Trip report DLR and NY

[Aussie Wendy]

Day 17 Friday 15 July

Was so, so good sleeping in-nowhere we had to be, no sunrises to be up to view. DD and I slept til after 8. DH and I planned to slip out and buy some Danish and coffee and bring it back to bed rather than eat breaky out somewhere but got rather cross as could find nowhere open. (Discovered later in the day either further up or down the strip had more choices in this regard.) Back at Bills the hotel reception staff pointed out a tiny café in a corner of Bills at the entrance away from our lift to door route. Bought hideously expensive coffees and Danishes for the price we could buy a full big breakfast at the Victorian room for all of us if we wanted to eat out (which also irritated me greatly at the time). Anyway had our continental breaky back in bed then showered etc and headed out around 11.30am to explore the Strip.

Walked north towards the Venetian past Hannah’s and the Imperial-seemed to be heading into a cheaper cluster than where we were with little shops and stalls. We loved the Venetian- from the escalator that curved up over the canals at the entrance (though the canals had been drained and were being painted) to the Grand Canal shops with winding streets and singing gondoliers under another fake sky.

Outside

Detail

Close up of the ceiling

We browsed the shops but mostly just admired the architecture and theme.

Came out by Walgreen’s so stocked up on ice cold cheap water and snacks for the return flight the next day. We crossed the street on the overpass.

Looking back the way we had come

And heading downtown

We walked down past TI noting it was only a narrow viewing area and decided probably too far to walk back to watch the show this night.

A pic of one of the pirate boats outside TI

The blocks are HUGE here. Called into Fashion Mall which had a big Neiman Marcus, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s etc. If we had longer here I would have gone out to an outlet mall-but as you can tell we are not big on shopping generally. DD spent quite some time trying on outfits in the multi-level Forever 21 and we went looking at graduation dresses in Macy’s. Found a couple she really liked but none her size and in the sales racks so only what was on the floor available. She was also excited as they had a branch of Hot Topic so she bought several CDs she couldn’t buy in Aus and some band Tshirts.

By now it after 2pm and we were getting hungry. We could have eaten here but I had seen some places I liked in the Venetian so headed back there, past Wynn with its lovely waterfall and a nice pizza café overlooking it (but didn’t fancy pizza). Back in the Venetian saw a sign for Zaffarini’s and liked the look of the menu. Didn’t expect to be led upstairs and along corridors only to come out above overlooking the Grand Canal with the voices of the gondoliers for entertainment. We had a lovely, slow meal-it was cool and quiet and as we crossed between lunch and dinner we got to admire first flowers and then candlelight on our table! I had a glass or two of Prosecco and ate far too much crusty Italian bread-we asked for oil and balsamic vinegar and they also brought out parmesan cheese to dip the bread into, before for me, delicious slices of lamb with orange salad-very a la carte small size serves but just what I felt like. DH had lasagne and DD chicken parmigiana that came with home-made pasta. Our waiter was very attentive and fun and insisted we have desert and persuaded us to have the Zaffarino special-layers of puff pastry and cream with fresh raspberries. It was so good.

So full and relaxed and me feeling much more in a mood to like Las Vegas (when my stomach is happy I am happy), we strolled back to the room for a siesta, as too full for a swim. I had debated about booking a show for tonight from the half price booth outside Bill’s this morning and in retrospect disappointed I didn’t, but had blown the budget somewhat in add-ons for this trip anyway.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

After our siesta we wandered south through Paris-nice but smaller than I expected.

Then a long walk up past Planet Hollywood (wished later we had gone in and checked out the special effects in the Miracle Mile shops but I forgot about them) and so to MGM. Unfortunately we were too late to see the lions but felt the area was too small for them anyway-hope they have a bigger enclosure for overnight? Crossed the road to New York New York for a quick peak but decided too hot and tired to explore Camelot or continue down to Luxor. (We should have bussed one way and walked back).

Views of New York New York and MGM

The cliché jellybean Statue of liberty

Camelot

Hard Rock café

Returning to the Bellagio popped in to the Cosmopolitan-lovely chandelier effect in the lobby here.

