Casino heaven

Yesterday, we looked at several casinos - the MGM, New York New York, Excalibur, Luxor, and Mandalay.  At the MGM, we collected our tickets to see the David Copperfield Magic Show.  Copperfield's magic tricks are astounding.  New York New York is such a good casino they named it twice.  The layout within is kind of New Yorkish.  There's a pub there called the Nine Fine Irishmen.  Outside, on the Strip, there's a large Statue of Liberty with a giant New York skyline.  Excalibur is, on the outside, in the style of a fairy tale castle.  Luxor is designed on the Egyptian theme.  The casino is within an impressive pyramid.  Outside stands a tall sphinx.  Inside are various Egyptian objects - pharoahs, cats, and other pieces.  They've even gone to the effort of inscribing hieroglyphic symbols into the walls inside and outside the Luxor hotel.  The Mandalay was nothing special.  The casino area reminded me of the Tweed Heads Bowling Club - OK, it had some fish tanks.

A tram has been built that connects three casinos - the Mandalay, the Excalibur and the Luxor - and is free of charge for users.  It's in the casinos' best interests to have this system as it brings people conveniently to their premises.

We had an early dinner, and then returned to the MGM for the David Copperfield Magic Show.  After the show, we returned to the Paris Casino.  The latter is our favourite.  We love the layout.  It's just like being in Paris.  Boutique stores and souvenir shops are adorned with merchandise selling the Paris concept.  Miniature Eiffel Towers, Eiffel Towers that are actually drink bottles, 'Paris' on t-shirts, ash trays, decks of cards, dice, and, like the nearby roulette and Black Jack tables, a host of other cute goodies designed to make your wallet thinner.  You simply have to buy these goodies.  After all, you're in Paris, right?

The Statue of Liberty and the New York skyline

The Excalibur Casino

Luxor.  The Casino and hotel are all inside the pyramid.

Outside the pyramid is the Sphinx.

Inside, the visitor is welcomed by various Egyptian artefacts.

In the lobby inside the Luxor.

The Paris Casino by day

The Paris Casino by night

The gaming area in the Paris Casino has the look and feel of being outside, with the ceiling painted to resemble a sky.  At back, to the right of the lights, is part of one of the legs of the Eiffel Tower.

To the right of the woman with the spindly legs is a man in a blue shirt.  Between them, you can just make out Jean's head.  They are playing roulette.  In the evening, the minimum bet on the table rose from $5 to $10, but Jean was allowed to continue with $5 bets as she'd arrived before the change.

Part of the layout inside the Paris Casino, resembling a Paris street.

The rotunda, where I've sometimes relaxed over a drink.

The 'outdoor' cafe inside the Paris Casino.

Celine Dion and the Martinis

Last night, we went to see Celine Dion at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace on the Strip.  She was fantastic.  Her voice is one of the best in the industry, so clear, so penetrating.  She entertained the audience throughout the show, which lasted for two hours from 7.30 pm.

Celine sang all her hits.  Fairly early on she launched into The Power of Love, which I used to hear regularly on the radio where I worked 20 years ago.  She was backed up by other musicians and singers.  One young African American, who performed with her briefly, also had a great voice.  The stage was flexible and the sets changed constantly.  Celine herself changed her dress five times.  Four of them stretched to the floor, and she showed a bit of leg through those star-studded outfits.

Celine actually showed a little more.  She surprised us when video images were displayed of her in intimate moments with her children.  And her much older husband.  While these displayed, the gentle, French-Canadian Celine sang her heart out.  A star takes a risk sharing their children with the wider world.  But she did this.  I think it really endeared her to the audience.  

The show had all its special effects, flashy lights, glitz and illusions.  At one moment, the curtain lifted to show Celine centre-stage in outfit number four singing yet another song.  On the two large auditorium walls left and right of the stage, screens displayed her image as she sang.  But it was all an illusion.  The three images of Celine were pre-recorded.  The real Celine emerged from the back of the lower-level audience, walking slowly towards the stage, singing and touching people as she moved forward.  While the real Celine sang a few notes, the pre-recorded images paused and waited for the real one to finish.  Then, the Celine images resumed, while the real Celine paused, greeting people in the front rows.  Soon, the three images of Celine plus the real one hit the notes together, becoming a charming, simultaneous Celine Dion quartet.

