Vivaaa Las Vegas

What a place! Bri and I both decided that Las Vegas is about what we expected it to be based on all that we had heard, but it still is hard to comprehend until you are there. Just checking into our hotel we had to get used to the Vegas mentality... everything is free as long as you tip and gamble! Haha we were very pleased with the location of our hotel being right on the strip and next to the New York, New York. We couldn't believe how big and nice the hotel was for the $30/night that it cost. After we figured out how to get the car parked(free!!) and check in, while avoiding all of the time-share salespeople, we walked around the casino of our hotel and eventually made our way to the pool to bake in the Vegas heat for a short while.

(Dan left, now it's Bri writing)
After we spent some time lounging around, we decided it was time to do a little gambling, and by that I mean playing slots and cashing out as soon as I broke even or lost or won $5. I am clearly not the big risk taker in this relationship. We walked through all of the hotels though, which I really enjoyed. The water show at the Bellagio was my favorite! They put the show to the song by Lee Greenwood: "Proud to be an American," and it was so great- very touching. We also walked through the Paris hotel which reminded me of the little shops and restaurants from when I studied there. We ate at a boulangerie (sandwich shop) which was delicious. The rest of the night we spent time just walking around doing people watching and little bits of gambling. It was a lot of fun, but when are they going to make smoking illegal there? Yuk!

The next day we pretty much did the same thing. I mean there really isn't too much else to do besides walk around and gamble when you're on a budget. Hopefully next time we go we will be able to go to some shows. Luckily, however, we didn't lose any money, in fact we may have even left with a few extra dollars which is always nice.

The last thing we did before leaving was get a picture with the "Welcome to the Fabulous Las Vegas" sign which you can see with the rest of our photos. Overall, great city, but don't stay too long!