Las Vegas - Part 3
Hi Guys,
This is my final entry for my trip to Vegas! Starting to think this may have been easier to Blog than Blog, but we will and we learn.
Woke up this morning starving. Made our way downstairs to eat in one of the restaurants our hotel offers. I dined on Pancakes, Eggs, bacon and Maple Syrup. It’s a good thing we are doing so much walking, to compensate for the overload of calories in my breakfast.
We make our way through their Casino area and follow signs for the Bellagio Gardens, the hotels ‘attraction’.
We exit and to each side are little fountains with angels on them, surrounded by floral displays. Directly ahead of us, are two beautiful dragon stone carvings.
After you walk through the Dolphin habitat, you finally get the 'Secret Garden' - where it was heart wrenching. I am an animal lover, i do favour big cats, but no animal should have to live in a cage. As you entered.. Seigfried was there, having his picture taken and signing autographs. We walked past and to your right, you have an average cage, with a beautiful white lion, constantly watching everyone who walks past.. a cage half the size of the lions, hold's a leopard, who is chewing at the ground. We tear ourselves away, and walk the rest of the way round, a snow tiger, asleep in the sun, and another snow tiger who won't stop pacing in his cage.. at this point, I turned to A and said we needed to win the lottery, so that I could free any and everything animal kept in a cage. Its breaking, to see the lavishness of the hotel, and to know, we have a bigger room then a big cat. Although they are beautiful to witness, the see them going mad from being confined in such a small space.. being paraded around and shown of like trophies. The thought of them being them tugs at me every time I think about it.
Considerably tired at this point, me and mum head down before A and my step dad and make our way back to the hotel. It didn't look far to begin with.. but it was, so it took us longer to walk back then originally thought.. our day wasn't even done at this point either. We needed to go back to the hotel so we could freshen up, and then catch a cab to the Old Strip so we could see the Freemont street experience and grab a bite to eat.
Most expensive and cheeky taxi ride of our trip so far, and we are arrive at the old strip. It's windy, of course. We make our way to a good spot under the freemont and wait for the show to begin, this requires staring straight up for quite a while, so I would expect eco ache if you do this! Everyone was singing and moving about to the music as they watched the big screens above, it was a feel good experience.
Once this was over, we walked further down the street, and found our ways heading towards a live band which had just started playing in the centre. Me and mum being intrigued, got a closer look when our all time favourite song started being played. This was when my stepdad and A lost us to the music as we got ourselves closer to the band and deeper into the crowd.
Band Name: TMB (Tony Marques Band) Music they played:
a carpark, literally in the centre of a 2 way dual road, someone was getting married next to the sign, but an Elvis Presley impersonator. Rock N Roll! Perfect weather for them, the bride looked bad ass in sparkly rainbow converse and a beautiful pin-up styled dress! A line was formed to the sign, there was some guy taking pictures for people on his smart phone as well as on the phones of the people getting their photos taken. He obviously expected a tip for this!
Whilst we were admiring the enormous sign, i spot another sign for the Harley Davidson shop.. We may have already visited a small version, but this was THE shop, the show room! So sorry credit card.
We walk across the road as its quicker to get there this way. I prance a head with A, I can't get there quick enough.
I burst through the doors and the smell of new tyres is unmissable, 5 lines are dead ahead, all with various models of Harleys. We got to watch as a member of staff moved a few bikes to different areas on the floor court. I instantly spotted multiple pairs of boots, all of which weren't in my size, typical.
I bought myself an awesome bag, which I started using straight away, and due to the amount I spent, we got a duffle bag, which A wanted for less then half the price, so we both won.
It took a while for us to get out of that shop, I was very content with spending the day looking over all the bikes and accessories for them, but time was of the essence as we had other plans..
The Carroll Shelby Museum.. WOW what a show room!
Some goodies where purchased obviously, I have an awesome new key chain which my work lanyard goes it, its designed like the Shelby Seat belts and has the snake symbol all over it, it's cooler then it sounds, trust me!
