I had thought that the idea of visiting Paris, New York, Venice etc in the desert was silly but now I really think they’re quite wonderful. Each one has created it’s own little inside world that is perfectly temperature controlled. The air conditioning was adjusted to just a lovely temperature that did not have us reaching for another layer after being dressed for the heat outside in the real world which was too mind-bendingly hot to stay out in. The skies are painted beautifully and it’s very hard to know what time of day it actually is. I don’t think we saw a clock anywhere in the city although the bell tower at the Bellagio did ring out on the hours.

Everything is so big. Each hotel and casino is so vast, like their own little cities. Walking from one hotel to the next and the next becomes a mammoth task. Even just walking from the hotel room to the font door is far. Dashing back up to your room for something you forgot makes you consider buying a new one instead of heading up there again.

Our first night, we sort of got stuck as the less expensive restaurant in our hotel was full. We were so exhausted that we just plonked our sorry little butts down at the next one we found and luckily, as it was so dark, we didn’t feel the full horror of the sticker shock as we ordered and tried not to stab ourselves in our own arms. We felt quite silly making this mistake as we are very experienced travelers but we just hit the brick wall of energy and had to stop. We hung our heads in shame. It made me want to reach for the great coffee cup my self-employed brother has that says “My boss is a jerk!” Tomorrow we’ll eat at the mall.
Published on: Jun 26, 2010