Las Vegas Day 3

The next day in Vegas I decided to venture a little further out. Having ridden all the coasters on the strip, most of them pretty poor I had 2 more to find in the surrounding area. But before that I headed to Caeser's for breakfast.

More pipers

I wonder who's piano this might be?

Caeser's has a pussycat dolls set of tables, but no dolls on this occasion.

At the back of the Mirage is Siegfried and Roy's tiger enclosure. Once I realised you had to pay quite a bit to actually get in I backtracked. I'm sure this was free the last time I came here.

The Revolution bar is a 60s themed bar tying in with the Beatles Cirque show next door.

After another $20 cab ride I found myself at Las Vegas Mini Grand Prix for the first of the coasters.

It was just a little kiddy ride but another credit....tick!


The park is famous for its go-kart track but does have a couple of other rides too. It's one of the few places that is kid friendly, just quite a way out.



Now from this park I thought it would be clever to walk to the second location, 4 miles away. What I perhaps didn't appreciate was just how hot is was going to be and how sapping it would to pursue it. Sometimes I'm too stubborn for my own good!

Thats the stratosphere in the distance. My original plan was to actually walk all the way back, I doubt I would have been able to do so.

This is the second destination, Peter Piper Pizza. Yep its a pizza place with a coaster in the back.

Even if it is a silly little dragon coaster. I have to say it was extremely popular with the kids who were running around for one more go.

Having been beaten by the heat I jumped a taxi back to the hotel and grabbed a siesta.

That night I headed out to the Rio hotel to see the second of the shows I'd bought tickets for; Penn and Teller.

I've been a fan of these two for years both for their magic and Bullshit TV shows. I'd seen Lance Burton's show in 2002 and was able to see how a lot of the magic was done, that for me is what makes magic so enjoyable. But these guys were a class above Lance. They are masters of misdirection and have some routines that are just beautiful to watch.


Teller's "shadows" trick.


Cups and balls, the trick that made them notorious and rumoured to have got them kicked them out of the magic circle.


Their finale was of course their bullet catch, which I think I figured out but I won't give it away here!


After the show they join the audience for photos.

I recommend the show but its a little short at 75 minutes but still definitely worth seeing.

As well as being the home of Penn and Teller, the Rio is also the home of the World Series of Poker, and the qualifiers were taking place whilst I was there. Now I was planning on flying to the grand canyon the next day but instead spent the money entering this, if only so I could come back with poker stories. I'm not a big gambler and had avoided playing so far in Vegas but this was too good an opportunity to resist.



So putting up a couple of hundred dollars I signed up and was put into a satellite game. Rather surprisingly I didn't go out first on our table, a rather drunk guy took that crown. However I went out next when I went all in with a straight only to be beaten by a better one. C'est la vie!

The Rio seen from afar as I walked back to the hotel.

A statue of Siegfried, Roy and the killer tiger. Perhaps they ought to redo this so that the tiger is biting a neck.

Back to ti


This amazing looking motorbike was on display within ti.

Mystere is one of the older Cirque shows on the strip. It's not one I've seen nor was I going to see it on this occasion. Maybe next time.

There used to be a pirate show at Treasure Island that would attract crowds to the street outside the hotel. The show is still there but is a bit more adult in that they've changed the story line to feature the sirens of ti who do a Pussycat Dolls type dance routine to attract the men to their death. A little bizarre but it still attracts the crowd, perhaps for a different reason :)

I quite liked this reflecting shot at The Venetian.

The Arc d'Triumphe copy at Paris.

Planet ph Hollywood

The shopping complex at ph is called Miracle Mile, more fake skies in a quite impressive Tuscany setting.

Dinner was spent at the Burger Bar in the Manadaly. Not your usual Burger bar I might add. I had a surf and turf which featured an amazing Angus Beef slab of meat and some lobster. The dessert also looked like a burger, the meat replaced with a slab of chocolate.

From there I went back to...you know where....Coyote Ugly.

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