Sin City

Lioness from below
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The thing about vegas, is that you can hear so many stories and experiences, be given so many reccommendations and told how utterly surreal it all is - but you won't really know until you go. As a starting point, I should point out that our first hotel, the Venetian, has a canal on the second floor. If you accept that as normal, everything else should fall nicely into place. After a smooth internal flight from Miami which made Ryanair look like bastions of good service we arrived into Mcarren international, to be greeting by the slot machines before we even got near our bags. Vegas is in a place it really shouldn't be. To the East is the Arizona Desert, to the West the Mojave desert, and to the north is Death Valley! it is very much the oasis in the desert. As we land, we can see the strip glistening in the distance in the evening sunshine. it felt good to have made it out West, as we had both been reading so much about Vegas and California, that we were more than ready to leave the East coast behind for now. To say the Venetian is ornate and over the top would be putting it mildly. Outside, we have an almost full scale replica of the Rialto bridge. Inside it boasts over 35 restaurants, at least as many boutiques & shops, a 1/3 size replica of St. Marks Square (also on the second floor), and i think 5 swimming pools. We lost count. I must say at this point, being the hardened budget travellers we are, we would not be staying in such luxury were it not for the insistance (and generosity) of Mum and Dad! Its great having high rollers to bankroll you...Thanks guys. :) Our first walk up the strip that evening took us past the Bellagio fountains, Cesars palace, the Eiffel Tower, the New York skyline, an Egyptian Pyramid, and a hotel called Excalibur, which looked a lot like King Arthurs Camelot (we didnt go there..'tis a silly place.) It was hard to ignore the "flickers" on the street, guys and girls throwing cards and flyers at passers by offering differing amounts of women "to do anything you want" in your hotel room. After 3 weeks on the road, they could do my washing. We did find them a bit much though, and you tended to do your best to ignore them - though they do fade into the background after a while. Aside from that, Vegas has been magical. The Casinos of course, are huge expanses of games, slots, tables and debt in my case. Despite your best efforts Kevin, our gambling efforts didnt quite come up to scratch. Sometimes it was just as entertaining watching guys throw down a grand or two on a blackjack table, lose it in 5 minutes, and then just walk away. Our last two nights in Vegas were spent in the MGM grand, a fantastic hotel a little further down the strip. this was very much our favourite in terms of its atmosphere and the buzz around the casino floor and in its many bars. It is linked via a skywalk to New York New York and almost made it like two hotels in one. Any excuse not to go outside into the 110 degree heat was welcome. You'll see in the pictures just what our view was like from our bedroom window. It really was like something out of legoland. Floor to ceiling windows meant it was the first thing we saw as we walked in or even woke up in the morning / afternoon / evening (time means nothing here). One of the nicest things about Vegas are the all you can eat buffets.Thry are really really tasty and cheap. Its not often you get to have pizza and sweet and sour chicken on the one plate. Unfortunately, we missed downtown vegas, and Freemont St. which I hear is fantastic. We never found time or energy to drag ourselves away from the two mini cities we stayed in. As our time in vegas comes to an end, we have decided to hit the open road and rent a car to get us to grand Canyon and beyond. Our next stop will be from a place just a little different from the playground of Las Vegas. Brilliant place, will definitely come back once I get more blackjack lessons!!

As we land, we can see the strip glistening in the distance in the evening sunshine