We arrived in Vegas by greyhound by 4.30pm in the afternoon and as usual the greyhound dropped us in the back end of nowhere. So we had a bit of a mission to the bus stop to catch the 'deuce' bus to the strip. We got a quick glance of some of the hotels as we drove through the strip and arrived at the Imperial Palace. We got checked in by a nice lady who gave us a room with a pool view and then we made our way through our first casino to get to the lifts up to our room which felt rather strange! We were SO excited when we arrived in our room to find TWO double beds, en-suite bathroom, a TV and a little balcony overlooking the pool (which was closed), we were feeling so very thankful to Mr Emanuel for sorting this out for us. The best part was the location - we were smack bang in the middle of the strip opposite Ceasars Palace. We unpacked our stuff a little as we were there for a whole 5 nights and then got ready to hit our first casino. We decided to start off in our hotel so went for dinner and began the drinking. We signed up for the players club and went to gamble our first free $5 worth of credit on the slot machines then walked around observing people gambling and soaking up the atmosphere. We crossed the strip after and headed in to Ceasars Palace. It was huge inside, and had a considerably classier atmosphere. After getting a drink and wandering around watching people we thought we'd try our hand at some roulette. It was a semi-digital roulette and I thought I was doing rather well staying in for quite a while, got chatting to a guy next to me who had missed his flight home cos he got his days mixed up so was having to stay another night! Then the roulette lady came up and told me that I wasn't actually playing cos I wasn't reaching the minimum bets, so rather embarrassed I placed a real bet….and lost…and left the table rather swiftly! As we were debating what to do next we were approached and offered free entry to the nightclub 'Pure' inside Ceasars, well this was an offer we couldn't refuse so after a little confusion and eyelid batting at the bouncer to let Ben in for free too we danced the night away in the swanky club. We bought one drink (as the round cost us $20!!) but we were pretty merry by then anyway! The great thing was we were just across the road from our hotel so the stumble home wasn't too bad!

Monday morning we were not feeling our freshest so we indulged in a hangover brunch at a fancy burger bar in the Flamingo hotel next door. After that we went to the Fashion Show mall to do a bit of shopping as it was a lot colder than we had expected so needed to get a few warmer things and some smarter eveningwear to go out in. We walked around for a bit taking photos of some of the hotels, then we went back for a nap to freshen up for our next evening in Vegas. After our rest and we had got ready we walked down to the Bellagio and had a quick look inside - which was absolutely spectacular, very classy and swanky looking. We went to check ticket prices for the Cirque du Soleil show 'O' and found out that the cheapest tickets were $160…so we wouldn't be seeing that show! We went to New York New York hotel next, had a little look around and ate at a little restaurant 'outside in the streets of new york' which was cool. We had a go on a couple slot machines after dinner and then went over the road to check out the MGM which was also very impressive.

Tuesday we tried to sort out some of our money issues - yes day 3 of Vegas we are both already seemingly broke!! We then decided we had to try out this buffet pass that a group of the hotels offer where you get unlimited access to about 8 different ones! So we went to the Flamingo and had a rather healthy buffet of meats and salads (as we were feeling a bit fatty from too much American overindulgence)! After lunch we got the 'Deuce' bus to the Mandalay Bay hotel right at the end of the strip and were told we only had to walk one more mile to get to the famous 'Welcome to Vegas' sign. Well it certainly felt like more than a miles walk and it was very windy and COLD! So when we eventually reached the bloody sign we took a few snaps then missioned it back to the strip. We stopped off at the Luxor - the Pyramid hotel. It was much quieter inside than most of the other casinos we'd been in. We had a go on the slots just to say we'd gambled in Egypt then went through to the Excalibur which was quite a contrast - rather tacky and quite a big kiddie part to it. We got a beer, had a gamble, got another free drink to warm our bones then went out and braved the cold again to take some more photos and see more of the glamorous exteriors. After we were thoroughly tired and cold we retired back to the hotel for a nap and then got ready for our next night. We got dressed up all smart in our new clothes and walked down (in the FREEZING cold) to the Paris hotel for part 2 of our buffet! It was a really good buffet with tons of choice of meat, fish, shellfish, pasta, lots of desserts and freshly made crepes (yes I did!!). After dinner we made our way to Bally's to see the 'Jubilee' show - a typical Vegas style topless cabaret…of course! As we were entering we asked where the bar was and by some stroke of luck got upgraded to the cocktail waitress service area - RIGHT at the front, we literally couldn't have been closer! It was a nice surprise, however a little overwhelming being SO close to a lot of topless women and scantily clad men but it was good fun and we had a right laugh. It really was very spectacular. We stayed in Bally's after the show for a drink then had a go on the 'spin the wheel' table which was fun (except we didn't really win…anything) ha!

