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Viva Las Vegas! |
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What a whirlwind of a time we had in Vegas.
Having flown into LAX on 2 July, we thought it was a bit busy! Duh! July 4th weekend is a big thing over here! but we still managed to catch a flight to Vegas that very afternoon. On arriving at Vegas airport, we deliberated over the luxury hotels available....Caerars Palace, Bellagio, Paris, The Mirage, nah! they just won't do, Terrible's Hotel & Casino got our vote! www.terribleherbst.com/casinos/terriblescasinolasvegas/ A little tacky compared to Caesars Palace perhaps but quite respectable (oh and cheap!). Huge room, hot hot hot shower (and bath) fluffy towels, crisp bedding, TV, great pool and you can eat for next to nothing! (to be honest, it has been a real novelty just to have a hot shower, turning lights on, having TV and communicating with friendly english speaking people!)
Vegas was very different to the last 9 weeks we spent in Fiji, Cook Islands & French Polynesia. It was great to just have a cheap cold beer when you want one or fast food! So from the sophistication and chic of French Polynesia to the white trailer barbie doll trash of Vegas...... Yep, it was quite a contrast! But Vegas was fun.
We went to see Splash at the Riviera & spent a day flying to the Grand Canyon & over Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, Boulder City which was pretty amazing. Mostly we cruised the strip people watching. Our blistered bleeding feet are proof of the miles and miles of walking we did there. (memories of Raiatea!). For those who haven't done Vegas - some of the resort hotels take 30 minutes to walk through! We've been entertained by the Mirage's erupting Volcano, Treasure Islands Pirate Ship attack and The Bellagios dancing fountains. At the Venetian, the only way to do some window shopping, is by Gondola! Yep, its Disneyland for grown ups. Simon can say that he won at Caesar's palace, only $50 but its a win and he's sticking with the story and the money. Well at least Simon the story & Lisa the money!
Like all Vegas hotels, we had to walk for 10 minutes through the bing! bing! bing! of fruit machine hell to get anywhere - to the restaurant, restrooms, out to the street but it was fun watching enormously fat, loud Americans shoving pennies into the slots with one hand, shoving doughnuts down their gobs with the other. A bit of an eating frenzy took place on July 4th. Americans everywhere, eating as much as they could. In fact, despite the month of stuffing our faces and downing as much Carbardi as we possibly could whilst on board Tiki and the endless pancakes and Macdonald's we've already consumed here, we feel pretty bloody slim amongst all these obese people!
Whilst in town, we were caught up in a bit of a heatwave with temperatures around 100 degrees F around the clock, one night it was still 96F at 2230!!
So finally after 5 nights it was time to move on (and we were ready for it!) We caught a night flight to Chicago, where staying with our great ex-pat friends Caroline & Ken Ramsay (Simon used to be in the Merchant Navy with Caroline 23 years ago!) we will complete another chapter in our adventure.
Until next time.
Love to all
Simon & Lisa
xxxx
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