Viva Las Vegas!

So after a ridiculously early start in NY (3am is NOT a normal time to get up!) We were faced with torrential rain for our journey to JFK. Fine if you’re going in a taxi, not so great when you are making your own way there! However – we managed to make it via the subway, the Long Island Rail Road, and finally an air train!! We were quite impressed!
Onwwards and upwards to Vegas.
After an hours delay – we were finally on our way. We managed to make friends with the guy on our row – David from Montana. He served as our tourist information for the rest of our stay in the states – with hints and tips about where to go/how to get there and what to avoid! We returned the favour with information about London for his upcoming trip. Nice chap!
So...touchdown. We magically managed to pick the few days that only occur every 3-4 months, when Nevada experiences freak weather conditions. IT RAINED!! Fortunately it only lasted a day, and the locals said it provided a welcome break from the 115F heat! Whilst waiting for our shuttle bus to collect us, this jittery guy at the bus stop started chatting away to us....and wished us luck as he departed.
Julie - “Thats nice! He wished us good luck for our holidays – i hope he has a nice holiday too.”
Andy – “This is Las Vegas. He definitely wasn’t saying good luck for the holiday. “
So...THAT is why he was jittery!! Clearly a hard core gambler here to win the jackpot. Hmm..yeah, good luck with that....
Our first experience of our hotel – The Luxor – we somehow managed to draw attention to ourselves and end up registering to view a timeshare property for sale on LV Boulevard. Yes- random we know. To cut a long story short – for 3 hours of our time – we would be rewarded with $125 of vouchers..hmm sounds like a good deal. Roll on Sunday morning – which we spent with Renee Ippolito – our estate agent. We watched an ‘interesting’ presentation about American tourism (lots of clapping/cheering each other on...”well done for being on your honeymoon!”, “well done for ...being alive” WOOO!” ) viewed a stunning apartment, then of course turned down the offers to buy (which got somewhat ridiculous, in the space of 10 mins – the price went from $49,000 to $13,000 and finally $3000) $125 of vouchers in hand – we left! A very surreal experience, quite fun – we’re now experts on US real estate..

The proper start of our vacation!
Yesterday we had a good ol’ traditional American breakfast – a full stack of pancakes with maple syrup. The waitress advised us against the full stack, but we thought – heck! We’re hungry – lets go for it. Well, she knew what she was talking about – we managed almost half each, then tried to cover the remainder up with our napkins out of embarrassment. Oops. Silly big portions! As part of our Real Estate experience, we managed to bag 2 tickets to The Bodies Exhibition (Think it has previously been in the millennium dome) which was showing in The Luxor. Well worth a visit!! Slightly creepy when you realise everything is 100% real, but very educational!

Time to take on The Strip. We walked the length of it (well as far as Caesars Palace – that 110F heat was back!) Stopping off for some retail therapy (window shopping ONLY!) along the way. Lunch at Serendipity 3’s – Ridiculously big hot dogs! Then back to the Excalibur for some gaming fun – We had acquired $25 of free gaming from (you guessed it) The Real Estate Experience.
So of course we hit the 1c machines...and caaaa-ching! Having absolutely no idea what we’re doing, but mesmerised by the lights (ahhh the pretty lights...flashing...) we somehow managed to win $75 with our $25 coupon. RESULT! We took the money and ran.
Time for the Bellagio light show. We made it along there for 11pm – and caught the 11.15pm show. WOW. We were so taken by it, we had to stay and watch the 11.30pm show too. Both shows were breathtaking – how can water be so entertaining??

Las Vegas has been so much fun!! Takes a bit of getting used to – but once you get into the swing of it, its great.

Next stop – San Francisco...we hear its a bit more chilly there?...