Viva Las Vegas

I'll get to that in a bit....


For the last week of work, we were treated to a night out on Wednesday with our three higher-ups. First we stopped by a Mexican restaurant for some Guacamole and steak before making our way towards Soho to finish of the night in an Irish bar, where we met an ex-Taxstream employee with both arms wrapped in casts who provided for a night of laughter.

The week in work was a good yet hectic one as we tidied up any loose ends we had left over the summer and tried our best to wrap up any issues we had yet to resolve. Taken out for lunch on the Friday, it was a bit of a rush as I had to run back to the apartment in Bayonne to speak with the rents and get back our deposit. Friday of course, was our last day in the apartment in Bayonne which we had spent the best part of the week cleaning spic and span, so we took our bags into the office in the morning and arrived to greet a very surprised Carmel later that night.

Saturday morning saw both Gary and myself heading for JFK, one week early, only this time we would be staying within the confines of the USA, as we made our way to Las Vegas, Nevada. We arrived in LV at mid-day and already the price of the trip had been worth it, even the sights from the window of the airplane had been stunning. Once we had checked in first things were first; Hooters. While the food or service were nowhere near as good as that which we had received in NYC, the main attraction was above and beyond. After our lackluster food, we took a walk down the strip to see what the city had to offer, unfortunately most of what it had to offer was only available only to those 21+ and some Irish Ids and light chatter was not going to change that here. This was a slight downer for the initial night but we would persevere.









Home away from home.




There was caretakers in the box with these guys just tossing them the ball, madness.


Bellagio fountains, I've got a good video of 'em too.






Sunday morning was a much needed lie in after the busy previous week and flights of the night before, we took the early morning to watch some hilarious reruns of “Beauty and the Geek” before starting our day. First stop was the local gun range, to finally cross off the last of the “to-do” list. With no age limit, no nation requirements and a relatively low cost, we helped ourselves. Starting off with the standard cop pistol, a glock, we soon obtained the taste for shredded paper and hungered for more. Moving on, we picked up an M16 rifle, Mp5 sub machine gun and a SAW. Realising just how much this could cost us if we continued, we made our way back towards the hotel. Once the season finale of Beauty and the Geek had wrapped up it was off to the Rio to source some tickets for the Penn and Teller show and after we had secured these it was time to feast, in the buffet of some swanky Hotel/Casino. After a lengthy lunching we left to pick up some tickets for Monday night as we would not be around to pick them up during the day, with tickets secured, we returned to the Rio for an impressive Penn and Teller show. Unexpectedly, we even got a chance to meet with P&T after the show for a couple of pictures and congratulations.

Guns are fun kids! :)


Bad bad form, but it got the job done.


Yar.


I'm about the only guy SAM doesn't want.


Ah-hahahaha, look at this thing! And they let me shoot it!


Teller


Penn


Monday morning greeted us with a disgustingly early 5am wake up as we were picked up and brought to the departure point of our tour, a tour to the number one natural wonder of the world, the Grand Canyon. An immensely entertaining tour guide ensured that not a wink of sleep was had on the 6 hour journey to the Canyon. We had a quick photo stop at the Hoover dam and had quick stops in a couple of other towns for snacks, one of which saw us sat down with two girls from Derry and Fermanagh. When we finally reached the GC it was nothing short of spectacular and I think I'll let the pictures (and hopefully your own personal experience!) speak for themselves. With our short hours at the south rim depleted, we began the long haul back to Las Vegas to the visual tune of Ocean's Eleven ( a film about the robbery of the Bellagio casino in Las Vegas ), with stops at an Indian Crafts store and a night-time illuminated Hoover Dam. Arriving back into Las Vegas precisely on schedule (Dad would have loved this guy), Gary and I darted for the hotel to pick up some things before struggling to get a taxi to our show that night, a slightly cheap, but very entertaining, show. I have intentionally omitted the name, for fear of losing my teenage friendly rating. Another night done, we hit the hay.

Damn dam.


Check this guy out! New squirrels! Best day ever.




Happy Andy.


Thinking Andy.


Hehe.


Like a ninja, he approaches from the shadows before dismembering his victims.


Watching, waiting.


Big ol' hole.


Thinking again.


Me.


Damn by night.


Tuesday was effectively our last day in LV as we flew out early on Wednesday morning, so we used it to knock off a couple of small things that we had left to do in the area. Starting off with another ticket buying session, this time to a late night showing of Kà by the Cirque Du Solei, followed buy a quick burst of token merchandise shopping. Under the advice of our GC tour guide, we bought a day ticket to the Strip's bus for $5, a nominal fee, or so we thought. This steaming heap, took at least an hour to get from the bottom of the strip to the top, a sub-10 minute taxi ride, as it stops every block to let on more people who have yet to buy tickets and cause horrendous delays. After a torturous journey we found ourselves at the Stratosphere ( although it was not our first visit...) , the largest structure west of some river (basically, the largest structure on the west side of the states). We went up to the viewing platform and after doing the rounds, checked out the attractions atop the tower; there are 3 rides, the Big-shot, X-scream and Insanity, we got the chance to try out the first two as the final one was having some issues with the wind that had gathered. The two we did get to go on were great fun and the height of the tower certainly lends itself to some nervous tension.

