My expectations of Las Vegas were not great - I am really not into casinos, autentation and the wild life but I learned that Las Vegas is so much more. We were flying back from Las Vegas and that was our only reason for adding it to our itinerary. We had booked a hotel that was off strip - that is it was not on the main hustle and bustle downtown and expected to just relax around the huge pool and juat focus on our trip to the Grand Canyon that was planned because we felt the effects of altitude would be less if we flew in from there. We had also booked two shows but we wanted to avoid the casinos and craziness that Vegas is known for. We stayed at Red Rocks which our airport cab driver told us we would love becuase its' where the locals go. It turned out to be a massive hotel and we were on 17th floor overlooking the surrounding red rocks and the impressive pool area but your couldnt avoid the casino because the entrance to eateries were on the edges of it so we walked through it twice a day on route to breakfast and dinner if we were in the hotel.
We overcame the challenge of the room not having a kettle thanks to Amazon and were very comfortable - the weather was excellent so on days that nothing was planned I headed there every morning for an hour for a daily dose of Vitamin D. Food in the hotel was ok but we were genuinely fed up by the lack of variety of American menus by then.
SHOWS : We had booked to see the original Wizard of Oz at The Sphere - a recent addition to Vegas - A huge dome which glows day and night like a UFO on the horizon. We arrived early along with hundreds of others but the queues and the entrances were so well organised that entry was very smooth. Many people had dressed up - or shuld I say there were a lot of Dorothy look-a-likes around and I saw several pairs of red blingy stillettos and felt relived that I wasnt wearing them in the heat and even more so when we got inside and ascended the many escalators to our seat level and then descended the steep stairs to our seat - but once the show started it was worthwhile. It was very interactive and when the 'twister' started in the film our seats began to shake, wind blew through our hair and leaves were tossed around in the storm several landing on us! The quality and colours were fantastic and i felt right there with Dorothy. A different experience that we really enjoyed. Afterwards we walked across the bridge which connects it to The Venetian and enjoyed something to eat and then a walk around the shops which were packed, and finally a ride on a gondela - hardly romantic with tourists everywhere but the gondolier did serenade us with 'Just one Cornetto' and several people took photographs!
The second show er chose was Cirque de Soleil 'O' which was on at the Belagio Theatre so we booked for dinner overlooking the famous fountains which ranked as the best dinner in Vegas and we had ringside seats to the dancing fountains. Cirque was magnificent - I have seen other Cirque du Soleil performances in Shanghai and in the US but this was just so different with the watery stage where the performers walked, swam, dived into and appeared out of - it was full of jaw dropping acrobatics and beautiful music and costumes and for two hours we sat entranced. Before the show we made aure we had allowed time to explore the famous foyer were there was a Chinese New Year botanical exhibit and we enjoyed a margherita in the very swish bar.
MUSEUM : We thought wed find more out about the history of Vegas and headed to the Mob Museum which was very well done - America really knows how to curate exhibitions and how to capture and hold your attention. Its in an old Federal Buiding and we started off in the basement learning about Prohibition and moonshine tasting which took place in a speakeasy which you entered through a secret door disguised as an oil painting. Moonshine is disgusting - it just tasted of burn cereal to me and was enough to put me off alcohol never mind find places to drink it in secret! The mob exhitits were over two floors and started with photographs of the Irish and Italian migrants who came to make theit fortunes. one quotation of the wall summed it up, ' I was told that the streets of America were paved with gold, when I got here I found out they werent even paved and more over I was expected to pave them.' Poverty was a breeding ground for crime and as dominant gangs 'families' delevoped to control drug lines and gambling so violence exploded. It was both horrifying any my hair stood on end again as it did in Sedona d awe inspiring at the same time! The highlight for me was the Crime Lab where we were invited to attend an autopsy, identify DNA and fingerprints - where I learbed that I have an unusual type - a dould whorl that only 4% of the population have) and then progressed to ballistics where we examined and matched bullets to guns. All very interesting but then we do have a few detectives in the family!
THE GRAND CANYON; Our trip was coming to an end and this was a fitting conclusion. it was very well organised and we were picked up from our hotel and drived to Boulder City and boarded a light aircraft. The flight was wonderful as we looked down over the dessert mountains and the magnificent Hoover Dam and approached the Grand Canyon, which from the air looked other worldly. We landed nt the tiny airport and transfered to a helicopter which flew us right down into the canyon - one can only admire the skill of the helicopter pilots - we were so close to the rocks but the views were so amazing i forgot to be nervous! We handed and then were guided down a track towards the jetty to board our boat for a trip on the Colorada River - surprisingly my hair stood on end again as it had done at the vortex site in Sedona - I was connected to the earth and its peoples! The lands belong to the Native American people and our guide was bemoaning the lack of visitors that have affected thier income. We were the only people on our boat and the boat was the only boat on the river! He had had four trips booked that day - about 20% of what he usually does. I felt so sorry for him and hope that tourism gets back to where is should be soon. He blamed Covid followed by Trump. After our ascent from the river - we boarded the helicopter again and were transported to the rim of the canyon where we got on and off and three stops to enjoy the view from different aspects. A late lunch was served - from a very rudimentary kitchen but it put us on till we got back to base. It was a magnificent conclusion to a fantastic trip but we had been away for over three months and it was time tp get back to normal and I was looking forward to unpacking and sleeping in my own bed! Holiday over ......until the next time!
