbaking! That has to be lethal...we decided to skip the swim, and head downtown to the Stratosphere instead. Good move...the Duece took nearly an hour to get there...that bus is super slow.
The hotel loomed above us as we walked through the Stratosphere doors, and into the maze. The owners are very cluey here in Vegas, and you ALWAYS have to walk through the casino to get to where you want to go...in this case...we wanted the lift to the top. It costs $10 to get up into the clouds, but the cost is well worth it, and besides, Iz had to try the X-Scream. The lift shoots up at 3 floors per second, to over 900 feet in the air...it's quick! Your ears pop on the way up. That was my ride for the day!
As soon as the lift doors open, you step out above Las Vegas. It is amazing! There is such a mixture of dry, arid land and green,
lush, pastures (mostly golf courses). The strip looks pretty small from up here, but the Canyon looked huge...with its grand walls sweeping across the landscape in the horizon. From this level, you can definitely see that Vegas is surrounded by the hills, in its own little valley.
We did a loop of the lookout deck, then headed up another floor to Izzy's ride. After already watching it shoot off the edge of the builiding from the observation deck, I couldn't believe he was still keen to do it. This 'keeness' remained, even after watching the ride from outside (which was way worse than from the observation deck), and Iz was more than eager to give it a go...in the front seat no less. This ride is NUTS!!!!! You get shot out from the edge of the building, head down at a 45 degree angle, and dangle from 1000 feet looking at the ground below.
It then shoots you up, and back, and down again....my stomach was doing flips just watching. Unfortunately, Iz didn't get the front seat (it has the best view as you have nothing below or beside you) but he still had a blast...smiling the entire
time while he dangled in mid-air...what a lunatic! He came off the ride grinning like a Cheshire Cat...and decided that he needed lunch...unbelievable! Iz skipped the other two rides - Insanity and the Big Shot. Insanity was just that -a claw that spins you out over the Strip while your legs dangle free below you. The Big Shot shoots you up another 100 feet - because 1000 just ain't high enough.
Lunch was at Roxy's Diner, a cool, 50's-inspired eatery. We grabbed two burgers, and our favourite beveridge - lemonade, and checked out the photos from X-Scream. After lunch, we grabbed the next Deuce (another 1 hour ride) back to the Luxor for some downtime before the show.
At about 6pm we made our way over to the MGM Grand for KA. This show definitely lived up to the Cirque standard...it was unbelievable. The whole show centres around a very sophisticated platform that can move in ANY direction. It is at least 20 metres high, and the acrobats perform on it vertically, scaling the wall on fly wires while fighting. The action is martial arts inspired, so there were a lot of Matrix style moves, and awesome music.
EVERYTHING in the show is done live - it was disappointing they hadn't made a DVD so we could relive the experience.
Neither of us felt tired, so we headed to the Tropicana for the Foilles Bergere Show - the traditional Vegas revue. We got great seats in a booth close to the front, and watched the feathers and frills of this topless act. There was singing and comedy, and the dance routines were great. It was actually a lot better than I had expected, with large sets and a talented cast. After the show we grabbed some hotdogs and lemonade, and headed back to the room.
It's time to pack for New York now - we leave tomorrow at 11:30am, so we need to get organised. Vegas is definitely a city all of its own. I don't think we'll experience anything like it anywhere else we travel - it is big, bold, and mostly tacky...but God it's been fun!! We probably didn't need 5 days here...but we've done a lot. It's like seeing the world in the one city - even if it's the fakest version you'll get. Elvis was right...Viva Las Vegas Man!
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Mum
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Hi Michelle and Israel. Love the photos. Hopefully New York will be just as much fun. You'll probably appreciate the weather being cooler, though Dad says it can get pretty hot up there too. Pity you're not visiting Grandma , she is only an hour and a half from Niagra falls. Oh well you have to leave something for next time. Talk to you later. Love mUm