I said already that Celine Dion has a clear, penetrating voice.  Her ability to hit the really high notes and still sound magnificent commands awe and respect.  She does this in the Power of Love.  And her finale was, you guessed it, Titanic.  As she sings this greatest of her hits, you think of Jack and Rose, played by Leo da Caprio and Kate Winslet.  In your mind's eye, you see them on the ship's deck when the sun sets on Titanic for the last time..14th April 1912.  In this song, Celine's high voice almost hits the very stars in the sky that chilly night, above a ship sailing towards promise and glory, but above an ocean whose agenda was more sinister. 

For more than a century, the world has been captivated by the story of Titanic.  For more than 20 years, fans the world over have been captivated by Celine Dion.  She will continue to win hearts in the years ahead, I have no doubt.

We saw Celine Dion at Caesars Palace.

Inside the Colosseum, where Celine Dion sang

The stage where Celine Dion sang - you could pay $200 extra to meet Celine in person.  We didn't.

After the show, Jean and I returned to Paris.  That is, we returned to the Paris Casino.  Being gluten-intolerant, I shouldn't really have beer.  I had been drinking gin n' tonic, but I thought these were a bit boring.  I'd never had a Martini before, so I ordered one from the waitress.  Here in 'Vegas, if you're at a gaming table, drinks are free.  You just slip the waitress a $1 tip.  My first Martini tasted great.  I really didn't feel affected.  It was like lolly water, really.  "I'll have another Martini, please!", I often said to the waitress last night.  I had about four or five free Martinis.  Finally, Jean said I shouldn't have any more.  This turned out to be very good advice.  I'll say one thing though.  If you want to avoid hangovers, just drink Martinis!

Strip Tease

This morning, we breakfasted at the Cosmopolitan Casino.  I was very happy that they had lactose-free milk and gluten-free bread!  I was able to have both coffee and toast with my breakfast instead of going without all the time.  Hallelujah.

At the beginning of the day, our overall losses were $20.  We then turned another $20 into $32 on slot machines in the Cosmopolitan.  We'd been told to look out for the slot machines early in the day.  At that time, if they show a flashing light above the machine, it means they have recently been re-set.  We played these machines, and lost the $10 we had made earlier.

We found the Belaggio.  There, we played the chocolate wheel as well as slot machines for a little while.  We lost $20 on the chocolate wheel (called Big Six here).  When we left the Belaggio, our overall losses were $40.  

In the Caesars palace, we collected our tickets for the show tonight.  We will see Celine Dion, the famous Canadian singer, probably best known for the Titanic song sung in the movie of the same name.  While in the Caesars Palace, we both played Black Jack, which is a good game.  Jean lost $100 between roulette and blackjack, but I walked away with my $100 outlay.

I returned to the hotel for a swim.  Jean went to the Paris Casino.  She lost no money there.  The pool in the hotel wasn't bad but it needed to be colder in these temperatures of approximately 44 degrees Celsius.  Having got to bed around 1.30 am last night, I had an afternoon snooze.

The Cosmopolitan 

The Strip with the Belaggio

In the Belaggio is this lovely indoor garden with a bird aviary.

Caesars Palace

Part of the decorations for Caesars Palace

Inside Caesars Palace

Jean returned to the Paris Casino, where we were the other night.

Tonight, we will see the Celine Dion show at the Caesars Palace.

It's a Gamble

Last night, after our tour to the Grand Canyon, we hit a casino.  Our first night was in Paris.  But last night, we were in Monte Carlo.  Exactly like in the casino at the real Monte Carlo in Monaco, the ceiling above the gaming tables contains a circular design, featuring eight circles within the one large circle.  Missing, however, are the elaborate paintings around the walls, and the four statues that feature in each of the four corners of the main gaming room at the real Monte Carlo.  How do I know?  We were there last year, and I wrote about it in last year's blog, 'To Ephesus With Love'.  

Today, we woke late.  Venturing into the Miracle Mile for brunch, Jean had a bruschetta.  I had steak and eggs and a Bloody Mary.  Apparently, it's the thing to do here in Lost Wages.  But I think mine had more bloody than Mary.

