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Saturday 6th
Well, at my final destination, can't beleive it, don't know about you but it only seems like yesterday i got on the train at Camborne!
Went to Universal Studios on Monday, wasn't cheap but less than Disney Land, had a good time, went on a "virtual" Simpsons rollercoaster which scared the s*** out of me! Also met the Simpson family, did a tour of film sets, saw how they do special effects and stuff. Got back to town about 3.30, so did the bus tour, which was a waste of $20, just driving round pointing out where certain celebrities were seen having lunch once etc, was also really cold! Went back to Hostel had shower to warm up and packed by bag yet again, thought i should get a photo of the hollywood sign lit up so walked back down to the chinese theatre, only thing was the mist had rolled in and you couldn't see it - at least i tried!
Tuesday my bus for Las Vegasa left at 7am, had to change buses at 8, when i got to the front of the queue they shut the doors and said sorry folks the bus is full, apparantly they always over book the buses here, had to wait hour and half for them to find another one. In hindsight i'm glad i didn't get on the first one, would prop have ended up next to some fat american, and half the people had been on the bus all night! The bus i got on was a fresh one and not full so lots better. A 6 hour journey, just dessert all the way, then all of a sudden las vegas pops out of nowhere! We stoped for half an hour at lunch time, 2 choices, Macdonalds or Panda Express, which is pretty much a fast food outlet for chinese food! Actually managed to get something, had mixed vegetables (not sure how they are chinese!) Mushroom Chicken and Orange chicken, you got 3 different things in your box, i actually enjoyed it, not proper chinese i think, but at least i tried, branching out in my old age!
Got to Vegas at 4pm, decided to walk to Hostel rather than get bus, every dollar counts! Wasn't that far anyway, Hostel was fine, i paid for a 6 bed room and got a 4 bed which i wasn't going to complain about, really different to other dorm rooms been staying in, more like a large motel room with 4 proper beds, no bunks, ensuite bathroom again, only proplem was the air con was on -5 i think, had 3 blankets on my bed! The hostel was in the downtown area, so instread of going to the strip, i walked the other way to the Freemont Experiance, Freemont street is where Vegas originated. Its a huge street, undercover, with the worlds largest TV screen on the ceiling, about the size of camborne main street i should think. Every hour they have a light show to music, lots of souviner shops to look at, yet more tack. Walked back to Hostel was still quite early so decided to walk to the Stratosphere Hotel, towards the strip but it's the first one, about 1/2 mile from hostel maybe. My first Casino experiance, huge. PAid to go to the top of the tower to look out over the city, was quite impressive. Also wondered round the shops they had, got back about 10pm. Have since found out that i could have stayed at the hotel for only a couple of quid more than what i paid for the hostel, as all the hotels have 50% winter sales on, would have been nice, a proper hotel room!
Wednesday i hit the strip! Walked down, about a mile to the main bit, during the day and night i think i did pretty well, must have gone in at least half of them if not more, Ceasers Palace is absolutly huge, Venice is amazing, you actually think you are in venice, the shops all have street facades and the ceiling painted with the sky, you actually feel like you are waking down an italian street - bizzare. Went to the fashion show mall, could have spent a fortune quite easily, the MGM has Lions in the Casino room, saw the Ballagio fountains quite a few times, light and dark, really good, really nice hotel, one of the best ones, when i win the lottery i'm going to go back and stay there. In Hindsight wish i had more time in Vegas and less in LA, feel i could have easily spent another couple of days there looking at everything. For lunch had the all you can eat buffet at the Bellagio, Dad and Ian would have loved it, had a "starter plate" of fruit, prawns, sushi! and ham. For main i had fillet of beef, poached salmon, salad, more prawns, fish, salmon carrotts and lots of mushrooms, i took photos for you to see! They had all sorts of food, full roast, chinese, japanese, italian, pretty much anything you could ever want. And then there were desserts, they were only small portions - i managed about 6! - was determined to get my moneys worth! Glad i did the lunch buffet and not the evening one, as i had time to walk it off!
Didn't get to bed till about 11 that night, you don't realise the time as everything continues, i think it is going to take a long while for everything i have have seen and done to sink in, its all a bit surreal that i've done it at the minute.
Thursday my alarm went off at 5.20am, my Grand Canyon tour bus picked up at 6am, didn't get home till 9pm, really long day, but worth it. Drove on Route 66 for a while, and stopped at Hoover Dam for photos, got to the Canyon about 1pm, had the option to get out take photos then back on the bus, or to walk 3 miles along the canyon to the village, which i did, no idea why anyone would do the trip and not the walk but lots didn't. The first sight of the Canyon was again really surreal, it just looked like a backdrop - not real at all, couldn't really comprehend the size of it, photos really don't do it justice. Was really cold there - 10 degrees which was a bit of a shock, luckily i took the jumper i brought in LA so had 4 layers on! Went straight to bed when got back, so tired.
Friday - yesterday, got up decent time, packed yet again and put my bags in the storage room for couple of hours while went for a wonder down the strip again, got bus to airport about 1pm, plane left at 4.30, had an amazing view when it took off, flew pretty much parallel with the strip, flight took just over an hour, had landed before i knew it, one more flight to go! Got to Hostel about 8pm, about hour from Airport. Again really nice Hostel, right in the centre which is good, didn't do anything pretty much just went to bed.
Today, seem to have done loads, really like San Francisco, again could quite easily empty my bank account, lots of nice shops, can't beleive how hilly it is here, no streets are flat, just uphill or down hill. Have walked miles today, went through China town, up Telegraph Hill where i paid to go up the Quiot Tower, good views all around, could even see the bridge which is apparantly unusual and normally in the fog. Really sunny but a cold wind, so all 4 layers on again - i'm looking forward to my winter coat! Also went to Pier 39, a real tourist spot, they had a left hand shop! Everything for left handed people, actually thinking about going back to get some left handed scissors, never see anything like that at home. This afternoon i hired a bike and cycled across the bridge, cycled about 5 miles in total, will be aching tomorrow i think. Really glad i did it, could have walked but thought cycling would be a bit different for a change, lots of people were doing it. Got some nice photos i think. Not sure what going to do tomorrow yet, may have to visit some shops, Monday i have booked my Ticket for Alcatraz, thought it might be a bit busy at the weekend, then tuesday to Heathrow!
Another Essay, probably the last, see you Wednesday at Paddington mum!
Reporter Emma signing off!
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