Blog by Sarah today. I'm sure Alan will have some things to say. If he does, it will be in red to match his vest for the wedding.
Today was another late start and we didn't leave the room until 11.30am. The early noise wasn't too bad this morning. I don't think Alan mentioned that the toilet flusher is very violent and if you're not careful, you can catch your fingers. However, when it does flush, it sounds like a gun shot. People moved into the room next door and they must have had some dodgy buffet last night as they spent most of the night flushing the toilet. It scared the crap out of me the first few times it woke me up.
Our first point of call today was The Venetian Hotel, which is the most expensive hotel on the strip. The shopping area is so beautiful. There are two canals, one inside and one outside and you can take a gondola ride on the Grand Canal. They aren't cheap, at US$15 for inside and US$12 for outside. The gondola sits four but if you want a gondola for just two people, you have to pay the full US$60. The gondolier even sings to you in Italian while you drift around the canal. We thought about a trip to Madame Tussauds but it was US$24 per ticket so we gave it a miss. The greatest thing about the Venetian is that you aren't made to walk the casino floor to get to where you'd like to go as they seem to have shoved it downstairs in the basement. Whilst walking through the shops, we came across one that sells things like toffee apples but not just toffee. There were about 40 different types of apples. Check out the photos and you'll see what I mean.
We then ventured across the road to The Mirage. It is also lovely on the inside, although you do have to walk through the smokey casino. They have a large dome roof with beautiful waterfalls with orchids just off the reception area. They have a nice looking pool which we were able to gaze at through the fence. Since Siegfried and Roy are no longer performing, the white tigers are located in a Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat along with lions and an elephant apparently. Again, it was a fee of US$15 to get in. We decided not to go in after having just been to San Diego Zoo days before.
We returned to the hotel and ate in one of its cafes. The food was way too much for one meal so we took the leftovers back to our room for dinner. The one remarkable thing was that it was freezing in the cafe. We couldn't wait to get out of there and warm up. Not something you'd ever expect someone to say in Las Vegas.
We had to return to the wedding outfit place for me to have another fitting and for Alan to pick out his clothes. He looks very nice in his tux which you will all see on Sunday (Saturday our time). Me, well, I look like a bit of a white blob. I better not eat anything for the next few days or I'll never fit into the dress. I'll be eating as much as I possibly can to fit into my pants better.
Before returning to the hotel, we made a pit stop at the Sahara hotel. It is not a flashy hotel but it does have something Alan wanted to see, the rollercoaster. Speed the Ride, shoots riders from the hotel outside along the Las Vegas Strip, where it loops through the grandiose Sahara sign in front of the hotel, goes straight up, stops and then takes a return trip backwards. It lasts for about 12 seconds but Alan thought it was fun. It's not the best coaster I've been on, but it was fun nonetheless and I couldn't leave without giving it a try.
With the temperature back up over the 40 mark, we chose to return to the coolness of our hotel room and found an email from one of our four guests for the wedding, Tavis. Unfortunately his grandmother has passed away and instead of flying from San Francisco to Las Vegas for the wedding, he is flying to Australia for her funeral. Our thoughts go out to you Tavis.
After our leftover lunch for dinner, we drove down the strip to the MGM Grand. There was a little difficulty finding the right one of the six lanes which led to the self parking, but after a quick detour we found a good parking spot and entered the Biggest hotel in Las Vegas. I now know why they called it Grand. The place is huge. We were looking for the entrance to The Strip and 20 minutes later, after making several wrong turns, we finally found the door. They don't like you to find your way out of these places. And Kerrie, a don't think a sat nav would have helped us in that situation. The one good thing being lost in the MGM Grand is that we stumbled on to the Lion Habitat and it was actually FREE!!! They are tame and the keepers were in there with them. I still wouldn't want to trust them, even though they have had them since 1974.
From there we went outside and crossed the bridge to New York New York Casino and even through the rollercoaster was calling him, Alan chose to ignore it and hopefully will ride it tomorrow with my friend Christie when her, her husband Steve and their son Cameron arrive in town. I rode it 8 years ago and it has to be the scariest coaster I've ever been on. I can't wait to do it again. Then we walked acrossed to the Excalibur then the Tropicana and then back to the MGM Grand. We walked past the Lion Habitat again and they were having a sleep, one on the roof of the glass walkway and the other on a rock, with a handler right next to him. I'd want to rub that tummy.
I returned to the room and Alan is off gambling. He is up for the trip, by about $70. I guess when he gets back for his comments, we will know whether we are still up or whether we need to cancel the rest of the trip to pay his gambling debt.
TRIVIA FOR THE DAY: Our digital camera has just taken photo number 10,000 and NO not all on this trip.
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