Las Vegas

It took us 25 hours to get there (via Munich & Philadelphia) and almost as long to come home (via Phoenix, Philadelphia & Frankfurt).  Hadn't really thought about how far away it actually was before we left.

I was there for Toastmasters Officer training and the International Convention and it was definitely a trip worth making.
We arrived at Las Vegas McCarran airport late on a Saturday evening and as we stepped off the jetbridge and into the airport terminal were surprised to be confronted immediately by slot machines and this continued all the way through the terminal to baggage reclaim!
Our hotel for the week was Bally's - where the convention was being held. Was it really a hotel? Well the dictionary says that a hotel is "a commercial establishment offering lodging to travellers and sometimes to permanent residents" and Bally's does that but actually the experience made it feel more like living in a casino with rooms! Whenever we were in the public areas of the hotel all you could hear was the noise of slot machines and music. I can't imagine how the receptionists ever manage to concentrate. I missed the relaxed atmosphere of a hotel lobby or lounge area and when we had to meet people we had to search out empty meeting rooms or meet in our rooms.
After a reasonable first night we ventured out to see what Vegas had to offer on the Sunday. First stop was our neighbouring hotel - Paris. We took a trip up the Eiffel Tower and managed to get a great view of the strip, the city beyond and the red rocky cliffs surrounding us. We were treated to a short preview of the Bellagio fountains.
Later we visited some of the other hotels and then went out with some friends in the evening to visit their family who live in Las Vegas. They hosted a barbecue for the European guests and we spent a lovely evening of normality with real people living in a normal community and we laughed a lot and saw some humming birds - new for me.
It was Thursday before I left Bally's again!!!!!!! We were so busy all week.
Thursday evening we went to a steakhouse (again with casino!) and then got up close to the Bellagio fountains.
One of the staff in the hotel said to us that we hadn't arrived in another city or country, but in a whole new planet and he wasn't joking. The whole strip area had a sense of unreality about it, something temporal and quite fake in a way. A mirage in the desert.
Visiting people who live in Las Vegas reminded us that real people live there too and the strip is just a zone of distraction for those who have the money, the will or the desperation to desire it.
Would I go back? To Vegas? Yes. To see the surrounding scenery and experience all the stuff I missed. To the strip? Probably not. Just not for me - unless there was a show on that caught my fancy, then I might make the long trip, endure the desert heat and the ching ching of machines making money for someone.