On February 2nd 2019, I travelled a very long journey to Las Vegas – the start of my first ‘girls’ holiday. When we arrived in our hotel room – the Stratosphere – it slowly dawned upon us that we had jumped head first into a deal which left us with very little time to do much at all.

Nevertheless, we managed to cram stuff in – we did in Vegas anyway. Here’s what we got up to!

Exploring Vegas

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Well, by bus anyway.  On the first full day we spent in Vegas, we just got one of those ‘big red bus’ things. I hadn’t got one of those since I was about 7 in London, so it was quite new to me! Travelling on the top of an open top bus in what felt like an arctic blast, wearing the smallest white jacket ever – needless to say, it was quite an experience! However, I got to see all the famous hotels, the sights of the city – and even the old town, which I’d really love to explore one day.

The tour guides on the buses, however, were honestly a pleasure to listen to – some of the friendliest people I’ve ever met, and they made it a memorable experience, which was really nice. I’d highly recommend getting one of these buses when you’re planning a trip to Vegas. Not sure about all the stops you can get on, but we got our tickets beside the ‘Circus, Circus Hotel’ which looked… interesting.

On the tour we paid a visit to the Harley-Davidson Showroom – working in a bike shop, this was kind of on my bucket list – so it was kind of a god send that we just stumbled across it. Of course, the HD Store sits right in front of the Vegas Sign – you can see that picture above!

Route 66

This one was absolutely not something on my bucket list for this trip – it was on my bucket list for life but I completely did not expect to see Route 66 for a good 10 years or so! In fact – I tell a lie. I completely did not know what the ‘hype’ was about, until I saw it for my own eyes. So, no – it wasn’t on my list… but it is now.

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This is the shop Historic Seligman Sundries

Route 66 is like a time capsule stuck on one big ass road in America. I won’t go too much into deets, because that isn’t what we’re here for. But I’ll just paint a picture – especially for you horror lovers. Imagine if The Hills Have Eyes had a baby with American Psycho… there you go! Well, it’s probably not that harsh, but when it’s pissing it down, it does give that impression. Nevertheless, it’s left me intrigued and has now become one of if not my most favourite place in the world… and I was only there 10 minutes!

The Grand Canyon

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I didn’t think we’d have time to see this, but thank god we did! I honestly can’t put into words how beautiful this is in person. You literally walk and even though they are barriers, it’s like the whole world just stops for a few seconds and you are alone with this beautiful painting in front of you…

Except, it’s not a painting – it’s real! This was not what I was expecting at all – I kind of expected it to be like the late Azure Window in Gozo. The window itself has now collapsed, but the rocks leading up to the viewing point probably still remain – that’s what I expected to see at the Canyon!

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As you can see from this picture, there’s a huge rainbow in front of me. These guys just kept appearing everywhere. I’m not sure if this was a casual thing, or if it was because of the ongoing blizzard. That was the only downside of the trip – it was bloody freezing! But it gives me more of an excuse to go again.

The Hotels

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I had to put this shop in here! This is Sloan’s Ice Cream Shop – honestly, there was so much going on in here that I had to actually google what it was. After extensive research, I now recall there was a bit of an ice-cream selection in the grey box towards the left/centre of this picture.

The Rest of Vegas

Altogether, we spent 3 full days in Vegas – the first we spent on the bus, the second at the Grand Canyon/Route66 – and the last day we spend doing the most exploring and shopping than I’ve ever done in my life. Check out my haul below!

I think it’s safe to say that Las Vegas has not seen the last of me. Have you been to Vegas before? Don’t forget to give me some more places to add to my bucket list below!

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