Exploring Las Vegas

We had expected to sleep in this morning with the time change (we are 21 hours behind NZ, so in effect 3 hours ahead but the previous day), but Andy and I woke at 5:30am. It probably had something to do with going to bed at 8pm, which is 5pm NZ time! The kids got a solid 12 hour sleep and woke up keen to explore.

We weren’t sure what the free breakfast at the hotel would be like, but it turned out to be pretty decent. Plenty of cereals, toast plus some fruit and a couple of hot items. All eaten off disposable plates with plastic cutlery, but it kept us going until lunch time. The kids were keen to hit The Strip, so we started at the south end near our hotel.

Things have changed a little since we were here 17 years ago. There are new resorts everywhere and there are vastly more things on offer designed to lighten your wallet. On our last visit we stayed at The Luxor, which was one of the most modern resorts back then. It’s still fun to visit with great Egyptian theming, but the new resorts further down The Strip are in a different league. We started exploring at The Luxor end near our hotel and worked our way north. Everything is enormous and you walk for miles, even taking advantage of the various free trams between the resorts. Everything at the casinos is designed to make it easy to get in, but difficult to get out. Up escalators (that take you out) rarely work, but there’s never a problem with down escalators (that take you in). Signage into casinos is easy to follow, getting out is downright confusing and a bit like solving a maze.

The kids loved it all and felt like they were in a super-sized theme park. Matt was desperate to ride the roller coaster at New York New York, so the boys did that. The girls felt too sleepy to be jolted around – maybe another day. After a quick bite to eat at a food hall, we explored the Bellagio Hotel. This was my favourite of the day with magnificent Christmas decorations. It also had an amazing patisserie with the world’s largest chocolate fountain. Sadly it was just for looking… The last hotel we explored was Paris, but it just didn’t rate after visiting the real thing.

We were less than half way up The Strip when we ran out of puff. After a quick rest at the hotel to revive ourselves, we set out in search of a supermarket to stock up on some goodies. It’s always fun shopping in foreign supermarkets, with lots of laughing and interesting goodies falling into the trolley. The kids were especially amused by the super-sized packets of everything. This is one of the few places we have a kitchen, so we ate in tonight. We were all pretty tired so decided not to hit The Strip again, instead settling for a nice swim in the pool and soak in the spa.