What time is it there?!

Nikky’s Vegas
Cheesy as hell but a good laugh. We didn’t make it out of there millionaires so we will have to come home and earn a living ........ one day!

We stayed in New York New York and not to do the rollercoaster would have been a sin. Mark hated every second of it whilst I was in my element! (Payback from the aeroplane factory!).
Editors Note: She never told me that she didn’t want to go to the factory, in fact she sounded quite interested!

Mark’s Vegas
Wow, how depressing is this place?! This was a real disappointment to begin with after all the national parks. Row upon row of tourists pumping cash into slot machines hoping they’ll get lucky (it’s even sadder to watch at 9 in the morning).

Unfortunately, having attended the “Paul Knight School of Finance” during my latter days at Safeway, I have developed something of an aversion to throwing money away. So it was with some trauma that I put the odd dollar into a machine! On another Safeway related note, a certain Mr Potopaev will be pleased to know that there are many slot machines which are only 1 cent a go.

However, after I remembered that it’s really just Disneyland for adults I enjoyed it a bit more. There are so many good shows, live music and comedy events here that you could easily spend a week and not go onto the main casino floor.

TIP 1: We had seen a TV programme on the Food Channel (which has now become required viewing for Nikky!) that recommended the buffet breakfast at Bellagio ...... we must have eaten for 7! It was fab, so much to choose from and easily means you can miss out lunch and maybe dinner! It’s very popular so it is advisable to get there early .... gives you more time to eat too!

TIP 2: Get out of your hotel and find a decent restaurant. All you can eat buffets for £8 are all very well, but they aren’t all that great. Firefly on Paradise (On Paradise Road, just south of
Twain Avenue) is a tapas restaurant and was another TV recommendation. Well worth the short trip.

TIP 3: If you’re only visiting Vegas for a couple of days, go out of your way to avoid being there over a weekend. Sunday and Monday night were much, much cheaper (almost half) than Friday and Saturday.

ADDED 9/1/2006:
A short video of the inside of the Excalibur casino. Quality isn't great, but hopefully it shows the size of the places here.
(The video is around 2MB so will take a few minutes to download for those of you with a dialup connection)