This was another place, that could fill hours of your day.
Carrying on with the journey, we stop off at the Springs Reserve, an amazing reserve dedicated to all things colourful, prickly and beautiful. Every where you look, there are paths leading down trails covered by trees, planters on every corner, spread across open plains, it was a soul lifting place to be.
I could upload hundreds of pictures from this trip, but I realise, that this post is getting longer and longer, and there is still so much to tell you! So I am very sorry but we crammed in a lot!
Back in the car, and away we go.. the Valley of Fire.
A remarkable and beautiful landscape, all in reds and oranges.
Rock formations which look like art, it was a place that I would live, in the middle of absolutely no where, surrounding by constant colour that can make anyones jaw drop.
Starting to feel a little tired at this point, we had to our second to last place to explore of the evening, The Red Rock Canyon. Another gorgeous land scape, the pictures speak for them-self but i can assure you, my pictures didn't capture half the beauty that you can see with the naked eye.
Finally.. We had back to the strip, its the last 'event' of the day, and we are all pretty exhausted now. Everyday has been constant, 18000 steps on average per day. I think I lost weight rather then gain it.. surely thats the wrong way wrong when you visit America?
The Stratosphere, a miraculous building, which offers the best views of the strip. We had straight up the observation deck on floor 107, where theres a bar, observation deck outside, a shop and the bungee jump platform... yeah, i'm serious. The Stratosphere offers 3 thrill rides and a Bungee jump. They have to tell everyone who eats in there restaurant not to worry about the people falling past the window at speed, so people don't get the wrong idea.
I watched, as one lady done the bungee jumper, she looked terrified. I myself, wished to do this, what a thrill! but the winds were high, and they had already closed off one of the rides that goes out and over the edge due to the strength of it. I did, however do the big shot. I'll attach the description for you.. that describes it better then i ever could.. i just screamed the entire time. "Big Shot and prepare to be shot 160 feet in the air at 45 miles per hour as you overlook the majestic Las Vegas Valley. In a matter of seconds, the Big Shot thrill ride catapults 16 riders from the 921-foot high platform up the Tower's mast to a height of 1,081 feet and down again." I walked off of that ride completely white. My mind, body and soul was not prepared for that. I was very glad when we exited The stratosphere, and I could place my feet firmly on the ground.
What an amazing way to end the day, what an amazing day in general! We leave tomorrow, which means this adventure has nearly come to an end.. I was sad to go.
We packed that night and then me and A headed down stairs to do our first and only bit of ambling with what dollars we had remaining from the day. I lost all the money I gambled, as did A.
This is my final entry for my trip to Vegas! Starting to think this may have been easier to Blog than Blog, but we will and we learn.
Tuesday 17th
First port of call is our walk to the Aria hotel.
Before we start our walk, my step dad takes us all around the edge of our hotel to show us a mesh statue of women. The sun is shining so she almost glows in the light.
Today seems rather cool, just like yesterday at the Grand Canyon, Vegas appears to have been hit with some unusual winds, which has taken the heat out of the sun.
I didn’t pack for the high winds, nor cooler temperatures so quite frankly I’m rather cold.
We finally head off, I kept up a good pace the entire walk, trying to warm my body up until we finally arrive outside the Aria Hotel. Each hotel is like a maze, trying to find anything in them is not an particularly easy task, even with signs attached to the ceilings. The tram seems packed, however our choice of cart allows us all to sit and watch as we pass through various hotels until our destination of the Bellagio.
We make our way through their Casino area and follow signs for the Bellagio Gardens, the hotels ‘attraction’.
As we get closer to the gardens, we stop off at the various gift shops scattered, and see a bar, which has a fresh waterfall of chocolate going down the side of it.
We arrive at the gardens, and you are transported to a Japanese haven. The smells of each fresh flower hits you, and the colours are breath taking. 4 sections, each as beautiful as the other. You have bird sculptures hanging from the ceilings, a red bridge surrounded by beautiful flowers and plants. Small song birds are in the corner, you can just about them over the noise of everyone in this space.
