We did a lot on our final day in Las Vegas. I actually got a decent sleep, probably 6 hours. I needed it. I'll need a lot more when I get home. We headed over to the Cosmopolitan across the street to have what everyone says is the best buffet in Vegas, The Wicked Spoon. The critics are right. It is amazing. I had some lobster pasta, some butternut squash ravioli, some delicious gnocci. Everything I tried was really good. And then I found the dessert section. I had to take pics. To show all the desserts I probably took 8 pics. I'm sure I looked like a tacky tourist, but the truth is that I pretty much am. No need to try to fool people. I will spare you the details of every single dessert that they have (only because I'm really tired and we have to be at the airport by 8:45 am), but I will post a lot of pics. All of them on Facebook and a few on Twitter.
After our lunch ($22 each is pretty steep for lunch but I had $22 worth of desserts) we walked to the Bellagio and hopped in a cab and headed to Circus Circus. The cab driver (all of them have been really nice and we've had some pretty good conversations) laughed the whole way there about us leaving The Bellagio for a dump like Circus Circus. I told him The Bellagio doesn't meet our standards. We needed an upgrade. The truth was I just wanted to see on of the more historic Las Vegas hotels before they blow it up to build something else and I wanted to go on the roller coaster. The Canyon Blaster was a lot smoother than the New York New York coaster and half the price but we both felt sick afterwards. You go upside down four times in about 30 seconds. I'm surprised I didn't throw up. Once that was over we walked to the dumpy and smokey casino to see the trapeze acts but they were on a break so we got the hell out of there, hopped in a cab and headed to the Stratosphere.
The Stratosphere is very similar to the Egyptian pyramids, only instead of Egyptians lugging stones up one at a time by ropes, they used big cranes and lots of concrete to build the Stratosphere. Okay, so it's actually nothing like the Pyramids. It is one of the highest free standing structures in the US, if not the highest. Can't remember. Google it. From the top you walk around this pretty crappy glass enclosed (and dirty glass, try taking a pic through that) area. I wasn't very impressed. I'm so glad you could go upstairs and outside. It's amazing out there. There was no wind and it was about 21C. It really was beautiful. There are 3 rides at the top. All 3 of them you have to be crazy to ride. Oh and you can also bungy jump off of it as well. I think I would rather hammer a nail through my nutsack.
Once we headed back down the elevator we jumped in a cab once again and headed to Freemont Street downtown. Incidentally there are more cabs in Las Vegas per capita than anywhere else in the US. See, keep reading this blog and you will eventually learn something. Maybe I should teach a course. Oops. It's not like me to digress. Anyways, Freemont Street was pretty cool. We walked through the historic Golden Nugget and saw the pool with a big huge aquarium with sharks that had a giant waterslide go right through it. Pretty cool. On our way through the casino rap star Coolio almost knocked Ryan over. That was his brush with fame on this trip.
Freemont Street is a very cool experience. I wish that we had been there at night, but we'll try to do that next time. We bought frozen mudslides and walked through some shops. Eventually we got to the zip line and waited the 45 minutes to go on. I've never tried it before and I was really afraid I would scream like a little girl and make a fool of myself. It was actually really fun and I didn't scream, but at the end you go in really fast and then it stops very quickly. That was a little scary. It was a lot of fun though.
Once again we jumped in a cab and headed back to our hotel to get ready for dinner. It was Friday night on the weekend of the Nascar race so it was getting busy. The roads were jammed and the police had one whole area blocked off. The cab driver figured there was a shooting. He had trouble getting through so he was taking short cuts and he was flying. I think he may have been Spanish, he talked like Rafa Nadal and I had trouble understanding him. Stuck in traffic he would wait for his opening and the say 'and, and, and, it's CHO TIME!' and then he would gun it and change lanes at about 3 G's and I was almost ready to put my head between my legs.(As a safety precaution people, I'm not that flexible). Eventually we got back to the hotel and I was feeling sick.
