Las Vegas, Nevada
Now I'm in the gambling capitol of the world....... Casino's for miles or should that be kilometres?
The Riviera Hotel is going to be my home for 4 nights.
The flight from LA to Vegas was on time but it was
still dark by time I arrived at the hotel. The Riviera is
absolutely
huge, it seems to take up a whole block.
On checking in I'm asked if I'd like some help with my luggage, of course I decline the offer as I'm now used to manouvering the bags in and out of lifts. Little did I realize how far I would have to go to get to the block that my room is in. The room is huge, plenty of room to leave the bags without them being in my way or housekeeping's way. Once settled I set off for a walk to see what's what around here. It's like a mini city here, shops, food hall, gym, beauty salon, restaurants, cafes and of course one huge casino.
I take a wander to see if I can find something small to eat, not in the mood for a large meal at the moment. Across the road is a small casino with a couple of food stalls, where I find a huge prawn cocktail, it looks sooo good I buy one, and it tasted just as good as it looks. I don't do much tonight as I'm tired and just want to rest up for the next 3 days so I can get out and about and do some sightseeing.
Monday morning I go down to the business centre, I've been told they are a post office also, but unfortuntaley they only sell stamps out of a machine and I'm not sure how much it costs to send a birthday card home to dad. The lady gives me directions to the post office, a mile away, so off I go in search of it. I've now decided that I won't be sending a parcel home from Vegas, I'd never make it this far with a big box in hand, I'm knackered just carrying my handbag. On the way back I take a short cut through Circus Circus hotel and casino, not much of a short cut though as I found lots to look at in there. I bought a couple of doughnuts and a cup of tea which I took back to my room, they went down nicely after that long walk
Stomach happy I take off again out onto the Vegas strip and decide to wander down to the Stratosphere casino where I can get a bird's eye view over Vegas. I'm beginning to like these tall towers, even though they sway and it makes me feel lightheaded, they are still fun. Seeing how far away the other places I want to see are, I decide against walking that far, I'll catch a tram (trolley) after dinner and make it easier on myself. There is still a lot to see at this end of town and the souvenir shops are lined up on both sides of the street. Now it's a case of checking which one has the real bargains. One shop has t-shirst 5 for $10.00, but the quality is a bit iffy. The ones that are 2 for $10.00 might be a better deal. Not buying them yet though, I'm sure there will be more tonight up the busier part of town. Even so, I still walk for about 4 hours before I get hungry and wish I'd got a bottle of water. Some of the souvenir shops have a security guard that looks more like a county sheriff, where you have to check in any shopping bags you have and pick them up on leaving the shop.
One shop I was in had a statue of Elvis and a rack of Elvis sun glasses with sideburns attached, and Elvis wigs, one guy that was in there decided he'd try them on even though his wife looked embarrassed, sherelaxed when the shop staff laughed at him.
6.15 and I'm across the road waiting for the tram to come and take me uptown. I walked around checking out all the sights for another 4 hours, and my feet are telling me they're not used to this. I had a great time checking out all the different facades for the hotels and casinos, went into the M & M shop, sorry Anna, couldn't afford the stuff in there. One thing I have to remember is, no matter what the price says on an item, that is not the price you pay, you have to add tax to it and the tax is different in each state. That was a bit of advice from the hotel information guy.
I ventured up the "Eiffel Tower" at the Paris hotel to take some night aerial shots, and especially take some more advice from the hotel information guy, to view the Belagio fountains from up there. I got some photo's of the fountains from up there but I also took a movie as stills aren't as good. I also took a movie at street level so you can hear the music also. The fountains run at each quarter of the clock and each time is a different song, but I couldn't stay there all night so you only got one song. You can view them by clicking on the film strips below. They may take a while to download though if you are using dial-up. I have used a trial version of a converter to shrink them down a bit from the large files they originally were, 27mb and 277 mb, but because it's only a trial version it has only converted 50% of the files. If you wish to see the full version, let me know and I'll see what I can do about it.