We chose to have brunch where we did because every hour there is the Rainstorm a few feet away.  The picture above tells the story.  From the ceiling, which looks like the sky, comes water from small holes which falls into the pond on the floor.  It looks, sounds and feels like real rain, accompanied by thunder and lightning.  Fog rises out of the pond.  It was kind of cool.

From the Miracle Mile, we made our way the short distance to Planet Hollywood.  From there, we paid for 24 hour tickets on the Deuce which is a bus that goes up and down the Strip.  We took the Deuce to the Venetian, another casino.  

The Venetian is great.  It is a reconstruction of Venice here in 'Vegas, complete with gondolas, the Grand Canal, the Rialto Bridge, the Doge's Palace, and St Mark's Square.  There are even little bridges like in the real Venice where they cross little canals.

A gondola with passengers.  The bridge at back is a replica of the famous Rialto Bridge.  It costs just $19 for a 10-minute gondola ride.  I think in the real Venice it costs 90 euros for 30 minutes.  Cheaper here.

The Doge's Palace:  When Jean and I were in Venice last year, we never went into the Doge's Palace.  I imagine this is meant to be a true representation of that palace.

This is St Mark's Square.  I think it's great that the city of Lost Wages celebrates famous locations in the way it does.  And it does it so well.

In the Venetian, we played the $1 chocolate wheel, which here is called the Big Six.  We turned $20 into $50.  At one point, we put a chip on Venetian 40...paying 40 to 1.  When the wheel landed on Venetian 40, we both screamed!  

The Palazzo casino is attached to the Venetian.  In the Palazzo, we turned $20 into $60 playing another Big Six.  During play, the croupier surprised me.  He failed to notice a chip we had on the table.  We had lost, but he didn't remove it.  He seemed not there anyway.  Jean uttered 'why isn't he taking it?'.  I said 'Shhh!'

We stepped out into the heat again and caught the Deuce down to the northern end of the Strip.  On Fremont Street, we found the Deuce Casino.  Here, we played Black Jack but lost no money.  I had a free gin n' tonic brought by a scantily dressed waitress, and it may have been this drink that made me forget my purchase under the table - a new swimming costume and my hat.  We were lucky to retrieve them from the lost and found desk.  It was good karma because I had witnessed a lady drop her mobile phone, and I took it to her.  I think most people, playing alone at a table with their chips on the table, who might witness something bad happening to another patron 20 feet away, would be very tempted actually just to ignore them.

Heading down the Strip on the Deuce.  In the distance is the Stratosphere.

Nearby, outside but under a high, very long roof that shaded an arcade, we found a zip wire overhead. It cost $20 to fly from one end to the other, a distance of a few hundred feet.  The zip wire started at a height of 77 feet and finished about 30 feet high.

I decided to give it a go.  It was good fun, attached to a harness and flying along at about 45 kilometres an hour above the street below.  No photos to show, but Jean videoed from the ground.

Soon, we found the Fremont Casino, where I left Jean alone to play Black Jack.  She turned $40 into $80.  At the end of last night, we had lost $200 in the casinos.  By late today, our losses had reduced to $110.  

Some time later, I found Jean at a Black Jack table.  She had won several hundred dollars, putting us in the black.  I slipped to the 'Restroom', and when I returned, Jean had lost some.  Our overall losses were now just $4.

For a cost of $45.38, we dined tonight in the Paradise Buffet in the Fremont Casino.  We're having so much fun.

We spent the rest of the evening playing Black Jack at the Fremont.  Three Australians joined us - Tommy, Dave and Kushla.  They were all involved in the Melbourne radio industry.  Jean said later she has seen Dave on the TV program The Project.  A google search tells us he's Dave Thornton, a radio announcer on Foxtel FM with Fifi Box.  He's also a stand up comedian.  Tommy Little does a show with Meshel Laurie on Nova FM.  She's also often on The Project.  They were very funny, teasing the grumpy croupier, Mark.

Jean and I won lots of money and lost some.  We played the chocolate wheel later at the Cosmopolitan Casino.  Overall losses are now $30.  Now 1.30 am.

Grand Canyon

We joined a tour today which headed out to the Grand Canyon.  On the way, we stopped at the Hoover Dam.  The coach parked in the state of Nevada, and we then walked across the state line into Arizona, onto a road bridge for a look at the dam.  Most people were very interested in the dam, and I understand it was quite an accomplishment when it was constructed during the Depression.  Personally, I was not interested.  To me, it's just a dam.

