After a few hours of the relaxation by the pool today, we had two things we wanted to accomplish;

1. See the Las Vegas Sign
2. See Fremont Street

Since both were located at opposite ends of the Strip, we decided to take The Deuce bus that offers 24 hour service along the Strip. For $5 we got unlimited travel for a 24 hour period.  This is great for getting around the strip.  The only problem with this is that they have lots of people trying to get on the bus at the same time and causes for long waits at each stop.

At any rate we took it south bound and got off just pass Mandalay Bay to see the coveted sign.

We then took the bus back up the strip and stopped at a couple of places along the way.  By this time it was approaching 6pm that we decided to continue to take the Deuce further up to Fremont Street to experience the Fremont Street Experience.  This is the part of the street that at night is transformed into the largest video screen.  There are a few shows with the first one starting at 7pm.

It was fun to see all the lights, as well some of the old classic Las Vegas neon signs of the days gone by.

We then headed back down the strip and decided to take a photo of the Las Vegas sign at night.

After the photos we headed back to the hotel and got to see the Sirens of TI perform their show.  One word – “Cheesy”, but it does draw a HUGE crowd.

We got back into our room and began packing up and resting for the early morning that would be the trip back home…so we thought.

This post might be a few days late, but since I’m currently stuck in Vegas (details to follow) I thought I would write a recap of the day.

This day started off great.  We decided that since we had done the south strip the day before, we would venture and check out the north strip up.

Right across the street from Treasure Island (TI), is the Fashion Show Mall.  Now the mall’s exterior isn’t the most visually pleasing, and that damn iPod commercial was driving me nuts!! It plays every minute!!!

The New Frontier Casino is no longer on the strip as it was imploded on November 2007 (Wikipedia).

We continued our walk, past Circus Circus (which I didn’t know still tooked actual coins for their slots). Passed the Hilton and then the Sahara and ended up at the Stratosphere. This area of the stripped felt a little sleazy for me.  There were lots of areas where there was absolutely nothing except vacant lots.  The stratosphere leaves something to be desired.  We didn’t venture up it as it cost $15 just go ride it up.  If you wanted to do the rides you had to pay additional for that.

We walked our way back to the hotel where I napped a bit and got myself ready for to catch Cirque Du Soliel’s “O” at the Bellagio Casino. Instead of trying to figure out where to eat on the strip, we decided to just eat at one of the local restaurants in the hotel called Isla. This restaurant had awesome Mexican food, but with a modern twist.  Truly delicious food was had by us both!

We then ventured to the show.

All I have to say about Cirque Du Soliel’s “O” is WOW.  An amazing show that was very visual, the performers truly amazing, the costumes out of this world. As usual with Cirque shows they always begin with some form of audience particpation which got some great laughs from the audience.  The stage itself is amazing. At some points people seem to be walking on water, at others they are diving into the water and at other times the water completely disappears! The only difference is that the show didn’t have an intermission as other shows.  This went none stop for over 1 1/2 hours. There were points that I wish we did have a small break, but since there really isn’t enough room to hold everyone outside, I can see why they didn’t.

Cirque you have amazing shows here in Las Vegas and I hope the next time I visit I’ll be able to see some more!

This day started early for me as I got up a 7:30am (biological clock told me to wake up).  I sat in my hotel room and Russ slept, I surfed the web and posted my previous post

When we finally got ourselves ready, our plan was to head down the strip to the Luxor and walk back to our hotel leisurely. We took the Las Vegas Monorail as far as it could take us south. The closest stop to us was at the Imperial Palace which was about a 15 minute walk.  Interesting to note, you have to go through the casino to get to the monorail .  After paying our $5/trip ticket, we took it all the way down to MGM Grand Casino. The inside of the casino is amazing. Deco style everywhere.  They even had a “Lion’s Den” where you can see their house lion in action (or in this case just lying around doing what cats do best).

Once outside the MGM Grand, we crossed the street to the Excalibur where we took their free monorail service to the Mandalay Bay Resort.  Walking through the casino I saw one of those big huge slot machines and I had to try it out.  After inserting $20 and loosing 4 times I thought it was time to cash out. I was surprised that the machine actually gave me $2 coins (hello are we in Canada?)

We continued our walk through the casino and somehow ended up at the Luxor.  I wasn’t too impressed with the Luxor.  From the outside the complex looks amazing, on the inside there was alot of construction for new stores and alot of wasted space as you looked up the pyramid. Russ and I both didn’t even play anything in the casino.  Granted they did look like they had some great shows there including the new Cirque Du Soliel show with Criss Angel – Believe. Now the show just started its pre-shows and it doesn’t officially open until Halloween.

As we further walked through the casino, a walkway took us right into the Excalibur. As we walked through this Medival Castle themed casino, all I could think of was a co-worker of mine who loves this stuff.  I bet if she and her husband would to come to Las Vegas they would definitely stay here.