Aerial movie-3.64
mb
Ground
movie with music-15 mb
The full version of this one is now available at My Bebo Site
It's very easy walking around here, there are no worries about crossing roads, there are escalators going up and down to bridges that take you between hotels or streets. I feel very safe too, there are so many people, all doing the same thing, sightseeing and taking photo's. My last shop was Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, there are some really neat things in here, but of course you're paying for the name. I just enjoyed wandering around listening to the music they were playing. It gets to 10.30 and my feet and legs have decided they need to get back to the hotel and rest, so off I hobble to find the tram stop and a good sit down.
Back at the hotel I take off the boots to find a cut on one of my toes, no wonder I was having trouble walking, better cut the toe nails. My sinuses are all blocked too, not sure if it's from the traffic fumes or the construction dust. It could be a combination of both. There is so much development going on around it's very dusty everywhere you walk.
I wake up feeling no better and the legs feel like lead so I'm opting for a day of rest in my room and working on my webpage. It's been such a long time since I updated it I'm sure you're all dying to see where I've been and what I've done and seen.
Wednesday morning I hobble down to the local supermarket to buy some bandaids, 60 for $2.00, what a bargain. I go back to the hotel and put a few on the toes to protect them ready for another walk. I went across the road and had a wander around Circus Circus and caught 3 free circus acts. The woman that changes clothes in seconds, I'm sure you've all seen that on YouTube. A clown spinning a thing on a rope, and a trapeze troupe. The shows start on the hour and half hour and last about 15 minutes each, with a different act each time.
There are a stack of concerts and shows on here, but they are expensive and it's not much fun going to a show alone, so I am giving them a miss for both reasons.
There are a lot of hawkers around the place trying to get you to buy their tours, entice you to strip shows etc. Most people just walk right past them though.
At lunch time I went down to Penny Town, which is a small casino at the end of the Riviera hotel, where all the machines are 1c. The menu is .99c meals. I got a plate of chips, a salad and a pretty large cuppa all for .99c each, and we were entertained by a guy doing impersonations of 50's stars, I knew all the songs he was singing. It made for an entertaining lunch.. I haven't decided yet what I'm going to have for dinner but I do know I'm going back to get some more of those doughnuts from across the road.
I check out of the hotel tomorrow at noon and have 4 hours to kill before leaving for my flight so I'll get lunch in Penny Town again, hope that guy's singing again, then check out the circus again, see what acts they have on..
On checking in I'm asked if I'd like some help with my luggage, of course I decline the offer as I'm now used to manouvering the bags in and out of lifts. Little did I realize how far I would have to go to get to the block that my room is in. The room is huge, plenty of room to leave the bags without them being in my way or housekeeping's way. Once settled I set off for a walk to see what's what around here. It's like a mini city here, shops, food hall, gym, beauty salon, restaurants, cafes and of course one huge casino.
I take a wander to see if I can find something small to eat, not in the mood for a large meal at the moment. Across the road is a small casino with a couple of food stalls, where I find a huge prawn cocktail, it looks sooo good I buy one, and it tasted just as good as it looks. I don't do much tonight as I'm tired and just want to rest up for the next 3 days so I can get out and about and do some sightseeing.
Monday morning I go down to the business centre, I've been told they are a post office also, but unfortuntaley they only sell stamps out of a machine and I'm not sure how much it costs to send a birthday card home to dad. The lady gives me directions to the post office, a mile away, so off I go in search of it. I've now decided that I won't be sending a parcel home from Vegas, I'd never make it this far with a big box in hand, I'm knackered just carrying my handbag. On the way back I take a short cut through Circus Circus hotel and casino, not much of a short cut though as I found lots to look at in there. I bought a couple of doughnuts and a cup of tea which I took back to my room, they went down nicely after that long walk
Stomach happy I take off again out onto the Vegas strip and decide to wander down to the Stratosphere casino where I can get a bird's eye view over Vegas. I'm beginning to like these tall towers, even though they sway and it makes me feel lightheaded, they are still fun. Seeing how far away the other places I want to see are, I decide against walking that far, I'll catch a tram (trolley) after dinner and make it easier on myself. There is still a lot to see at this end of town and the souvenir shops are lined up on both sides of the street. Now it's a case of checking which one has the real bargains. One shop has t-shirst 5 for $10.00, but the quality is a bit iffy. The ones that are 2 for $10.00 might be a better deal. Not buying them yet though, I'm sure there will be more tonight up the busier part of town. Even so, I still walk for about 4 hours before I get hungry and wish I'd got a bottle of water. Some of the souvenir shops have a security guard that looks more like a county sheriff, where you have to check in any shopping bags you have and pick them up on leaving the shop.