I hadn’t deemed anything my favourite at this point in our trip, but this was love at first site. See for yourself.
I finally tear myself away, and continue through the rest of the hotel, as we walk through the hotels lobby, you look up and see glass coloured flowers hanging from the ceilings window above. The floor looks like a rainbow.
We exit and to each side are little fountains with angels on them, surrounded by floral displays. Directly ahead of us, are two beautiful dragon stone carvings. 
We walk across the taxi and car port, and sit on the edge of the fountain while we take in the outside of the hotel. The winds died down a bit now so the sun’s heat is beneficial! (Finally) just after the fountain is a pier which then shows you the strip and the Bellagio fountains, the Paris Hotel’s Eiffel Tower is also very visible!
Me and A have our own attraction to go and see now, whilst my mum and step dad go and do theirs. We chose to walk around the front of the Bellagio, past the fountains and make our way to Caesar’s palace so we can cut through to The Mirage.
Our attraction is the ‘Siegfried and Ron’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat'.
The sun's heat was bliss as we walked through the entrance of the Secret gardens, we handed over our tickets and walked down towards the dolphin habitat. You see 3 huge pools, the males are in one playing with various toys in the water. The females have the other two, one of which is a birthing pool. They have their first baby dolphin in 6 years, when we went, she had just turned 6 months old. All of the dolphins were playful with each other. I sat at the edge of one of the pools and watched as 4 beautiful boys swam across to me and continued to play.
After you walk through the Dolphin habitat, you finally get the 'Secret Garden' - where it was heart wrenching. I am an animal lover, i do favour big cats, but no animal should have to live in a cage. As you entered.. Seigfried was there, having his picture taken and signing autographs. We walked past and to your right, you have an average cage, with a beautiful white lion, constantly watching everyone who walks past.. a cage half the size of the lions, hold's a leopard, who is chewing at the ground. We tear ourselves away, and walk the rest of the way round, a snow tiger, asleep in the sun, and another snow tiger who won't stop pacing in his cage.. at this point, I turned to A and said we needed to win the lottery, so that I could free any and everything animal kept in a cage. Its breaking, to see the lavishness of the hotel, and to know, we have a bigger room then a big cat. Although they are beautiful to witness, the see them going mad from being confined in such a small space.. being paraded around and shown of like trophies. The thought of them being them tugs at me every time I think about it. 
Moving on..
On a lighter note, we were meeting my mum and step dad inside the hotel at the front entrance so we could carry on with our day.
Our next hotel of choice is The Venetian, next door conveniently was a Sephora.. Me and mum obviously took a look, and yet again, I handed over a lot of money. Whoops.
The Venetian is extremely clever, its a city within a hotel, everything is decorated like the outside of shops and homes, you have bridges going over a fake canal which has gondolas gliding across. The Pavement is cobblestone and if you look above, the ceiling is a blue sky with clouds, The Venetian's hotel offers sky changes, so it even rains. Pretty cool right.
The Venetian, has a ridiculously wide range of shops, this included a Harley Davidson shop, which Me and A spent a bit of money in! I also found the cutest shop which sold Disney bags (I was very tempted to buy one!)
After our wonder through the shops, we bought our tickets and had a Gondola ride inside the hotel, not at all tacky right? It was fun none the less and we giggled our way through the streets.
We continue through the Venetian, which then goes into The Palazzo, we didn't spend a lot of time, we merely walked through it so we could head to our next stop.
Walking towards an Eiffel tower when you know you aren't in Paris is rather strange, the closer we get to The Paris Hotel, the more impressive there replica of the Eiffel tower seems. Built into the hotel its size and structure is impressive. As you walk through the heavy doors, you are blasted once more by the smell of smoke, and noise that radiates out of the many slots scattered around the ground floor.. I spot the line for the Eiffel tower, and hand over the money required to purchase a ticket up. The amount of people allowed in the lift is limited, so we all go up with an additional 2 people. The elevator doors open, and you are hit by the wind, but at this high up, you don't care for the wind, the view was to impressive to notice.
