Las Vegas

Friday 7th September 2012, Hampton Inn Tropicana, Las Vegas.

Bally's

We are travelling by train on our way to Las Vegas. Train journey from Merced is 3 hrs and then coach through the mountains from Bakersfield to Las Vegas takes 5 hrs. The weather is super, very hot and sunny right now. First warm weather we have had. I was so disappointed with SF weather. I thought it would be too hot. Instead San Francisco was very cold and a chilly wind was blowing all the time. I was freezing, so I had to look for a jacket to go under the Betty Jackson thin rain jacket I bought back home. We found a shop called Ross, "dress for less", which was just like TKMax inside. I can never find anything I like in TKMax but straight away I spotted a pale plum to lilac /flowered jacket which goes with the solid plum Betty Jackson coat and looks brownish when I wear it with my brown outfits. It was brand new and only 10 pounds.
The  Amtrak train  we are on is very spacious and comfortable, the views are fairly flat going through southern California with fields spreading for miles. And because of the draught it is mostly very dry and brown. The track itself is very exposed, not behind fences and behind back gardens as it is in England. The Engine driver is forever sounding the horn so you get that iconic low brrm  brrm all the time to warn people at crossings ahead. As we enter built-up areas there is a consent sound because there are loads of crossings.

Off train now and on the 5 hour coach journey. Stopped off at Barstow. A collection of eating places in a complex in the middle of the desert. Railways and roads segway, merge, intermingle through this old station area, on Route 66 (I think). We plumped for panda express because we had eaten in one outside SF with Eddy. We were in such a hurry as the coach was leaving in 45 mins and we had another 155 miles to go to LV.

Wow! We are here. It is the strangest place in the world. One minute we were coaching along in the desert terrain outside Las Vegas, the next we were in a fantasy world of high rise hotels and sparkling sites. New York, Paris, Cairo and even a fairy tale Disney castle appeared on the horizon. We were exhausted after travelling 10 hours from Merced and had no intention of walking along the LV golden mile. Luckily the coach driver agreed to drive us down the strip to give us a taster of what we could expect tomorrow. The sights were spectacular, films and tv cannot do it justice, it is all crushed in upon each other but larger than life and grotesquely obvious and completely over the top. Can't wait until tomorrow to walk round for a proper gander.

Bill's Gambin Hall

Thus far I have been writing a 'diary' on email and sending it to my son. He has decided I need a blog so he set this up and  now I have a blog. I may have left my heart in San Francisco, but I got a blog in Las Vegas. Soooo exciting.  Just told Alan about the heart in SF and blog in LV and he has gone in the shower singing I left my heart in San Francisco. It is early in the morning. He has probably woken the neighbours. We are in the Hampton Trocadero on Dean Martin Ave, so I do apologise. Lol     Can't get WIFI at this hotel. Some people can but I can only get a signal in the lobby. Which is where I am now.

At first Las Vegas was  spectacular, see earlier; but it was noisy and tiring after spending the day criss crossing the strip. We had started at the top of the Strip at Caesar's Palace, which is a massive complex of buildings containing a Hotel space, Casino and spacious shopping mall; every shop designer. A crowd gathered round an island with a show every hour. It was a sort of Greek myth with robot God, woman and hero, lots of fire, music and terror. Up and across the road, on the old Sands Hotel site, is the Venetian; a recreation of the city of Venice with a Canal and Gondolas, marble columns and arched stone bridges just like Venice.

Canal and Gondolas at The Ventian Hotel, Las Vegas

Opposite is Treasure Island with a large pirate ship. Further down is the Paris Las Vegas, looking like the Paris Opera House and the Lourve; with a replica Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. When we crossed over and walked past the Bellagio the fountains were not on, opposite was Bally's, Bill's Gamblin Hall, Planet Hollywood and the Harley Davidson Cafe.We got into a lift with two English Couples and one of the ladies had a handbag like mine. She had bought hers at Matalan too! They told us they were on a 'Flight' tour of America and one of the couples on the tour had got married in the Chapel on the strip that morning and they had all gone to the wedding. Next we went into New York New York. This felt much more working class, no designer shops, just New York cafes and sites. Alan had a beer, by which time it was five oclock. I had had enough looking in Hotels by then anyway so we did not get to go into Luxor, with the pramids or MGM.
We were meeting Alan's friends )(Andy and Angie) at five outside New York New York by the Statue of Liberty. Angie arrived whilst Andy was parking the car. How she recognised us I don't know!  We walked over to the Harley Davidson cafe and ate dinner with them. Then went back to Planet Hollywood Hotel, to their room. It was bigger and slightly better than our (off the strip) hotel and the view over the Bellagio Hotel fountains was great. He then took us for a ride all the way down the strip in his hire car and dropped  us off at our Hotel.

Bellagio Hotel Fountain