So, after checking into our hotel we immediately went down to the Strip to check out the fame of Las Vegas.
After the shuttle from the hotel dropped us off near the Bally's we explored the south end of the Strip first.
Sadly the "Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas" sign was a bit too far off (still 2 miles past the last casino and that was already a long walk..) so we'll do that by car tomorrow since the south end one has a parking near it anyway.
So, south end of the strip.. We saw the Bellagio, Paris, Planet Hollywood, Monte Carlo, Hard Rock Cafe (which of course we had to enter for a drink; it's very nice looking and has some big multi touch screens with some cool history on it. Not to mention we were served by, according to the ticket, Papa Awesome.. And he did look like the veteran of the place), New York New York, MGM Grand, Excalibur, Lucor, Tropicana,...
We went for a drink and small gamble in a few of them. We started with the MGM Grand, and Christophe played 1 dollar and immediately on his first try won the money we spent on drinks so far back already. Just 1 pull on the handle and his 1 dollar turned into 20 dollars right away...
The Excalibur looked pretty cool as well, taking the theme even as far as the shows (jousting shows and the like..
After a while and doing a lot of sightseeing around the south end we walked back up and this time started to explore the north end.. There we visited the Ceasar's Palace, Imperial Palace, Mirage, Treasure Island, Venetian and the Palazzo.
Hands down, the Venetian is easily the most beautiful of them all.. Wonderful interior, very authentic looking and at one point both Christophe and I were fooled for a second by the interior as the ceiling was so well painted that it almost looked real if you didn't pay close enough attention. Of course, that only lasts a very short moment, but still the surprise was there.
As far as gambling goes, the north end of the strip definitely seems like the poorer man's casino's where you can bet as low as 30 cents, whereas the south end of the strip starts at 1 or 5 dollars. Nevertheless, of what we tried so far with gambling we like the MGM best.. The Bellagio is very nice looking as well and had a very nice water show along the waterfront in front of the hotel (which stretches out for literally like half a kilometer) and has a nice mood, the MGM just feels better and the Venetian is much more beautiful.
After make some more various stops for drinks and a bit of gambling in trying to recuperate our drinking money (which Christophe is fairly good at, the slots really suit him.. whereas I just kept going bust on every single try.. 20 tries and I didn't get one single win...) we had a little bit to eat and did a brisk walk back to our hotel. We're resting up a little bit now and waiting for dark to settle and the nightlife come to life before heading back to the strip to enjoy the night view.
Oh, we also bought tickets for a show :-)
For now, enjoy some daytime pictures of Las Vegas.
It's Siegfried and Roy!
It may not look like it in the picture, but when you first enter this hall, the sky can really have you fooled..
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