Viva Las Vegas

Leaving the Grand Canyon for Vegas: We drove part of Route 66. Our driver and guide made a special stop for us. We all took a picture by one of the signs on the street, which was fab. Then we stopped in Seligman to buy some souvenirs and snacks. I took some pictures of the Route66 flag as well and with an old truck.
Afterwards we all had to give in a dollar, to play roulette with a bus wheel, such a great idea.
During our drive into Vegas we passed The Hoover Damm, which was cool and soon afterwards we had our first glimpse of Vegas. We did the first part of the city tour right away, drove the strip and saw all these fancy hotels. The bus dropped us off at the highest ferris wheel in the world, the High Roller, and we had time to explore the strip. An Australian girl and I just walked around, first through the Flamingo, they have a cute little garden with flamingos and other animals. Of course we took lots of pictures of the casino. Then we crossed a bridge to get to the Bellagio (the fountain hotel), a very fancy one with all the expensive stores (Gucci, Louis Vitton etc.). They have this great garden display though, which changes for every season. It had kind of Japanese/Chinese theme, very colourful and so many fab details. From the Bellagio we walked to The Cosmopolitan, where they have this chandalier bar, so sparkly and fun. Then we headed to our hotel, the Rio, which is located just off the strip. I relaxed a bit and then got ready for our first night out. We had dinner first at the Planet Hollywood restaurant and then we did the second part of the city tour, the old Las Vegas. That‘s where a lot of wedding chapels are and guess what our tour guide organized for us to go to one as a surprise. He bascially just said that it was a couple, who met years ago on a Contiki and they want to do their vows again. Well, one of the couples in our group had to go up there and get „married“. That was so much fun! Our next stop took us to Fremont Street  where they have this fab light show. That was a lot of fun. After that we headed to a club. Getting in they actually took away my hand sanitizer and yes we danced, but it was not that great. We headed back to the hotel after a while, hung out by the bar and then headed to the rooftop club. What a great view!!! I went to bed eventually, but had to go down to the lobby again, because my key didn‘t work.

The next morning I slept in, had breakfast in the room and then took a taxi to the North Premium outlet for some shopping. I went a bit crazy, especially at Coach, but it was totally worth it. I also had lunch there and at around 3 pm I took taxi to the Venetian. Venice in Vegas 😉. Then I headed to the Bellagio to see the Fountain Show. You also get a good view on Paris from the Bellagio. Then I took a taxi back to the hotel, relaxed a bit, started packing and got ready for our second night out. At 6 pm we had a special ride to the MGM Grand, where we saw the Cirque du Soleil. A very fascinating show and wonderful to see. After that we had dinner and then it was time for some gambling. First up was roulette, where I doubled my money 💰🤑 and I also tried one of the machines. Party buses picked us up at the MGM and we drove up and down the strip for a while, before heading to the Omnia Club. The guy there took about five minutes to check my passport, don‘t ask me why. We only stayed for a short time, because we wanted to see the fountain show by night. It was amazing!!! Our next stop was The Cosmopolitan and The Chandalier bar. We tried the flower drink there. You basically had a sip of the tequila drink and then had to eat the flower. The flower made the mouth kind of numb and prickly at the same time and you just had to finish the drink. I still don‘t know what to think about the drink, it was def an experince though. We then took a taxi back to the hotel and hung around there.

Vegas was definitely an awesome experience! Not my fave city/place from the trip, but worth it!