Traveling back to the local Hard Rock, where we picked up the essential “proof” t-shirt, was equally upsetting as we resorted to another trip on the bus (hey, it was free) but it got us where we wanted to go. It got us there quite slowly however so afterwards we jumped into a taxi and drove downtown into old Las Vegas and Fremont street which has now been covered with a gargantuan electronic light blanket that bedazzles spectators with light shows every hour after 7pm. We ate in the Golden Gate, which was a far cry from the much more modern and impressive hotel/casions of Las Vegas Blvd, but it was decent food and an interesting look at the history of the area. Another taxi darted us back to the MGM Grand for our evenings entertainment, what followed, was just as marvelous and indescribable as the Grand Canyon and thankfully no picture were allowed as I could not bring myself to spoil this show on anyone. Kà is breath-taking. See it.

New York New York in the mornin'


And the view along the strip from the Stratosphere.


"Classic" vegas.


Light show thingy. I've got a better video.


Preformance in Fremont.


With an electricity bill of $51/hr this massive beacon of light can apparantly been seen all the way from space.


This signaled the end to a successful few days for a pair of youngsters yet to breach the ancient age of 21. Las Vegas had proved itself to be everything I had heard about, gambling, drinking and sex, but in the innocent eyes (Ha, who am I kidding?) of two young men it showed a lot of unknown character and opportunity. Not bad, but I'll definitely be coming back to do it “properly” sometime!

Wednesday was a day of travel as I made my way back to JFK and parted ways with Gary momentarily as he moved on to browner pastures in Arizona for a couple of days to see relatives. I arrived back to Carmel's house where it seems fitting that I will be spending my last few days, where it all began, it will all come to an end.

Yesterday, I spent the day around NYC picking up a few final items that I had been meaning to get and tidying up some more loose ends. I also made the time to get out to the Statue of Liberty once and for all, so now I'm pretty secure in my travels. I'll see you all soon, for what may well be the final blog of my tale.

A plan gone askew.

Saturday morning; the plan was set. I had taken a spare Liberty Island ticket from Gary and made my way out towards Battery Park. In the time between when Gary had got the ticket and Saturday, the company running the ferries had changed over and after seeing the 30minute queue I decided to double check and make sure that my ticket was still valid. After a quick 5 minute wait, it was confirmed to me that the ticket was still good to go. Into the queue I went. 30 minutes later and I'm approaching the ticket fellow; “mumble, mumble, audio” “I'm sorry?” “That's the audio pack ticket, do you have the other one” “mumble, mumble, Kill Gary”





The decision was to retreat from Battery Park for the day and hope that Gary had an actual ticket at home so I could return tomorrow. With that in mind, I wandered around lower Manhattan aimlessly. Wall Street was the first stop, where I got to see Trinity Church and the Stock Exchange before moving on to the Vietnam Memorial. With the voice of John in my head, I remembered that the Bodies Exhibition was only up the road so that was the next port of call. It was an expensive entrance fee at about $27 but the overall display was quite good. I wouldn't say it was worth the price, but still very interesting, no pictures allowed.





I had arranged a meeting with Gary for later on in the day and so we rendezvoused in Hoboken at a little Italian joint. After some mixed up orders, we wolfed our meal leaving us stuffed. There was some Italian festival (complete with massive Fireworks) on in Hoboken so the place was jammers and considering it was a penultimate weekend, some of the office guys wanted to go out. We had some problems trying to get in anywhere so retreated to the safety of one of the colleagues apartments where we settled in for a night of beer-pong.
I was woken at 11am on Sunday by the landlord looking to show somebody around. Ugh. Of course, the viewer somehow found themselves in Brooklyn instead of Bayonne, but I was up at this stage and wasn't going back to sleep with everyone wandering around. I spent the rest of the day tidying up and packing away as much of my things as I could.

Anti-Labour day weekend.

I got the chance to go to a Yankees -V- Red Sox game on Wednesday, after a slight rush around to pick up the tickets, which thankfully saw the Yankees coming out on top at 4-3. We were seated in the bleachers and it certainly provided for a very different atmosphere but a good time was had by all (well, except the guys that get kicked out). I took the chance on Saturday to pick up a few things I'd been meaning to get before I head back home and had a bit of a walk around the city. Likewise, Sunday and Monday were spent in and around Bayonne just cleaning up some of the house and things like that to save me doing it in the next few weeks. Not particularly thrilling :).