Wow...my legs are KILLING ME.
The strip beat me - I planned to walk the whole length of it, but I couldn't manage...ok, well I suppose technically I did as I walked over half and back, and coupled with entering every casino and walking round them all, I'm sure I've walked at least 10 miles. I still can't quite get over just how large the casinos are...they are absolutely huge. It's like having the Birmingham Bullring attached to your hotel, plus a massive casino. There's absolutely no expense spared anywhere, but then I guess when they have fields of slot machines, they're making a fortune. I saw one slot machine where the minimum bet was $100.00 - yes, MINIMUM bet. There was also a Blackjack table where the minimum bet was $500.00. These, and I didn't even go into the 'high rollers' areas (I felt a bit under-dressed and under-bankbalanced).
Instead, I walked all the way to the top of the strip; to the Stratosphere hotel. The tower is pretty damn big, and you can feel your ears pop as the elevator takes you to the top. You can see pretty much the whole strip from up there - it's beautiful. What happened after the Stratosphere wasn't so beautiful though. See, what I decided to do was walk down one side of the strip, and then walk back on the other side. Walking back (whilst on the opposite side), there is nothing there, just construction work. This means there is nowhere to go in to enjoy the air-conditioning, and nothing to block the sun. I haven't been that hot since Florida in 2000, and I didn't have any water. Luckily, after walking about a mile, I came across a McDonalds, and purchased a nice cool beverage. Seriously though, it was damn hot (I know my parents are reading this, so I will refrain from using profanities).
Without a doubt, the highlight of the trip so far (yeah, I know I'm only on day two...) is the Mirage hotel, or rather the dolphin, tiger and lion habitat. The animals are incredible. Sure, you had to pay to see them, but in my opinion it was well worth it - a really nice change from the hectic casinos....I literally could have stayed there for the whole day. Such a great experience.
I've taken it upon myself to get a casino chip and shot glass from each casino. So far I have chips from Planet Hollywood, Mirage, Treasure Island, Bellagio, and Sahara. I have shot glasses from Treasure Island, Caesars Palace, and two from Mirage. My list of souvenirs is actually getting quite large now.
I haven't eaten since breakfast - and even then I didn't eat much (I didn't take advantage of the 'all you can eat' buffet). Got to have an early night tonight, as the bus is coming to pick me up at 7:55 to go to the Grand Canyon. Will pop downstairs for a bite to eat and then have an early night I think. I'll try to add as many pictures as possible, but the thing is I have been in Vegas for 24 hours now, and I have already taken over 200 pictures (thats not including the ones I took that were rubbish). I've also taken quite a few movies too - if I work out how to add them, I will.
Next update probably won't be until Thursday night now (Friday morning for you) - between now and then, I will be going to the Grand Canyon, and seeing two Vegas shows, so I'm sure there will be a lot to talk about.