The tippy top, allows you to walk all the way around the viewing balcony, you can see anything and everything that the strip has to offer, the sun was setting so we got to Vegas.. come to life!
Considerably tired at this point, me and mum head down before A and my step dad and make our way back to the hotel. It didn't look far to begin with.. but it was, so it took us longer to walk back then originally thought.. our day wasn't even done at this point either. We needed to go back to the hotel so we could freshen up, and then catch a cab to the Old Strip so we could see the Freemont street experience and grab a bite to eat.
Most expensive and cheeky taxi ride of our trip so far, and we are arrive at the old strip. It's windy, of course. We make our way to a good spot under the freemont and wait for the show to begin, this requires staring straight up for quite a while, so I would expect eco ache if you do this! Everyone was singing and moving about to the music as they watched the big screens above, it was a feel good experience.
Once this was over, we walked further down the street, and found our ways heading towards a live band which had just started playing in the centre. Me and mum being intrigued, got a closer look when our all time favourite song started being played. This was when my stepdad and A lost us to the music as we got ourselves closer to the band and deeper into the crowd.
Band Name: TMB (Tony Marques Band) Music they played:
Bon Jovi - Living on a Prayer
Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk
Cheap Trick - I want you to want me
We were pulled away at this point to go and find ourselves some food at Bennies, we dinned on steak, ribs and chicken. The cheapest yet best meal we had all of our time there.
Wednesday 18th
Back to the airport we go, to pick up another rental car.
Today luckily didn't involve as long of a drive to our destinations!
Port of call.. The Las Vegas sign!
a carpark, literally in the centre of a 2 way dual road, someone was getting married next to the sign, but an Elvis Presley impersonator. Rock N Roll! Perfect weather for them, the bride looked bad ass in sparkly rainbow converse and a beautiful pin-up styled dress! A line was formed to the sign, there was some guy taking pictures for people on his smart phone as well as on the phones of the people getting their photos taken. He obviously expected a tip for this!
Finally it was our time, we had pictures as couples, then a group picture so we took up plenty of his time to earn the tip we gave him.
Whilst we were admiring the enormous sign, i spot another sign for the Harley Davidson shop.. We may have already visited a small version, but this was THE shop, the show room! So sorry credit card.
We walk across the road as its quicker to get there this way. I prance a head with A, I can't get there quick enough.
I burst through the doors and the smell of new tyres is unmissable, 5 lines are dead ahead, all with various models of Harleys. We got to watch as a member of staff moved a few bikes to different areas on the floor court. I instantly spotted multiple pairs of boots, all of which weren't in my size, typical.
I bought myself an awesome bag, which I started using straight away, and due to the amount I spent, we got a duffle bag, which A wanted for less then half the price, so we both won.
It took a while for us to get out of that shop, I was very content with spending the day looking over all the bikes and accessories for them, but time was of the essence as we had other plans..
The Carroll Shelby Museum.. WOW what a show room!
After we looked at every beautiful creation that Shelby made, we got the chance to leave our mark, a door frame that is dedicated to all that visit. So me and A signed it.
Some goodies where purchased obviously, I have an awesome new key chain which my work lanyard goes it, its designed like the Shelby Seat belts and has the snake symbol all over it, it's cooler then it sounds, trust me! This was another place, that could fill hours of your day.
Carrying on with the journey, we stop off at the Springs Reserve, an amazing reserve dedicated to all things colourful, prickly and beautiful. Every where you look, there are paths leading down trails covered by trees, planters on every corner, spread across open plains, it was a soul lifting place to be.
I could upload hundreds of pictures from this trip, but I realise, that this post is getting longer and longer, and there is still so much to tell you! So I am very sorry but we crammed in a lot!
Back in the car, and away we go.. the Valley of Fire.
A remarkable and beautiful landscape, all in reds and oranges.
Rock formations which look like art, it was a place that I would live, in the middle of absolutely no where, surrounding by constant colour that can make anyones jaw drop.
