We traveled to Sin City; Las Vegas.

Las Vegas feels like a mirage. All of the surrounding area is desert and as if by hallucination this city rises up from nowhere. Las Vegas as we know it had its foundations started by the Italian Mob in 1946 with the Flamingo. If life takes you to Vegas, please explore the Hoover Dam, the Great Canyon and other natural wonders in close proximity to Vegas. On this trip we had very little time together and did not get to explore as much as we would like (only staying on the Strip).

 

We traveled to vegas for my husband’s 30^th birthday and mandatory work trip. The company booked the Delano Las Vegas for the trip. The suite was nice. Quite. The hotel connects and parent company is the Mandalay Bay. The casinos really need to be reworked, they are dark and dingy. I did not even wanted to pause in the area; it was depressing and felt as if broken dreams lived there. (I know why physiologically the casinos are made as such, so that the gambler will not know or feel time, but they are just; NO).

 

First night we ate in the Rivea; the food was good. We had a semi-private room for our company. The wait staff was very attentive. The view was spectacular! The restaurant is located on the top floor of the Delano and it is more than worth it to go have a drink to enjoy the view of the Strip and surrounding area.

 

Next day I took a cab to the Venetian, where my in-laws where staying. Honestly I visited Vegas in 2004 and The Venetian was a young hotel at the time and it was so much better; smaller crowds, and it felt less gimmicky (even though I know; Venetian they try to bring the great Italian city to a dessert to a mostly American population, it’s about as Italian as Olive Garden is fine Italian cuisine). Since my last stop the hotel expanded and is more finished. We spent the day in the pool; that was incredibly overcrowded! There was only standing room, no swimming. The water was not like pool water, but because of the amount of people using the pool it was more like oil (sunscreen that came of the standers).

 

We rested after and went to see the other hotels in the area; starting off with the beautiful and Wynn Las Vegas. The hotel has a water fall outside and a beautiful garden inside, with a white fantasy carousel. Also they have some great shopping in the hotel, with many luxury brands.

Treasure Island was our next stop; it really needs a very good renovation job and some interesting attractions during the day(apart from Avengers Mission).

Next door is the Mirage; which has the Secret Garden; where you can pay about $30 to see a few captive big cats (we passed on that experience). This is another hotel that needs a good renovation job.

At night we ate in the Venetian; Canaletto Ristorante. The restaurant was nice, close by in the “square” they had a musician play live music. The food was okay, but the ambiance was great!

 The following day I went to the pool at the Mandalay Bay. I have to say even with the amount of people (many, but not as nearly crazy as the Venetian) the pools were great, they had a lazy river and an artificial wave pool, among the many other regular pools. I spent most of my day lounging and enjoying the pool.

 

At night we ate in the Bellagio; Lago Restaurant. The food was very good, the views were spectacular. Our group got a table near the window and we had an amazing view of the Bellagio Fountains! It was a beautiful and delicious dinner (try the squid in ink, it will make your mouth black for a bit but oh so worth it).

Before even finishing dinner we ran out to our next stop Love a Beatles Cirque du Soleil show (his company was paying for the dinner so we did not have to worry about paying). The show was very fun, they had many of the popular Beatles songs, the acrobatics was great too. Overall I would recommend see the show.

 

The Monday was another pool day. In the evening we ate sushi in the Mandalay Bay. The sushi was okay, but incredibly overpriced, for what it was. After we went exploring. We took the free Tram to Excalibur Hotel & Casino. The hotel is an interesting concept, but also needs renovation. Next we walked to New York, New York hotel, it was interesting to see everything smaller then what I’m used to, we bought “golden” playing cards, that are very interesting looking.

 

Our last day in Vegas, we packed, checked-out and went to explore more of the Strip. We took the tram to Excalibur, walked to Monte Carlo and took tram to the Bellagio. They had an under the ocean theme for their flower display, which was beautiful. The dancing fountain at the Bellagio is a good stop. After we went to Caesars for their buffet (all you can eat), it was great the selections was huge. This is not your cities Chinese all you can eat, this is a fantastic all you can eat (with the most amazing mushroom truffle soup I ever ate). After we went to the Avengers Mission at Treasure Island, it was in interesting experience, they had many of the Avengers customs including Iron Man’s many suites. It was an interactive activity.

 

That’s all folks from Sin City! Next up Italy!

 

More shots!