Earlier in the day I had made reservations for Jaleo in the Cosmopolitan, the 7th best rated restaurant in Vegas according to my trusty Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas book. It was the only restaurant in the top 20 that was moderately priced. Why was it moderate? Because they were small dishes,tapas, that you share. I'm a soup lover so I ordered the Ajo Blanco Con Cangrejo. (Chilled almond and garlic soup with crabmeat and green grapes). The waiter was impressed and said it was the best thing on the menu. I told him that I was a writer for Food Magazine and I'm a regular judge on Iron Chef. Not sure if he bought it. Anyways, the soup was very good. Ryan ordered the Sopa de Ajo (cold garlic soup with black garlic and egg) and didn't like the fact that the egg was raw. He's not really an egg person so he had a bit of trouble with that and I think it kind of put him off for the rest of the meal. We also ordered a La Serena Con Membrillo each (La Serena cheeses and a quince paste) and they were delicious. Cheesey with a bit of wine and quite sweet all in a little ice cream cone type thing. We also ordered chicken fritters that came in a shoe. Not kidding. Maybe it's a Spanish thing. They were good. We also ordered Patatas Bravas which were like potato chips with a spicy tomato sauce and alioli. They were delicious. I also ordered a cajun style dish of Prawns that reminded me of the French Quarters of New Orleans. We also had some delicious Spanish wine and a great dessert. Don't worry, I took pics of everything. It didn't seem like I ordered that much but our bill came to $123. Some much for moderate prices.
After the show we had to walk to Caesars Palace. Since the Bellagio is on the way we got to see the Fountain Show from street level for the first time. We have a fountain view so we've seen them from our room a few times but it's a lot better from the ground and when you can hear the music. We continued on to Caesars and went to Absinthe in a tent just outside of the hotel. It's a very funny acrobatic show that is 18+. After 3 days of Cirque du Soleil shows it was a nice change of pace. The master of ceremonies and his ditzy blond assistant insulted just about everyone and every race. He used pretty much every bad word I could possibly think of, and many times. It's a hilarious show with some incredible acrobatics, all in a very tight space. The stage is only about 10 feet across. The show is in the round. If you are not easily offended and have a good sense of humor I think this show is a must see while in Vegas. I was also allowed to take pics (with no flash) and I took a lot. I will post them when I get home. (Well, after a LONG nap.)
After the show we headed to the Forum Shops at Caesars. Very cool to see and ridiculously over the top. We got a few good pics in there. Then we went through the Flamingo which was very smokey and gross but it was cool to see. There is a lot of history there. We also quickly walked through Bill's Gamblin' Saloon (also smokey and gross) and went into Ballys which went through to Paris. More frozen drinks. Very good. Then we headed back to Planet Hollywood where I quickly lost $50 playing video poker. I guess I just haven't quite grasped this gambling thing. Probably a good thing we are going home soon.
It's very strange to see people smoking inside. A lot of the older hotels absolutely reek of cigarettes. I grew up with a smoker so I'm used to that smell. (Also the smell of Vodka and vomit but that's a different story). Even still, I was bothered by it. I just can't believe Nevada hasn't made smoking indoors in public places illegal. It will be interesting to see how that plays out but you'd think it would be inevitable.
It's been a great trip. We've seen a lot, but it's impossible to see everything in one trip. It would be nice to be able to come back soon. I've been offered Celine tickets for 15% off and a Caesar's room for 25% off so hopefully we can get back there before the end of Summer. But don't bet on it. (See what I did there?)
Guess I should try to get a few hours sleep. Hopefully the flight home is a little less interesting. The flight to Vegas was a thrill ride all its own. I will write a final Vegas blog in a day or two with some more fun facts and trivia (who knows, some of it may even be true) and I'll post the 700 or so pics that I took. (685 of them are of food.) I even have quite a bit of video and if I can figure out how to do it I'll probably post some. In the words of Donny & Marie, who thankfully we didn't see, G'night everybody.
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