A full day in Las Vegas

Thursday 23 August 2012 – A full day in Las Vegas.

Day 133 and 25 days to go

After getting in so late last night we were happy to sleep in for a little though by 9 we were ready to get under way. We showered and changed and then walked out of the hotel and across the road to buy a breakfast sub and at the same time we picked up some drinks and snacks at the deli before returning to our room. We were intending on putting our dinks in the small fridge, but they don’t allow it which is just ridiculous, so I filled the ice bucket with ice to cool off two of the drinks.

At 10.45am we went to explore the hotel checking out the rock memorabilia they had around the walls. Some of it was very impressive. Paul like that it catered for his taste in music with lots of Sex Pistols paraphernalia.

I went to find out about cheap show tickets and with information from the concierge we were on the free 11am shuttle heading for the strip. We were dropped at a large shopping complex in the heart of it. After finding a info board we walked around the cheap ticket outlet to buy tickets to Cirque de Solei’s Love, a Beatles inspired show.

With our tickets in hand we then wandered through the Treasure Island casino being cornered by a timeshare mob with promises of show tickets. With nothing to do we figured we would go and see the presentation at 1pm. We still had time up our sleeves so we went to the Mirage to exchange our tickets for Love for actual show tickets. We wandered around the shops and gaming floor and then crossed the road heading to Casino Royale where we again wandered the floor while indulging in their $1 beers and margheritas.

Once our drinks were finished we made our way back to the timeshare pickup and whisked away in a minivan to the bottom of the strip where a new hotel complex “Grand View” was being built. Having been to a few timshare presentations we knew the drill. We were met by Roman who showed us to the lunchroom where we could have a sandwich and juice while he went through his sales pitch. Paul made it quite clear we were not interested, but we had to go through the motions. We were given a tour of the complex before returning to talk figures with a manager. Again we had to stress we weren’t interested before we were sent on to one last person with a super low price, but still not interested we were finally shown the door where we collected our tickets to a few events and were put back on the shuttle and returned to the strip.

We made a beeline for the hotel shuttle getting on at 4.15pm and returning to the Hard Rock and our room. We filled the basin with ice to chill down our drinks and had a rest. It was still quite warm so I decided to go to the pool. I found a lounge to sit on and read while waiting for Paul. Once he arrived we had a swim but the pool was so cold we decided to move on and find a warmer spot. The nirvana pool was much warmer and a lot quieter too. This hotel has a real contiki kid vibe to it, not really our scene.

At 6 we returned to the room and Paul rang home and we caught up with news from the kids and said hi to Tina. We then got ourselves organised to head out for the evening.

We took a taxi into the Planet Hollywood hotel before walking out along the strip. It was all lit up and pretty and there were plenty of people out enjoying themselves. We wandered passed Bellagio where the water fountain display was just beginning. We didn’t stop but enjoyed what we saw as we walked by.

We walked into Caeser’s Palace in search of the Planet Hollywood restaurant. It took a while but it didn’t matter as the view through the hotel was impressive and when we walked into the Forum shopping centre we were surrounded by statues and fountains and a roof decorated as daytime.

We did eventually find the restaurant but there was a wait and as we had a show to get to we couldn’t stop we made our way out and across the road stopping in at a food court where we had chinese. After dinner we walked back into the Casino Royale for a cheap margherita and then it was across the road to the Mirage to go and see the Cirque du Soleil show Beatles Love. The venue was round so wherever you sat you had a great view.

We found our seats and then sat back and enjoyed. The show was awesome. So many times I just didn’t know where to look. The acrobatics, dancing, music and video images were just incredible. At times I was left in awe at the daring feats.

The Beatles music was used as the soundtrack to the show. There wasn’t a particular story line to it though, just a young man who popped up through out the scenes looking for someone to give flowers to and find love.

After an hour and a half the show concluded and we made our way out of the venue with the sea of other people. We walked a short way down the street before finding a cab and heading back to the hotel.  We had a great night but were glad to call it a night at 12.