back in summer!

New York, New York

Excaliber

 

Luxor

 

Me and the famous Las Vegas sign at the northern end of the strip

The sign

The Tropicana

The MGM Grand

The Sahara

An older Vegas sign in downtown Las Vegas

another iconic sign in Downtown Las Vegas

people wonder why obesity is such a problem. check out the size of these burgers - quite rightly called 'Bypass Burgers'. Adding insult to injury, if you weigh more than 300lbs you get to eat free at this restaurant

Paris Hotel 

The Hard Rock

A gondola ride at the Venetian

 

The Mirage

 

Caesars ... not so focussed

The temperature reached 95 degree Fahrenheit in Las Vegas today or around 34 in metric (I think) ... it was bloody hot! Yes, Las Vegas is in a desert and it certainly felt like it today. But instead of running for cover this intrepid explorer hit the streets early and spent most of the day out in the heat. First was breakfast and a look around the Bellagio followed by an open-top bus tour of Las Vegas. Thankfully the top of the bus had a cover on it (wait ... does that make sense?) and it was a great way to explore the city. First it was the newer part of Las Vegas from Bally's Hotel across the road from Caesars north to the infamous "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign and north to Circus Circus. Then, I took the other tour of "Downtown" Las Vegas, the older part of town that has its own unique charm. Embarassingly, i think i may have nodded off with about two blocks to go in the second tour and had to be woken up by the tour guide when we arrived at out final destination. Armed with advice from the guide, I then went about purchasing a ticket (at a discount rate) to see the Blue Man Group as well as my helicopter tour of the areas, which is tomorrow morning at 11am!

Blue Man Group ... wow! Those of you who have seen the guys perform will know what I am talking about. I got a seat four rows from the front which thankfully came with a poncho. I didn't really know what to expect but the show was an eye opener. It's a performance featuring drums as well as lighting and other special effects. The poncho came in handy when the performers started pouring water on to their drums while hitting them, sending water into the audience. It's called the Blue Man Group because the performers are, quite literally, blue. It's really hard to explain. Look them up on the net. Definitely worth seeing and thanks to Frank Nucifora for the tip.

Well, I'm stuffed! This holidaying is tough!!!! Another big day in the heat and still to get the body re-set after the time change. Hopefully after a good night's sleep all will be in order. Tomorrow it's the helicopter tour of Las Vegas, Lake Mead, the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon. still to try and get tix to Elton John tomorrow night, which would be a great way to end my time in Las Vegas. If i do get a ticket, I'll have a nice meal first, then see the show and then try some night photography before calling it a night and getting ready for an early start on Sunday for the flight to Vancouver.