One shop I was in had a statue of Elvis and a rack of Elvis sun glasses with sideburns attached, and Elvis wigs, one guy that was in there decided he'd try them on even though his wife looked embarrassed, sherelaxed when the shop staff laughed at him.
6.15 and I'm across the road waiting for the tram to come and take me uptown. I walked around checking out all the sights for another 4 hours, and my feet are telling me they're not used to this. I had a great time checking out all the different facades for the hotels and casinos, went into the M & M shop, sorry Anna, couldn't afford the stuff in there. One thing I have to remember is, no matter what the price says on an item, that is not the price you pay, you have to add tax to it and the tax is different in each state. That was a bit of advice from the hotel information guy.
I ventured up the "Eiffel Tower" at the Paris hotel to take some night aerial shots, and especially take some more advice from the hotel information guy, to view the Belagio fountains from up there. I got some photo's of the fountains from up there but I also took a movie as stills aren't as good. I also took a movie at street level so you can hear the music also. The fountains run at each quarter of the clock and each time is a different song, but I couldn't stay there all night so you only got one song. You can view them by clicking on the film strips below. They may take a while to download though if you are using dial-up. I have used a trial version of a converter to shrink them down a bit from the large files they originally were, 27mb and 277 mb, but because it's only a trial version it has only converted 50% of the files. If you wish to see the full version, let me know and I'll see what I can do about it.
Aerial movie-3.64
mb
Ground
movie with music-15 mb The full version of this one is now available at My Bebo Site
It's very easy walking around here, there are no worries about crossing roads, there are escalators going up and down to bridges that take you between hotels or streets. I feel very safe too, there are so many people, all doing the same thing, sightseeing and taking photo's. My last shop was Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, there are some really neat things in here, but of course you're paying for the name. I just enjoyed wandering around listening to the music they were playing. It gets to 10.30 and my feet and legs have decided they need to get back to the hotel and rest, so off I hobble to find the tram stop and a good sit down.
Back at the hotel I take off the boots to find a cut on one of my toes, no wonder I was having trouble walking, better cut the toe nails. My sinuses are all blocked too, not sure if it's from the traffic fumes or the construction dust. It could be a combination of both. There is so much development going on around it's very dusty everywhere you walk.
I wake up feeling no better and the legs feel like lead so I'm opting for a day of rest in my room and working on my webpage. It's been such a long time since I updated it I'm sure you're all dying to see where I've been and what I've done and seen.
Wednesday morning I hobble down to the local supermarket to buy some bandaids, 60 for $2.00, what a bargain. I go back to the hotel and put a few on the toes to protect them ready for another walk. I went across the road and had a wander around Circus Circus and caught 3 free circus acts. The woman that changes clothes in seconds, I'm sure you've all seen that on YouTube. A clown spinning a thing on a rope, and a trapeze troupe. The shows start on the hour and half hour and last about 15 minutes each, with a different act each time.
There are a stack of concerts and shows on here, but they are expensive and it's not much fun going to a show alone, so I am giving them a miss for both reasons.
There are a lot of hawkers around the place trying to get you to buy their tours, entice you to strip shows etc. Most people just walk right past them though.
At lunch time I went down to Penny Town, which is a small casino at the end of the Riviera hotel, where all the machines are 1c. The menu is .99c meals. I got a plate of chips, a salad and a pretty large cuppa all for .99c each, and we were entertained by a guy doing impersonations of 50's stars, I knew all the songs he was singing. It made for an entertaining lunch.. I haven't decided yet what I'm going to have for dinner but I do know I'm going back to get some more of those doughnuts from across the road.
I check out of the hotel tomorrow at noon and have 4 hours to kill before leaving for my flight so I'll get lunch in Penny Town again, hope that guy's singing again, then check out the circus again, see what acts they have on..