Welcome to Vegas

Tuesday 30 March, 2010

Today I had brunch in Emeryville with Gail- a veggie omelette and coffee.
Gail kindly drove me to Oakland airport where I waited nearly 2 hours for my plane whilst reading Columbine.
I arrived in Las Vegas and walked around with my jaw dropped because of the bling bling even at the airport. There was a large poster with a woman advertising a store downtown where you can test out machine guns. Welcome to America!
I caught shuttle bus sitting next to Willem Defoe. Well, if it wasn't him then he must have been doing a stage show imperonating him because it was uncanny. We talked for ages but I was playing ti cool so I didn't ask if it was him. He did mention that he lived in LA and about some TV show he was working on.

I Finally arrived at Caeser's Palace after over an hour and queued to check in for 30 mins.
I paid an extra $30- to be upgraded to a huge room in the Augustus tower with amazing view. The room is bigger than the first apartment Geoff and I lived in. I opened a bottle of red and had a glass on my own with all my friends.
It was time to venture downstairs to watch some gamblers for a while. I did not take a punt because I really didn't want to gamble by myself- too depressing. It is something that needs to be a social night out.

Walked around for 5 hours photographing, spent an hour shopping at Victoria's Secret as per Geoff request. Spent way too much money and bought a bra that makes me look like Pamela Anderson (but short with dark hair- surgery free). It was so funny I had to buy it.

I tried to to eat at the Cheesecake Factory but waited for a table for 20 min and they forgot about me and gave my table to someone else- sounds like a line from Flight of the Conchords song “Hurt Feelings”.
Then I tried to go to a noodle place and the girl rudely said they were shut.
I walked right past Maccas determined to find something else.
I was feeling quite lonely and sad because I was walking around tired, hungry and overwhelmed. This place is so big and so over the top. I think I was my most homesick tonight. Maybe because I felt like I was the only person with no one to talk to about this place.
It took ages walking along the strip looking for food but I finally got a chicken burrito at midnight. I had not eaten for 13 hours- oooops.
It is big and impersonal here in Vegas. I felt the shopping high and then the solo traveller low. I need to be with my family again ASAP. I knew it was not wise to be placing bets while feeling this way so I went back to my room with my money still in my wallet.
It was after midnight and I did lots of night shots out the window. Long exposure with cameras rested on table and cushions. Wide angle and telefoto.
Then I went to bed and watched old reruns of Sex and the City.

Wednesday 31 March, 2010

I know there are water restrictions here in the dessert so I am being a naughty girl by running the world's biggest bath,. I believe it would be a crime against sanity not to lie down in a jacuzzi and chillax. I will be walking all day today so I guess that is better than driving around...........
That bath was amazing. When I turned the spa on, the bubbles overflowed out of the bath. The girls would have gone swimming in that tub- next time they are coming too. I was surprised how many kids were out last night after midnight being dragged around by their parents. I would have been holed up by then in the hotel room cuddled up with my babies in this bed that's big enough for a family of 5.
I walked from Caeser's Palace to Luxor Casino to see the Body Exhibit and the Titanic Exhibit. Along the way, I stopped at Paris Casino for breakfast/lunch at 1pm. I tried to go to the buffet that Jen suggested but there were about 50 people queuing and I was too hungry to wait that long. So I went to a cafe next door and had a turkey burger, fries and a coffee. That filled the void. Paris is made to look like street scenes in Paris, minus the charm. I just hope people don't go there and think “Yep, I've seen Paris, noe I don't need to go to France to see the real thing”. I find it disconcerting that they paint blue skies with tiny white puffy clouds to simulate the real thing.
I found some amazing new buildings called “City Centre” which are miracles in glass contruction. One of the new buildings is called Mandarin Centre. I did heaps of photos looking at the reflections and people walking past.
I guess they want people to think it is constantly daytime so they won't go home. I did not gamble even a penny while walking the casinos on the strip. I wasn;t even being particularly self-righteous or restrained. I was just too distracted by the photo opportunities and the other-worldly nature of Vegas.
The Body Exhibit was unbelievable. The whole exhibit is real body parts that have been specially preserved and put into clear plastic containers or slides. The only fake thing were eyeballs placed into skulls. You could see everything and really get an idea for how the body looks inside. I bought the book of the exhibit to bring home so everyone can get some idea of what I saw. Perhaps the most amazing thing was to see how veins and arteries loook like fine coral. They were so delicate you could even see that bits had fallen off their branches to the bottom of the tank. That was creepy. The Body Exhibit seemed so out of place here in Vegas in that it is educational and quite poignant at the same time. I kept thinking as soon as I walk out of here back into Luxor Casino, I will be back into that world of superficial indulgence.
Right next door to the Body, also in Luxor was the Titanic Exhibit. I bought a combined ticket for both exhibits ($46-). I saw various artefacts collected from the Titanic wreck. There were clothes, jewellery, books, postcards, tools, coins, playing cards, china and glassware. Everything was in amazing condition considering they had been under water for 90 plus years. There was a reconstruction of the grand staircase in the First Class area which I think was the same one as used in the James Cameron film. It was very grand and beautifully built. Tickets for first class were the equivalent of $54,000 for a large room or $103,000 for the best grand suit in today's money. They had to pay extra to use the spa. Third class was even around a thousand per person, which I found surprising. The most spectacular thing was the huge piece of one section of the boat's exterior iron wall. It had taken a major effort to get it up from the ocean bed. It gave an idea of how huge and imposting the ship must have been in its time. The desilnation process to remove all the rust etc took 2 years of “soaking”.
The Titanic Exhibit was dedicated to Millvina Dean, who passed away last year aged 97. She was the last survivor from the Titanic. See link below for more info:
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jun/01/local/me-millvina-dean1
I walked back to Caeser's to meet Laurie and Tony. The walk took ages because you have to go up and down many excalators and/or stairs to cross over pedestrian bridges. I kept taking wrong turns and going into random casino foyers- accidentally of course.
Ths casinos I went into include:
New York New York
Excalibor
Paris
Caeser's Palace
Luxor
Bellagio
And I kept hold of my mulla. It was great to be picked up by Laurie and Tony Quintilliani (the Q's). Laurie is Lesleigh's sister for those who don't know. (Lesleigh is my darling friend in Wellington who originally hails from Maine). So far I have only been meeting new people and it was so good to see someone I have met before. I know that sounds weird but it is hard to keep having to re-introduce yourself and start over each time you go anywhere. We went to a lovely Italian restaurant for dinner. It was so secret and hidden away in a strip mall. Fortunatley, there were no strippers though.
When we got to their place in Spirit Canyon Rd, I was sooooo tired. I felt bad for not being able to stay up and chat but my eyes were closing on me. Lesleigh had perfect timing and called just after we got home. Laurie said I bet this is Lesleigh calling and it was. So good to talk to L.