View of Paris’s Eiffel Tower at night

Watched the fountains at Bellagio again from a different spot and checked out the glass flower ceiling in the lobby and the conservatory-smelt so sweet-which I had not wanted to miss.

How cute are these little birds

Caught another fountain show on the way out-seen different shows each time-

Then just picked up some tea and coffee and donuts from Johnny Rockets in the Flamingo-again having been frustrated by the lack of light snacking options on the Strip and the inability to easily buy tea or coffee, only alcohol, everywhere. We did notice, contrary to our expectations, the casinos did not smell strongly like smoke despite people smoking in them-presume good air extraction methods but also decided not being gamblers, Las Vegas is probably not our kind of place. Friends though, who visited a few months later with their 10 year old, had a ball visiting all the animal shows and other free and paying attractions in the various casinos and hanging by the pool (they stayed at the Luxor) so maybe it was just an end-of-trip-tired-after lots of other great experiences feeling and in a different mood we would like it more.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Day 18 Saturday 16 July

We woke up at 7.30am after another great night’s sleep and headed next door to Café Madeleine, a bakery we had noticed in Paris, for breaky. Just beat a convention crowd who came in after us and had very good savoury pastries, quiche and muffins and coffee and then back to pack and check out at 11am.

The view from our balcony

The shuttle to the airport was 20 mins late-I was starting to get twitchy when he arrived but it was a short trip. The flight to LAX was ‘lively’ with quite a bit of turbulence crossing the desert and coming down to land at LAX the plane got tossed about and even tipped sideways-rather disconcerting.

Flying over the desert

The plane was full of lively, noisy passengers too. LAX was as awful and as scummy as ever. I can’t believe its lack of facilities for such a major airport with limited eateries either side of the barriers and insufficient seating and toilets which as always were mostly broken, blocked or no paper and long queues. Ugh! Compared to Changi, Singapore, JFK, Sydney, anywhere in the world really, it should be closed down. Found the paying lounge in Tom Bradley terminal this time but at $15/hour with no couches just seats, free wifi and ability to “buy” alcoholic drinks-decided not worth it. We spent our usual long wait sitting on a hard bench/ground in the late afternoon sun reading in a square between Terminals 1 and 2 until it got too dark. It had a cute little dog park with fake grass and a fake water hydrant to pee against-used by security dogs as they patrolled past. DH amused himself by watching the Prime Time Shuttle passengers getting increasingly annoyed as no shuttle turned up while all the others did and then finally two came past close together but each only fitted in 2 passengers leaving long queues-memo NEVER catch Prime Time (lots of warnings on Trip Advisor against this company).

Finally it’s time for the midnight flight out and an uneventful trip home watching movies and dozing. All in all another great trip-with lots of highlights-some bucket list items ticked off but as always more added or earmarked for return. Thanks for joining me on the ride-nothing like reliving half of it twelve months later!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Wow, Wendy. You are on a roll.

Great pics from the Grand Canyon and Vegas. Love to try that dessert!

And the night shots are fantastic!

 

[PrincessInOz]

I just missed the last post.


Thanks for sharing your trip. Roll on to the NEXT one.

 

[Travel Mum]

WOW Wendy thanks so much again for this awesome trip report!!!

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Thanks guys-looking forward to all the reports to come with everyone doing exciting things this coming 6-12 months and SO wish I could get back to DCA for Carsland-it looks so good. I hope to make it back to the UK (rellies and friends to see) first though and am investigating side trips. We have never been to Scotland and DH is very keen so thats one week gone, and I have always wanted to see the Ahlambra so southern Spain is on the cards. Prob try to see DLP this time around-see how much time we have-won't know when we can go til I know the end dates of my next contract but tipping late Sept next year-AGES! I was considering flying via HK to see HK Disney and HK (Princess in Oz inspiration) but not finding many convenient cheap flights HK-Europe and really makes more sense to do DL HK/HK for a visit in itself - sell it to DH as an "inbetween' trip! So many Aussie disers are going to DLP they will do all the reserach for me and I can sit back and take advantage of it