The Hoover Dam, probably named after US President Herbert Hoover.  I could have got a better photo later but I wasn't really impressed by the dam.

In the vicinity of the Grand Canyon are these Joshua trees.  They were so called because they reminded someone of Joshua in the bible at prayer.

On arrival at the Grand Canyon, we took a helicopter ride down into the bottom of the Canyon.  Passengers were Jean and me as well as a couple from Melbourne.  We had to each be weighed, and then seated in the helicopter according to our weight so that our weight was evenly distributed.  

This was our helicopter pilot, a friendly sort of chap.  I sat in the front next to the pilot, which I was quite pleased about.  Jean sat directly behind me.  Not liking heights, Jean thought the helicopter was a rickety old thing.  I was quite at home on the ride down into the Canyon.

The view was excellent.  The greatest artist of all time, Mother Nature, has spent about eight or nine million years carving and sculpting this canyon.

The Colorado River is the second longest river in the United States, the longest being the Mississippi.  Our flight lasted several minutes as we descended the six hundred metres, or 2,000 feet, to a designated spot by the river.  I took video and umpteen photos while flying down.

It was monstrously hot.  I estimated it was 45 degrees Celsius or well over 115 Fahrenheit.  It was much hotter here than in Las Vegas.  From our helicopter landing spot, we had to walk down a short track to the river.  The track had stone steps, requiring some effort in the heat.  Along the trail were the occasional shaded area with bottles of water.  Everyone out here was swallowing lots of water.

The Grand Canyon is a spectacle of rugged beauty.  The colours are basic.  Here it is hot and harsh.

Jean and I wondered, what do we like better?  Yosemite or the Grand Canyon?  Well, they're just different.  We think we would rather go back to Yosemite in the future than the Canyon.  In Yosemite, there is more colour.  It's prettier.  The above picture is, I think, pretty.  But taking 'pretty' pictures in the Canyon is a challenge.

Jean and I in the Grand Canyon, by the Colorado River.

We took a short boat tour of the river.  Our boat's the one in front.

Our coach driver had told us about the Native Americans who live in the Grand Canyon.  They are the Hualapai Nation.  They are deeply spiritual and don't like modern things.  They don't like to be called 'Indians'.  Not sure if the young, female guide in our boat was a member of the Hualapai Nation.  She told us some facts about the Canyon, that there is a drought, and that the river level is very low.  However, in some parts, the river is 100 feet deep.  Although it looks very peaceful and quiet down here, the background noise of arriving helicopters either at ground level or way up by a cliff face was constant.  Mondays are busy days in the Canyon, so they say.

Our guide took photos of the few passengers in the boat.  This is us.

After maybe a 10 minute boat ride, we climbed back up the dusty, hot track to the helicopter waiting area.  The seat was stinking hot, and I couldn't wait for Jean to take this photo.

Boarding the helicopter, our ascent out of the Canyon lasted a few more minutes than our descent.  We flew for a little while, absorbing some spectacular cliff scenery until we finally lifted out of the Canyon and returned to the main base.

Some of the cliff scenery we saw.  In the picture below is the Skywalk.  Once off the helicopter, we headed there.  On the Skywalk, you walk on three-inch thick glass and you can look straight down beneath you to the bottom of the Canyon 600 metres down.  Jean didn't come with me on the Skywalk because it didn't appeal to her at all.  It didn't bother me.  It annoyed me that all one's personal items have to be locked in lockers.  You can't take any cameras, nothing, out onto the Skywalk.  Staff take your photo and charge you for it.  That aside, I didn't think the Skywalk was worth the $US35.00.  

The Grand Canyon is home to many wildlife.  It is associated with ravens (see picture below) but there are also chipmunks, mountain lions, eagles and many other critters.  Not far from the Canyon, Jean and I saw something that looked like bison.  There are also many cattle out here.  If a driver hits cattle, it's automatically the driver's fault.

Like at Yosemite, the area above the Canyon had a few locations you could get to by a shuttle.  Once there, you could view the Canyon, take lunch, or, at one of them, take the Skywalk.  Our departure time of 3pm was strictly enforced, and we made our way back to Las Vegas, where we arrived around 6.  It had been a long, hot, tiring day.  Our coach driver called Las Vegas 'Lost Wages'.