After making a tactical decision to return home with what I knew would come with a guaranteed sarky response about only lasting six weeks from a small minority, a six week vacation was very much needed and in fairness I needed to actually save some money so I could afford a trip over to the West Coast to my next destination, the Nevada state they call…. Las Vegas! What happens there stays there so they say, or so they thought …. 😉

This unfortunately got off to a bad start as this came previously with a delayed flight of an actual whole day on my way back from New York on ‘American Airlines’ who I tell you now, do not ever attempt to fly with! I spent best part of a month looking to get compensation for this shambles of a service once back in the UK and finally succeeding with a $200 credit note which I would of been able to use on a possible another AA flight within the next twelve months. Better then a poke in the eye I guess eh!

  Ahhhh Viva Vas Vegas, the next chapter and part of my trip back over to the States! Part 2 is upon us. This time I have some much appreciated company for a fortnight with my partner Sophie to accompany me.

After arriving in Vegas we are back to where we started with the dreaded customs saga again! The quizzing begins again but it’s not as intense this time round and only involving fingerprints checks, no where near as in depth as before. Apparently I was meant to give up my Esta Visa when I left America previously but it worked out better for me in the end as my expiry date out of the States was supposed to be ending September 15th and this therefore got extended to November 15th! ‘Score!’ I can stay here longer in the good old U.S. of A now if I want to so this seems to be a good start altogether upon the return.

After a very pleasant flight with no interupptions or cancellations this time round me and Soph exit outside in search of a taxi and the 42 degrees celsius and that’s 105 Fahrenheit immediately hitting me! I have officially put my head into an oven here but had to feel it for myself before I ever believed it was true!

Taxi to the hotel was very affordable and the hotel itself is something rather remarkable to look at, the best was yet to come though with what the inside looked like. Flying can make you very tired but we simply could not resist a gentle stroll down the strip just to get a feel of what’s in store for us both over the next couple days.

I decided I’d had enough of low budget for a bit and wanted some classy accommodation so I went with the Monte Carlo Hotel this time. Yes that’s right, no hostel this time around. Come on I’m in Vegas so it’d be rude not to live it up a little right? We passed New York New York, Hard Rock Cafe, Excalibur and the amazing Aria. Great location to be nearby! This place just screams money, money, money although I’m very happy to stop and watch others gamble their own money for now and not blow all my own in one evening! Red or black on all my MPD winnings? Rather not I think!

  

It’s now Friday in Vegas which can only mean lets get this party started! Time to head out into the early heat and have a walk round town in and amongst it. It’s incredibly hot even at the early time of around 09:00am and bear in mind we are still on English time mode from the flight so to us right now it seems around midday (Vegas is eight hours behind!). We head out for breakfast/brunch as we had no idea where our stomachs were coming or going by this time, our stomachs were rumbling around! We then had a good walk round to go see the ‘Bellagio’ in the day and find a few places to have a drink in and by that time it’s time to lay chill by the pool, soak up some of these unbelievable hot rays beaming down on us both! It’s just too dam hot to be walking around for long times on end as this heat is pretty unbearable to do much other then chill and drink 🙂

  

We decided it best be a good idea to go see who else but Britney Spears who is currently in middle of in and around 100 of her 200 live performances here in Vegas and tickets aren’t so cheap but to get to see her live in a very close intimate environment of ‘Planet Hollywood’ itself is certainly worth taking chance on. Sadly though she’s definitely all about the performance, not the vocal chords. Not that I am complaining as I loved every minute of it obviously as its Britney Bitch! Brittz played the majority of her hits and some others I had actually forgot she had even sang previously, was a nice surprise. I have to say her attempt of an English accent was painful to listen to when attempting but the skimpy outfits made up for all of that I can assure you. Worth a look at 😉

  
  
  
  

The next day consisted of more sun bathing and a trip to old school Vegas. I was very excited by this as this is how I first pictured Vegas before I got here. It was only a short ten min taxi ride across town and first thing I’d been particularly looking forward to doing was the ‘Slotzilla’ zip line ride that I’d seen on Facebook previously. You literally get to feel like a superhero for a minute of your life and feel like your flying as if you are Superman up above all of old school Vegas with everyone underneath you looking up at you like what the hell are you doing?! I promise you if you do decide to go old school Vegas and take this on it’s very much worth it, although when I got to the top I nearly bailed, can’t lie! Don’t bottle out and do the kids version of holding onto the zip line underneath as it’s just not the same experience. It’s incredibly high up I warn you but bear with it, I promise as it will give you a big sense of achievement afterwards. Proper adrenaline rush also!

  
  
  

Next up was to finally get involved in the gambling side of things as we in Vegas ain’t we? The good thing about visiting old school Vegas is it’s cheaper to bet and drinks are cheaper too! No brainer! I was having no joy whatsoever with my favourite game Roulette so it was time to turn my bad luck to the slots machines. The game we ended up playing heaps was ‘Quickhit’ based inside the ‘Four Queens’ casino and the aim of game is to on every spin pull up as many Quickhits as possible and lets just say I didn’t expect to happen what actually happened next….!

  
  
  

Are you kidding me! One year after Milli Pound Drop then this happens! I’m sat there speechless and am congratulated by people around me and then approached by staff working there. They say to me Congratulations, you are ‘Four Queens’ biggest winner today! This can’t be happening all over again I think to myself! The euphoria was a bit short lived though as after signing various paper documents I finally have the money handed over to me to find out the dam taxman IRS took a chunk of my winnings as I’m not an American citizen!? Never the less I walk out $1200 dollars richer and can get to pick up the rest when I return back in the UK so he who laughs last always laughs the loudest Mr Taxman! Being sensible I choose not to gamble the lot on red or black at roulette and bag it up to take back with me. The rest of night I gamble sensibly with one dollar bills hoping to achieve the same feat all over again but the house ended up beating me on that one ;).

Time to leave old school Vegas and head on back to new Vegas and see the ‘Bellagio’ for the cool water show at night time, then m+m world, coca cola world and Hershey’s chocolate stores to get some lil treats and finally back to the hotel for one last go of, that’s right you guessed it right, Quickhit. Had a few winners again but nothing on what I had earlier lol, time to call it a night I think but oh what a night!

  
  

Sadly that’s all she wrote for Vegas although so much more to come with next stop being L.A. This comes with a trip to Universal Studios, Hollywood Madame Tussards and of course Beverley Hills. Stay Tuned Folks! Optimus Out…