Starting to feel a little tired at this point, we had to our second to last place to explore of the evening, The Red Rock Canyon. Another gorgeous land scape, the pictures speak for them-self but i can assure you, my pictures didn't capture half the beauty that you can see with the naked eye.
Finally.. We had back to the strip, its the last 'event' of the day, and we are all pretty exhausted now. Everyday has been constant, 18000 steps on average per day. I think I lost weight rather then gain it.. surely thats the wrong way wrong when you visit America?
The Stratosphere, a miraculous building, which offers the best views of the strip. We had straight up the observation deck on floor 107, where theres a bar, observation deck outside, a shop and the bungee jump platform... yeah, i'm serious. The Stratosphere offers 3 thrill rides and a Bungee jump. They have to tell everyone who eats in there restaurant not to worry about the people falling past the window at speed, so people don't get the wrong idea.
I watched, as one lady done the bungee jumper, she looked terrified. I myself, wished to do this, what a thrill! but the winds were high, and they had already closed off one of the rides that goes out and over the edge due to the strength of it. I did, however do the big shot. I'll attach the description for you.. that describes it better then i ever could.. i just screamed the entire time. "Big Shot and prepare to be shot 160 feet in the air at 45 miles per hour as you overlook the majestic Las Vegas Valley. In a matter of seconds, the Big Shot thrill ride catapults 16 riders from the 921-foot high platform up the Tower's mast to a height of 1,081 feet and down again." I walked off of that ride completely white. My mind, body and soul was not prepared for that. I was very glad when we exited The stratosphere, and I could place my feet firmly on the ground.
What an amazing way to end the day, what an amazing day in general! We leave tomorrow, which means this adventure has nearly come to an end.. I was sad to go.
We packed that night and then me and A headed down stairs to do our first and only bit of ambling with what dollars we had remaining from the day. I lost all the money I gambled, as did A.
Thursday 19th
It's a sad day for room 1953.. no ones as chirpy as we finish the last bits of packing, and sort out hand luggage. We have a few last stops before we head to the airport, so time is valuable and needs to be sent wisely. Check out is at 11AM, we check out stuff in with the luggage hold, and walk across to the Luxor.
It's time for us to see our final exhibition of the Titanic.
Our time is short, so we can't wonder around for as long as I wish.
You think the film was tear worthy.. thats nothing compared to seeing real artefacts from the wreckage. As you entered, everyone was given a boarding pass of someone that was on the Titanic.. and at the very end, there were 3 massive boards from floor to ceiling, stating the 3 different classes that on board that boat the night the sea claimed it. You then had to see whether your passenger survived.. it was horrifying to see how many First class passengers were saved and then the amount of names of those.. who didn't.
You couldn't take pictures through, and to be honest I didn't want to, it was in-captivating and quite frankly a sad experience.
So although the last trip of our adventure wasn't filled with smiles and laughter, it was still worth every second.
I am sad, that we had to go, this trip was one adventure after another, so although I think I now need another week off to recover, it's been a trip I will never forgot, but I am so looking forward to a lay in!
Our flight was at 3:35PM, delayed typically to 4:35PM, everyone slept on the flight, I couldn't get comfortable as per, so I started writing Las Vegas Part 1 seeing as I had 9 hours and 45 minutes.
The flight was really quick, we hit more turbulence the entire time we flew over America, so I again had a drink to calm my nerves. Food was serviced through the night, and finally we touched down, in what looked like a very pleasant UK. We landed in the UK at 10AM on Friday 20th. Considering my lack of sleep, I felt relatively perky.
So we got out luggage, caught the bus to the long stay car park, juggled getting suite cases and everyone in the car and set off.
Vegas, it was a damn pleasure. There is SO much, that we didn't get to see, so I am pleased to say me and A plan to return.
Thank you everyone, for persevering with this post, its lengthy, and potentially boring for other's. But, i've enjoyed writing it and essentially reliving my trip there.
Until next time,
Little P xo
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