Vegas, Baby!

For neon-filled photos, see here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=163224&id=510568119&l=bb271ddfb1

Ah, Vegas. As a Disney-obsessed child who never quite grew out of her guilty love of all things glitzy, gimmicky and over the top, I had been looking forward to visiting ole' Sin City for quite some time. Fortunately, it didn't disappoint. As we were stopping by only a few days before Yuletide, mum and dad had booked Rich and I into a junior suite at the Signature - the new and tres swanky part of the MGM grand - as a Christmas present. After 7 months of sleeping in hostels, tents, campervans and bedsits you can imagine the joy with which we greeted our king- sized bed, his & hers sinks, private hot tub, flatscreen TV, kitchenette, living area and balcony overlooking The Strip. I could've just stayed in the suite for 4 days.



Soon, however, the call of $1 margaritas and slot machines drew us from our utopia and we set off to explore further afield. The first thing I noticed: the hotels are massive. It took us almost 20 minutes to walk from our suite to the front door of the MGM Grand, and that was without stopping at the in-house McDonalds, swimming pool and gym,"CSI Miami Experience," plethora of restaurants or the casino. It really did feel like walking through a giant adult's playground.

The next few days whirled by in a heady mix of late mornings and even later nights, cut-price cocktails, bad karaoke, victories on the slot machines and defeats at the blackjack tables. We lapped up the free shows - the Mirage's volcano, the Bellagio's fountains and the lions at the MGM Grand. We took in a Cirque de Soleil extravaganza, visited Old Vegas to admire Vegas Vic and Vegas Vicky, found our favourite slots (The Enchanted Unicorn and Hoot Loot) and strained our necks marvelling like Lillipudlians at the giant-sized Eiffel Tower, New York skyline, Caeser's Palace and other assorted edifices.

Continuing the festive theme of pushing the boat out, we also indulged in a trip to the all-you-can-eat buffet at the Wynn, currently held to be the best buffet in Vegas. In terms of choice alone it was a winner - we feasted on everything from Giant Alaskan Snow Crab legs to prime rib; pizza to potstickers. And then there were the desserts... As a fully paid up member of the Sweet Tooth Club I felt it only my duty to try as many of the sample sized delicacies on offer, and narrowing the field to only a final 7 was almost as tough a job as trying to eat them all. Needless to say the rest of that day was spent moving very, very slowly in the direction of our suite and a much needed place to lie down.

On our last night we wandered around some of the hotels we'd not explored yet and stumbled upon the newly opened CityCenter complex which includes the Aria casino resort and the Mandarin Oriental hotel. Although from the outside it looks unfortunately similar to something out of London's square mile, inside it is, well, pretty breathtaking. The photos don't do it justice, but every square foot of the place is like a shrine to the gods of chic and stylishness. I'm not usually impressed by minimalist decor and ultra modern architecture but this place is something else. If only I could afford to stay there...

Not to be overshadowed by the glitz and glamour of Vegas is mention of our trip to a place at the other end of the spectrum - the Gold Rush ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada. The town began in 1905 as a mining camp which sprang up when gold was discovered in the surrounding hills. By 1907, Rhyolite had electric lights, water mains, telephones, newspapers, a hospital, a school, an opera house, and a stock exchange, along with a population of around 5,000. By the end of 1910, however, the mine was operating at a loss and in 1920 the town's population had dropped to almost zero. Today, all that remains are the ghostly ruins of once proud buildings, a house made almost entirely out of bottles and a surreally placed outdoor sculpture museum. As the museum's website states, should you drop by "you'll encounter a life-size, ghostly interpretation of the Last Supper painting by Leonardo Da Vinci; a 25-foot high pink woman made of cinder blocks; a 24-foot high steel prospector accompanied by a penguin; a blossoming tangle of gleaming chrome car parts; and an exquisitely carved winged woman reaching for the sun from high atop a wooden pillar."All this in the middle of the desert, next to a ghost town. Pretty trippy, I can tell you.