Day 25 – Viva Las Vegas

So here I am… the fabulously famous Las Vegas…. and it’s HOT! I watched the weather report this morning and they are predicting 98 degrees.

I take the bike over to the Harley Davidson shop.. it’s enormous, probably the biggest I have seen since Lille in northern France and The Factory in Germany.

 

I have a good look around and get the pin for my collection.  There is a small shop next door where I get a coffee and sit outside in the shade.  A fellow arrives on his bike and I see that he is from Vegas so I ask him where I can park to explore the strip? Which one he says… eh! is there more than one?  Yes, the old strip and the new one with all the resort hotels. Oh! Ok, well both, I suppose.  He tells me to go into any of the hotel car parks they will let me park for free.  Ok will do thanks.

I decide to go to the old strip first… but on the way I spot this,

 

 

 

Obviously before he was mega-rich!

 

 

 

 

I find a parking spot but have to pay a couple of dollars… no prob.

They have covered most of it over… why I don’t know, perhaps to preserve it??

Ahhh the world famous cowboy…

and Golden Nugget Casino where I almost booked a room.  If the room I have found wasn’t so great I would have been a little sad that I didn’t decide to stay here.

I’m sure the whole arcade looks fantastic at night when they are all lit up.

I am just taking a photo of this…

What is it??? Must be a new fad that has passed this old fuddy duddy by… when suddently whoosh and hysterical laughter from above my head.

Yep.. people are zipping along the canopy on zip lines… I bet that’s great fun.. am tempted, but the queue is looooonnnngggg :{

There are many street performers and looky likeys.. of course I spot the king himself, oi I’m seeing double..maybe one, or both, of these slept at that Motel… who knows.

Its a bit blurry as I was trying to be discreet, not wanting to get a row for taking their picture without permission/paying. Don’t know if the nun is real or fake… my guess is real, but you never know, some people might want a photo with a nun; maybe they want to pretend they  are not actually in Vegas losing the housekeeping!!

At the end of the ‘arcade’.. guess what?

I pop in , but quickly out again… no sale!

Back to the bike and ride over to the ‘new’ strip. I park in a casino hotel called Ballys… Wonder if it is related to the shoes?  I walk through the casino and think maybe I should have a go… Now gambling is not something that has ever really captured my attention, of course I have had the odd flutter in my time, horses, bingo, the occasional slot machine, so I’m not that bothered… I keep on walking.

Outside I see I am next to the famous Ceasars Palace…

Everything is just so OTT… There is the Paris themed ‘resort’ that seems to dominate this part of the strip… It is all very well done

and across the street is the New York… All really stunning and even more so when fully illuminated at night.
I wander about for a while and pop into a couple of places but they are all pretty much the same inside.. Wall to wall machines and gaming tables.

It’s so incredibly hot I decide to go back to my hotel for a shower and come back later this evening to film riding the strip.

The longer video won’t load.. the wifi in these motels is crap..  here is a short piece so you can watch me parking the bike.. oh there is a bit of the strip too.

I park up… 3 bucks this time, and get something to eat.. I don’t know where the time has gone, it’s now nearly midnight so back to the hotel.  I really want to visit the Venetian Casino tomorrow, it is meant to be fabulous, a mini canal system with gondolas etc.