We rolled into Las Vegas at lunch time and went shopping, mostly as Moonro kept requesting "we go luxury brand outlet shopping?" After a couple of hours we met back up and went to the biggest buffet I have ever seen. Any food you can imagine and it was there at the Luxor Casino. The Luxor is a pretty old casino in Vegas and the main lobby is inside a pyramid, you might have seen it in films as it's pretty iconic.
Once we'd all rested for a while in our hotel (no tents!!!) we went for a limo ride down the strip. But this was no ordinary limo... we got a stretched Hummer limousine... it was seriously the BIGGEST car I have seen and about as American as you could get. We caught the music show in downtown Vegas then drove all the way back up the strip to the Belagio to watch the famous water/light show there. The fountains were timed to go off and light up to the music, which changed every half hour, and it was awesome. The rest of the night was spent wandering in and out of casinos, it's a really strange experience. Anyone can go into the casinos, as they're hotel lobbies... but rather than just a few sofas and coffee tables, these lobbies contain nightclubs, bars, shops, rollercoasters... entire fake cities in the case of New York New York, The Venetian and Paris casinos.
I've got a few photos of the casinos here for you, they were truly amazing but equally horrible places... especially by day time when they were frequented only by old ladies who sat on the slot machines all day getting slowly drunker off the free alcohol. (I know this as the next day in Vegas we spent visiting as many casinos on the strip as we could.)
The MGM Casino lion:
New York New York, outside and inside:
Paris, outside and inside:
The Flamingo, this casino had ponds with actual flamingos there and is the oldest casino on the strip:
The Venetian had gondolas and canals outside, then inside a shopping centre where the ceiling was lit up to mirror the outside sky, day or night:
From all the excitement of Las Vegas we travelled to Joshua Tree National Park, which was about as opposite as you could get. We had no running water, no electric, not even real toilets. It was the most amazing, desolate, place though. We did a few small walks on that evening, before the sun set. It was so dark there, you could see more stars than I think I have ever seen, it was beautiful. The next day got up for an hour and half hike, early to avoid the heat, before moving on to San Diego.
The first night in San Diego, we had a party for Juli (our tourleader)'s birthday. We had a Mexican fiesta, as the day timed with Cinco de Mayo (Mexico's Independence Day), we wore sombreros and ate burritos and drank margaritas. Our full, free day in San Diego was spent at the zoo (unfortunately the panda enclosure no long resembles the one on Anchorman), then downtown, and finally about 3 mins on the beach before we got picked up. It was ok though, because Katie T and I got to dip our toes in the Pacific Ocean. Officially coast to coast, sea to sea, in the States. It felt good, but freezing. I have no photos from San Diego onwards for you yet, as they are on my other card which is in my camera packed away right now!
Today, we had a really early start, cleaning all the equipment for the last time and packing up for our drive to La La Land. We arrived at lunch time, took a city tour and wound up here at the Hacienda hotel around 4pm. Tonight we're going out for a final meal together before we lose half the group, on Sunday we'll meet our 6 replacements which should be pretty interesting.
Hope everyone at home is ok, miss you all,
love
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You're really getting some big geography there! We're much the same here, except no-one knows who the prime minister is still. Mwah!
ReplyDeleteWhat amazing contrasts you are seeing and feeling with the wide variations in temp', just like here, 9/5/10 and it's not warm enough to go without a fleecy! You really upset the apple cart not voting, who knows who will be running the country when you return? Cheering in the ranks as some schools abandon the Y6 sats!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteTake care hope your new companions are sociable, are you half way through you seem to have been away ages; Toby has just finnished his work to submit,he has put a tremendous ammount of effort into it and deserves to do well, now he can slow down a little. The birthday package from you arrived the other day we have hidden it and it will come out on Tuesday.
Take care and have a great time. Fran, Cathy, Tobs, Oscar and all in blighty.
hey, it was lovely to speak to you on the phone yesterday. You look to be having an amazing time. I've sent an email with the holiday details on for you:)
ReplyDeleteSuzanne
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