Hi Peeps,

So Vegas, where to begin!!

Well for starters as we arrived mid-week we found that hotel prices were actually cheaper than some of the hostels!! We stayed in the Stratosphere for two nights, check this place out, it's awesome….http://www.stratospherehotel.com

We were in room 30666 (just to give you an idea of the size of this place!) & were delighted to see we each had a queen sized bed! We snuggled up & watched friends until we fell asleep, pure bliss!!The next day we met Sam (a friend of Vicki's from home) we had an all you can eat $12 buffet at her hotel - The Sahara. Now we all know how much I love food, well I have never seen soooo much food in my life! There was pizza, Mexican food, roast dinner, Chinese, Indian, ribs, everything. But you know what…the quality wasn't great & I hardly ate anything.It actually made me really angry & sad to think all of the starving children across the world and seeing so much food get wasted.

In the afternoon we got the monorail to the very end of the strip and walked back to our hotels (approx 4miles). We made it our mission to get on as many guest lists as we could. The great thing about Vagas is a lot of the bars will let girls in for free & a lot of the time enjoy free drinks til midnight!First hotel was the MGM, which by the way has a lion habitat! My initial thought were 'Is this place for real?!' Now call me a party pooper but I personally think this is cruel, as is the dolphin habitat in the Mirage! Vagas is spectacular enough in my opinion without the need for animal enclosures such as these.

Walking along the strip was just fab, soaking up the atmosphere! The great thing about Vagas is there are people of all ages and races, most of which had a bottle of beer in their hand at all times! Drinking alcohol and smoking cigars from very early in the morning is acceptable! It really is like nowhere else you have ever been before! And what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!!!!!

In the evening I met up with Emma Turnbull (a friend from home who was visiting her sister in Vagas!) and her friend Vicky and we had dinner at the top of the world restaurant in the Stratosphere.The restaurant revolves 360 degrees every one hour and 20 minutes, it was the poshest place I've ever eaten & get this I had to ask the waitress to cut up my $50 steak for me!! The food was sensational & it was a really lovely evening. After the meal we went to the top of the tower, we didn't go on any of the rides though!There are 3, one of which Shoots passengers straight up 160 feet at 45 mph (over 4 Gs) until they are 1,081 feet above the Strip!

Instead we got a cab to Tabu the club at the MGM to enjoy the last 45 minutes of free drinks & meet up with Vicki & Sam. We were all enjoying a boogie on the dance floor, and having a laugh. I'd been nervous about going out without my sling on around a load of drunken people but it was fine, funnily enough all of the songs seemed to include 'put your hands up in the air' so I was there cast up in the air, getting involved! The dance floor was pretty rammed & when some over excitable young man stepped on Em's feet it kicked off! He went psycho when Em pushed him but it was us girls that security frog-marched off the premises!! Unbelievable!

At this point Em & Vicky called it a night, the rest of us somehow managed to blag a lift in a limo to the LAX club in the Luxor Hotel!! From this point the night is a complete blur…Sam & her friends left shortly after we arrived but I pleaded with Vic we should stay as you're only in Vagas once. So we went to another club, neither of us can remember which one! And not long after getting there Vic found me practically asleep. Taxi for Two! Only I wanted food & when I need food, I need food! I apparently insisted on our taxi driver taking us through the McDonalds drive through!! Back at the Stratosphere Vic managed to get me up to the room by holding out the bag of munchies & using it as bait! I'm told I stuffed my face, finished my last French frie & passed out within 5 seconds!!!

The next day we awoke to minging hangovers & after checking out we soaked up some of the booze with breakie in Roxy's Diner.Then we had to make our way to the Sin City Hostel. We knew it would be tough going from hotel to hostel but my god this place was basic! Its only saviour were the lovely staff, who were extremely helpful! We jumped straight into our beds & slept for the majority of the day. In the evening we went to Freemont Street & had dinner out whilst watching Viva Vision canopy and light show. The canopy towers 90 feet above the ground and spans the length of five football fields. Featuring more than 12 million LED modules and 555,000-watt sound system.

We spent the rest of the evening on the strip enjoying all the freebies we could…..The Fountains of the Bellagio were our first stop, a show of Interwovenwater, music and light which was amazing.Next stop was the Flamingo hotel where surprisingly enough we saw live flamingos in the tranquil gardens.Our last stop was the Treasure Island Hotel for the Pirate Show.

Now we waited half an hour for this, getting squashed in amongst hundreds of people. A complete waste of time, Vic & I were not impressed as left soon after it started. We've since been told the free show used to be called 'Buccaneer Bay' intended to attract families with whimsical pirate features and icons such as the skull-and-crossbones strip marquee, a large video arcade, and staged pirate battles.However what we saw was called 'Sirens of TI' and involved half naked women prancing around trying to sing, dance & act! It really was shocking!!! Hot chocolate stop and bed, we had to be up at 5.15am the next day for our Grand Canyon trip!

We were on the coach quite a few hours but it was well worth it. We passed Hoover Dam on the way too which was pretty spectacular. Vic & I opted for the helicopter ride which took us to the base of the canyon where we had a boat ride along the Colorado river before going back to base where we had lunch.I'm so glad I went to see the Grand Canyon, it was breath taking and I had a lovely day.

Saturday night we hit the strip again, this time looking to see a show. It was already pretty late by the time we arrived but we managed to get on the standby list for a show called 'LOVE'.LOVE, Cirque du Soleilcelebrates the musical legacy of The Beatles through their timeless, original recordings. Drawn from the poetry of the lyrics, the show explores the content of the songs as interpreted by innovative performances from a cast of 60 international artists.

http://www.mirage.com/entertainment/entertainment_cirque_du_soleil.aspx

We were number five on the list but told we had a good chance of getting in. The only thing was the tickets were well out of our preferred price range at $180 each! Being on standby though you have to take the seats you're allocated!! To be fair though our seats were in a fantastic location and the show was absolutely amazing. I've never seen anything like it in my life!! I didn't' want it to end, when it did, I said to Vic 'that's half time yeah?' she replied 'Shell, its not a football match, that's the end!' I was truly gutted!!Another hot chocolate stop & time for bed!!!

On Sunday Morning, Sam's mate Eric who lives in LA & had also spent the weekend in Vegas kindly gave us a lift back to Hollywood!! How we crammed all of our stuff & ourselves into his Honda Civic I'll never know but we did…just!!!! The drive took hours & we all got sore bottoms but eventually made it back!

I'll tell you about our last couple of days in LA another time! Lots of love xXx