Day 2: Casino

To be honest Las Vegas is not really for us, it's a place to come to so we can move onto better things. The sights down town are all fake - Caesars palace has a mall that is designed (very convincingly) to seem like an outdoor Italian piazza - complete with reproduction Trevi fountain. There is an Eiffel Tower, an Egyptian pyramid, "English" and "Irish" pubs and much much more.

The entire city seems dedicated to relieving tourists of their money as quickly and efficiently as possibly - indeed tourists can be relieved in other ways too, "Girls delivered to your door" was the advertised promise on a mobile billboard we saw...

Our apartment is linked to a Casino, ("Palms casino resort"), and the lady at the reception proudly described the facilities they provide: pools, restaurants, cafes, cinema, shop, gambling tables and slot machines, (obviously), etc.etc. "Wow" I said, "there's no need to go anywhere else!".

"That's the idea" she replied with a fixed smile...

lots and lots of slots

Still recovering from yesterday's travelling we have chilled out so far today, lounging around the pool and even went to see a film, (help we're trapped in a Vegas Casino complex!), but intend to check out the local bus service to the "Strip" in a while, the Bellagio fountains are meant to be good to see.

http://youtu.be/rj-lIVJ5iKA

$5.... The "Rest rooms " here are expensive!

Day 1: Leaving on a jet plane

So here we are at the departure lounge in Gatwick, everything has been very smooth so far... We've been really organised this year and checked in online before arriving, and also we pre-booked our seats to ensure extra leg room - Jan is in awe of my organisation, (she actually said I'm a "geeky saddo", but that's her way).

In the bar last night we met a couple from Essex who were really boring, and now we are trying to avoid them, (sorry if that sounds mean, but you had to be there to appreciate the situation). If one of us spots them the signal is to whisper, "Code Red Brentwood!", and the appropriate response is to duck down if sitting, or divert to the nearest "retail opportunity" if walking, so far so good... 

Oh no! "Code Red! Code Red! Brentwood bandits at 10 o'clock!"...

10 hours later we land State side in Las Vegas, first impressions? The place is barmy! Massive hotels in the middle of the desert, our Air B n B apartment is amazing, it's part of a casino, slot machines for as far as the eye can see. I'm writing this whilst drinking a pint in the "Pub and grill" in Caesars Palace. We  keep expecting to see Joey from Friends dressed as a Roman Legionnaire! 

Vegas strip North...

View from our apartment.

Both of us are really knackered as it's really about 2:00 am, so we won't stay around for much longer!