Las Vegas, NV

http://www.vdara.com/

Tuesday 25thWe got away from the LA apartment at 9.3o am. Mid city had a 25 block Police ‘lock down’ following an overnight shooting. Two policemen were shot at whilst returning to base but, luckily, we were not caught up in any of that mayhem. Basically, we just had to head east for 4 hrs although Kevin, from Koi, had advised us it could be done in 3 hrs.

Our departure by way of our Korean Hyundi 4 wheel drive restored the European luxury car balance for the apartment garage though.The freeways here continue to amaze us and we had the spectacular San Gabriel mountains along the route as backdrop for most of the drive to entertain us. The sun was out and Mark was sticking within the lanes, mostly, so, all was good. It didn’t take long to hit the dessert after exiting LA.

Two hours later and the cactus of our spaghetti western TV youth we’re keeping us company too.We had a bit of trouble finding a radio station without static but finally found one playing hits from the 70s. David Cassidy and The Partridge family were soon singing us along our rather lunar landscape like route.

We finally arrived into Las Vegas at 2.30 pm and checked into the V’dara Hotel. Our room was huge and with spectacular views. We headed out for a walk to check out The Bellagio and Caesars Palace Hotels before coming back to get ready for our evening out. We were heading down to the Mandalay Bay Hotel to see the Michael Jackson Cirque du Soleil ‘One’ Show. We had a quick meal at the Mandalay’s “Citizens’ restaurant before the show which was ok but that didn’t matter as the ‘One’ show was absolutely spectacular and like nothing we’d ever seen in our lives! A fantastic night of entertainment.

Las Vegas is an amazing place. It was hot and sunny and a hive of activity. I don’t think I could handle it for more than a couple of days though. There are masses of people everywhere you turn. Our hotel at least had the luxury of not having a casino within its confines though so was a little more subdued than the other venues but…not much!