We then crossed the street and headed to New York, NY casino.  The oustide alone is a full replica of the Manhattan skyline. We walked around and sat down by a cafe and ate some tastey treats. As my main purpose was to try out their rollercoaster, we quickly headed to it. Now those that know me, know that I don’t always do well with heights, but when it comes to rollercoasters I love them (I just hate the getting up the first hill). I was alittle surprised that the cost to ride this was $14 per person, but we just had to try it out and had a fun filled 2 minute ride

We slowly started to make our way back to our hotel, but stopped in at Planet Hollywood hotel (which I might add is greatly designed), and went to the shops.  I ended up buying a new sparkling belt buckle and a great embroidered shirt which I will be wearing tomorrow night when we go see “O”.

We continued to walk where we stopped in a the Paris Hotel and sat outside and enjoyed a great slurpy drink which was served in a cermanic bowl in a replica of the hot air ballon that is outside the hotel.  Of course by this time I was getting tired and it was already approaching 7pm.

We finally got back to our hotel room where we rested for a few minutes, got changed and headed out yet again to get a bite to eat.  We were in a pasta mood, so we headed over to the Venetian and ate close to the gondola rides at restaurant owned by Wolfgang Pucks called Postrio. I have to say the food was spectacular and the service amazing!

After our meal we headed towards the Palazzo hotel. I didn’t have my camera with me and when I upload what Russ took you will see how amazing this hotel is.

I was starting to feel stuffed up at this time, but we continued our walk to Wynn, where I can say we lost money at their casino VERY quickly . So to me it did not live up to its name . We casually walked across the street and back to our hotel where I collapsed at the shear exhaustion of the day.

The next day will involve heading further up the strip and see what other goodies there are!

Well we’ve finally arrived here in Las Vegas.

The flight down from Vancouver was fairly smooth and relaxing except the decent into the Vegas airport was kinda bumpy for the most part.  We had a mix crowd on the plane down which included some seniors, some middle age and of course some 20 something guys who for a 2 hour flight manage to have 6 drinks (Psst, it’s better if you moderate the amount you have, you still have the rest of the evening to get through).  My luggage of course took about 20 minutes to make it’s way to the unloading belt and I was surprised how long it took to get everyone’s luggage out for only 92 people on the flight.

Instead of taking a taxi or limo to the hotel (and trying to save some money), we took the shuttle bus which only cost us $6.50 each (nice bargin).  Little did we know that this small bargin would take us about 1 hour to get to the hotel as we waved around the strip dropping off othe passengers to their respective hotels. We were the second last to get off that shuttle and from the zig-zagging we did I was getting lost.

We finally arrived at our home away from home and quickly checked in and went to our room. I was so happy to see that we actually got a nice room.  I was scared that we would have gotten a room that wasn’t renovated yet, as Treasure Island, or TI as it is known here now, has gone through some heavy renovations that were to be finished by this month (and we know how well they all are at meeting that deadline).

At any rate we quickly got changed and headed downstairs to view the casino and get some food into our system.  Since we were both hungry and didn’t want to walk around and figure out where to eat, we decided to eat at the buffet at the hotel.  It wasn’t bad for a buffet, but it was a buffet.  We finished our meal and headed down the strip for a walk. I didn’t bring my camera with me as I had to charge the battery and wouldn’t have had enough time to get a full charge on it.  We took Russ’ camera instead, but alas he forgot his USB cable so I cannot upload the photos we took with it.  You will have to settle for the photos I took with my iPhone for now.

I was surprised to see how many people there were on the street. With all this doom and gloom going on in the US I really expected less people.  Granted it is the weekend here and it just might be the Friday crowd for now.

I got to walk through some interesting hotels and casinos. All are amazing in their own special way and the sheer size of them are to behold.

Tomorrow will be another day of walking and maybe get to the Luxor and see the sights there.

In about 26 hours time from now I will be boarding a plane and heading down to Las Vegas for the first time.  I’m really excited about this trip. I’ve heard so many good things about Vegas that I can’t wait to absorb some of that goodness.

Granted I still have to complete my work day today and it seems as the day is progressing and I’m clearing stuff off my “to-do” list, more items are landing on my desk.  This past week has flown by with work and how busy it has been, and technically this is not our “busy season”.  I guess this should be good news in the long run.

I still haven’t heard from a friend who said they would “hook me up” to a couple of bars when I’m in Vegas (cough .. Colleen .. cough).  But either way I know I will document what is going on.  Who cares about the “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” slogan

So one more sleep to go and then we’ll see how much sleep I get when I’m in Vegas.  I know the last night will be hard since we have an early morning flight back home.  Of course I will be twitting away on Twitter so for all those who would like to follow me, I’m @GusF.

UPDATE:  Looks like the weather is going to be awesome too! wOOt!!!

Alright, this Friday I’m off to Las Vegas and I’m starting to get really excited about heading there for the first time.  Yeah that is correct, I’m a Las Vegas Virgin!!!

To that note I’m trying to figure out what I can do while there.  Yeah there are tons of shows and sights to see, but what should I do when I’m there for 4 nights? Does anyone have any specific recommendations? I haven’t been able to find a great website that shows me what are the “must see” sites and events.

I’d love to see “O” from Cirque Du Soleil, but I don’t think I can afford the minimum price of $106US to see it (of course if @CirqueLasVegas on Twitter wishes to send me tickets or put me on the guest list I’d be most appreciative)

I’m putting this out to all who have returned from Blog World Expo this week, what should I do when I’m in Vegas? What day events? What evening events? Leave me a comment and let me know.