We landed in Las Vegas last night at about 21.10 local time. Our Uber driver from the airport was such a nice guy. Pointed out landmarks as we drove up The Strip to our hotel. No movie, no blog, no nothing can prepare you for Vegas.
We walked into our hotel – well should I say we walked into a casino! There we were dragging our massive cases through the slots machines, tables etc until we found the Hotel Reception Desk – in the middle of the casino! We checked in, and off we went through another part of the casino looking for the entrance to the rooms. The one wheel on William’s case has broken, so he is literally dragging his case!
After unpacking we went downstairs looking for a late supper. We then took a quick walk outside, but at about zero degrees with no jackets on, that didn’t last too long!
This morning we started off by visiting the Bellagio Hotel. We wanted to see their conservatory/botanical garden. It was much smaller than we had understood it to be, but amazing creations from flowers.
Our next mission was to buy a new suitcase for William. We also bought small bottled water, cooldrink etc and loaded it into the new case (after we had paid for them obviously!) The only problem was that our hotel was a lot further than we thought, so William pulled his new case a long way. And in Vegas, you don’t just walk along the pavements. Often you have to go up and along bridges. (And not all have escalators. My dear husband and his suitcase had a good workout!)
After that ordeal, we boarded the Hop On Hop Off bus and headed to Downtown Vegas to visit The Mob Museum which was incredibly interesting and sad, as is a lot of history.
We walked down to Freemont Street where we had some Chinese food for lunch – a lovely change from oily everything!
Our next Hop off was at the Strat, where we went up 109 floors and viewed Vegas and beyond. We are in a desert!
We continued our Hop on hop off tour back to the strip. Lots of hotels and casinos here have taken on a theme of a country. We visited Paris and went up to the Eiffel Tower. It was about 5.30 pm and the sun had just set. Stunning views, but very chilly!
We purchased a 24hour bus ticket, which allows us to use the busses as much as we like for 24 hours. We headed back to downtown Vegas – to Freemont. Freemont is the original Vegas strip. It has the largest screen in the world which is overhead. It spans 419m long and 27m wide. Quite amazing! And all along the strip are stages with people singing, dancing and acting. Needless to say, there are casinos and bars lining it, with some eating spots. It was loud, very loud and busy! We are getting old!
We returned to the uptown Las Vegas as it was time for me to work. The time difference of 10 hours means that our late Thursday night was your Friday morning.
The cabin controller welcomed us to Vegas as we landed. She said….as the saying goes….what happens in Vegas, and the whole plane chorused back…. Stays in Vegas. She laughed and said. No, that is yesteryear. It is now……whats happens in Vegas, is on social media tomorrow morning!