Wednesday 10 July 2013

A Random Post For a Random Place - Vegas

Before Kevin and I arrived in Las Vegas we joked that we were going to be party so hard we would wake up the Hangover style in the San Francisco Greyhound bus station. But the reality of the situation is that I don't gamble. I don't really like strippers (sorry Kevin). And we didn't really want to go to any shows. So what were we going to do for our five days in Las Vegas?

We filled up our time surprisingly well actually. Firstly we were very pleasantly surprised at how large and nice our queen room at Bally's was. And it was right in the middle of the strip too. We spent most of those hot days lounging about by the pool, trying to fill in the gaps of my glaring thong tan (that's flip flops to you non-Australians). It's actually been years and years since I had a holiday doing absolutely nothing so this was a nice holiday from our holiday. Then when the temperature dropped we wandered about the strip, checking out all the free attractions of the various big hotels there.

Loving our room. Ahh space, I've missed you.



The best by far was at the Bellagio. Their fountain show every fiften minutes always offered something new and would never fail to bring a smile to my face and a tap in my feet. Then going into the hotel itself is like walking into Alice in Wonderland. I LOVED the large stained glass flowers that covered the ceiling that was done by Chihuly. And then there was the conservatory which had it's own aviary full of coloured finches and different displays full of colour, birds and other magical elements that was really inspiring. It felt like I was inside a giant terrarium!










Then there was the aquarium and free show at Caesar's, the wildlife habitat at Flamingo's and the canals at the Venetian. They were pretty cool too and helped to fill up some time but because everything felt a little artifical and just not quite right I wasn't falling off my seat impressed. They also had a fake eiffel tower at our hotel, a fake pyramid and a fake statue of liberty. It was all a bit crazy and over the top. But that's what Vegas is all about I guess.








What was truly spectacular however was the day tour we took to the Grand Canyon. Instead of just a big hole in the rock like I had thought it was, it was more of a landscape of layers of rock and large structures of interesting shapes and colours. Yes it was pretty hot but we got ice cream and enjoyed just wandering around the different vista points. We didn't have time to do any trails there but we weren't really keen on it anyway because of the extreme heat.






The other impressive thing we saw was the amount of food people can eat. We knew it wouldn't be the best but we thought we should try the many buffets in Vegas with the 24 hour Buffet of Buffet pass which allows you go into 6 different hotel buffets as many times as you want for that period of time. We timed it out so we got four meals out of it, which isn't bad for $50 per person. The best was breakfast and on the spot crepes at Paris and the dinner at Spice market buffet in Planet Hollywood. The prawns were awful but the crab legs were good and we ate A LOT of them. Needless to say, I over ate at every meal and was left nursing a stomach ache for a lot of that 24 hour period. An experience for sure but I was relieved when it was over. The same could be said for my Vegas experience overall. 

Unlimited cupcakes!! Stomach inducing for sure.
Showing some restraint.

3 comments:

  1. Yet another awesome post Toni, loving the photos!
    You should have at least tried one of the shows or go clubbing for the experience. Might bump into some celebs (Most likely gangsta rappers like 50 cent, p.diddy, chris brown etc) lol.. I think if i was there i'd go crazy! lol.. and try my luck on the tables as well and make more money hehe.

    I know it's pretty much a desert, but how hot does it get during the day there?

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  2. We prob would have went to a club if we had a larger group of people but it's a bit lame with just the two of us Cas. Plus we feel a bit too old to be clubbing, 28 in 10 days! And we're too poor to be able to afford to lose at the pokies.

    It was consistently 40 degrees or higher during the day. There was air con everywhere but just walking a block or two tired me out.

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  3. haha, that's true. Going with a group to the clubs is heaps better. We may feel old Toni, but we're only beginning to enter 30 in the next two years. Nekminnit, you're 38 and knitting at home. LOL

    WOW..40 degress or higher!? Wished it was that hot here back in Sydney. Yeh, just walking short distances in that tremendous heat will drain you easily. Hope you had plenty of water!

    Btw, the Vancouver pictures are amazing!

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