Wednesday was part two of our attempt to see the entire strip. On our way to the other end we stopped off at the Venetian for a light lunch and then missioned it on foot to the other end of the strip. We stopped off at the Savannah - one of Vegas's oldest Casinos. It was a little seedy and you could see how old it was inside, however it was rather cheap inside so we had a $1 beer and a $1 shot then tried our luck at $1 minimum bet blackjack (our first proper table play). We were a little nervous as neither of us had ever sat at a proper table before but we got well in to it and stayed in for quite a while. Unfortunately didn't win big, but was only $3 down by the time we left the table so was pretty happy with that. It was rather amusing when we sat at the table the dealer made a bit of a big deal about asking Ben for ID which took him ages to find and everyone was waiting so he was a bit embarrassed about that but it made me giggle! When we were done at Savannah we walked to the Stratosphere - the last one on the strip and signed up for their players cards (we had decided to sign up for as many as possible to collect the cards!!). It didn't seem that great inside so we then went to check out Circus Circus which was a bit dingey inside. The casinos were certainly a lot quieter at this end of the strip and obviously a lot older than the ones at the other end. After this we walked all the way back to our hotel for our standard afternoon rest. That evening we decided to try and get as many of the 'must do' Vegas touristy things done as we could. So we started off at New York New York and went on the big rollercoaster which was SO much fun. It was very cold that night though - the coldest night so far. We got some dinner in the square inside Planet Hollywood across the road overlooking their fountain which was nice. Next we went back across the road to the Bellagio to watch the absolutely spectacular water fountain show, it was stunning. Then back across the road to Paris and went up the elevator inside the Eiffel Tower to see the amazing panoramic views of the city by night. It was bitterly cold so we couldn't stay up there very long but we got lots of great pictures. We were supposed to go see the erupting volcanoes at the Mirage after this but we were misinformed about the timings so we missed it and it was too cold to wait for the next one. However as we stood wandering what to do we were handed some cards for all you can drink at the 'Revolution club' inside the Mirage. Well it would have been a shame to waste our smart new outfits so we went on in. We did have to pay a cover charge but as we were being given unlimited free drinks it seemed a fair deal! It was a modernised 'Beetles' themed club with lots of cool retro psychedelic decorations and changing wallpapers and lighting - was pretty funky. Well we certainly made the most of our free drinks, had a good old dance…and neither of us really remember how we got back to our hotel after but we think we rolled in about 3.30am!

Waking up the next morning was not an enjoyable affair, we lounged around hoping to make ourselves feel better then decided we needed to get up and out. We went and bought Phantom tickets from the discount stall, then went had to go to the Venetian to claim the tickets so decided to try getting some lunch there. We were still both feeling very delicate so lunch was a bit of a struggle, which was a shame as the food was awesome - it just took a while to get through! Ben had read that there was a 'dragon show' for the chinese new year going on at 3pm outside the main entrance to the Venetian so we went to try and get a glance at that. It was a bit of a let down really - some VERY loud firecrackers and people dancing about with dragon puppets for about 3 minutes before they went inside to dance around the casino. We decided after to go back to the hotel to rest up in an attempt to feel fresher for the theatre that evening. After a good nap we got dressed up in our best gear - the fancy maxi dress came back out, and went back to the Venetian to see The Phantom of the Opera. What a show - loved it as ever, such good music, great sets, great singers. Only thing is we were obviously a little far away and it wasn't quite loud enough and there was a gross fat man behind Ben breathing SO loud it was deafening, but we still had a great evening!! After the show we attempted to have dinner at The Wynn hotel (as Ben wanted to eat in the swanky place). We signed up for their player's card and walked through the rows of ridiculously expensive boutique designer shops before getting to their spectacularly fancy casino…and obviously finding out that we could not afford to eat in their lush restaurants! So we went across the road tot eh Fashion Show Mall and ate at Maggianos which was actually really nice and the food was fabulous - we even managed a glass of red wine each! We went over to the Treasure Island casino to sign up for their player's cards and got $10 of free slot play - and we both came out with winnings!! So after a successful win and a fantastic last night in Vegas we retired to bed.

Friday was our last day we were flying to Miami that night but not until 11.30pm so we decided to do the last few things that there were to see and do in Vegas. We walked back to Planet Hollywood to try find the 'I LOVE…' T-shirts we are collecting which took a while to find but we were successful in the end. It was actually a really nice day - the weather had heated up a lot and we regretted not leaving our coats at the hotel - typical on the day we leave!! We had some mexican outside in the sun in, our t-shirts it was so warm! Once we'd eaten we walked up to M&M world, had a mooch around and saw the weird little 3D movie inside. Ben needed to get souvenirs so we went to this huge souvenir shop full of everything you can imagine, I got bored so sat outside and people watched. It was a lot busier as it was a Friday and it was Super bowl weekend so the streets were pretty crowded. On the walk back we saw the Bellagio fountains go off again which were just as impressive by day. We then went to Ceasars Palace to use up the money we had left on our slot machine vouchers. Ben got lucky and came out with winnings, unfortunately I did not! We then went to the Wynn to use up our free slot play that we hadn't used when we signed up and both came out with winnings yay! After we were done at the Wynn we were just in time to see the 'Sirens of Treasure Island' show which was quite fun - scantily clad pirates singing and dancing and putting on a bit of a show. We then got to see the Mirage volcanoes erupt again which I think is really impressive - it was Ben's least favourite show thing. We had a look inside Casino Royale, but it was really tacky and very smokey so didn't stay long. Grabbed a coffee at starbucks after as needed a bit of quiet time and casinos are just so noisy! Then back to the hotel to collect our suitcases and valuables and waited for our shuttle bus to take us to the airport. We were quite worried about how heavy our bags were going to be as we'd acquired extra clothes and were flying on a budget airline but luckily we had a lovely check in lady who helped us choose good seats and our bags were JUST inside the weight limit - phew! McCarren airport is like most of Vegas - very big and showy which seemed kind of unnecessary. We got some dinner and a glass of wine and found out there was free wireless so caught up on some much needed internet time before boarding our longggg night flight to Miami. So all in all it was a fantastic Vegas experience, as always it flew by way too quick, we didn't leave as millionaires like we'd hoped but left eith loads of great memories to take with us!