Tuesday 13th December It was a pretty uneventful flight over (always a good thing).  We tried the “lets not sleep the night before, so we can sleep on the plane” tactic – which failed miserably.   The flight was about an hour late and getting thru customs seemed to take forever, but as we queued for a taxi, the tiredness was forgotten as we realized we were stood in Vegas – HOORAH!   We arrived at The Wynn in record time, the cabbie charged us $17.  From the moment you step out of the cab you are pounced on. “can I carry your bags madam?”, “can I get the door for you madam?” can I wipe your butt madam?”.  NO NO NO!!  The queues to check into our room were small – within 4 minutes I was chatting up the guy behind the counter for an upgrade.  He fell over when he saw the dates we were here from and to, saying “two weeks in Vegas!?!?!?”.   What’s wrong with that?  I would spend a month here quite happily.  Anyways the $20 I slipped him did the trick and we were given a room on the 60th (top) floor facing the strip.   The plan was to try and stay up as late as possible (like we had managed to do on the previous trip) again, we failed miserably.   By 8pm on the day of arrival we were asleep, cozy in our bed in our upgraded room at The Wynn.    Wednesday 14th December Come 6am, wide awake and ready for anything, we ventured over the road to Starbucks for a coffee.  After consuming the hot, tasteless liquid we ventured down to the Bellagio to see who was still in the $25k buy-in WPT event.   The comp didn’t re-start until 3pm so we wandered around the Bellagio taking in the sites and the wonderful Christmas decorations.   It was still early-ish so we went over to Denny's for breakfast and having both only had 5 hours sleep, decided to walk back to The Wynn for an afternoon nap.  We woke up again at about 4pm and, armed with my camera to take pics, we headed on back to the Bellagio.   As we arrived, there was a show at the fountains outside.  Elton Jo hn began…. “It’s a little bit funny, this feeling inside……”  FANTASTIC!  It sends shivers down your spine.  When the show finished we headed off inside to take pics of the decorations.   The pictures do not do it justice, the whole atmosphere of the place is fantastic.  I remembered how much the place was buzzing on our last trip, but this somehow seemed different.  Ahhhhh Christmas.   The tables for the WPT were set up in a bar area near the cashiers cage.  Curtains were drawn to the entrance, but we slipped thru the curtains to a 3 person deep rail.  People were eager to see who was playing.   We caught sight of Barny Boatman, Peter Costa, Doyle Brunson (sporting a cowboy hat advertising “Doyles Room”) and the Unabomber.  There were four tables left.  Peter popped across the rail for a ciggie and we had a quick chat with him in between hands but decided to leave him to it.  He was pretty low on chips and needed some good luck to stay in.   The rest of the day was spent just milling around.  We walked thru the Desert Passage shops over at The Aladdin which brought back memories of the last trip.   We eventually ended up back at The Wynn on the slots, feeding in $100 bill after $100 bill with no return.  GOD DAMN STUPID GAME!!   We got back to the room expecting it to be about 9pm, to our shock it was after midnight and we were extremely hungry.  No where in The Wynn was open.  They must all shut early “out of season”.  So we headed over to The Frontier.  Eeeeeek.  Everywhere was shut except for one place.  Phil’s Deli.  It all looked a bit suspect.  A bit like a burger van outside a nightclub.  But the smell was too much to bear and we both ordered a burger.   At 2.30 am we were back in the room and collapsed in a heap until morning.   Thursday 15th December  We got a proper nights sleep at last.  A full 9 hours.  Then the maid woke us banging around next door.  Neil went for coffee and I had a nice long soak in the deep tub.   We headed straight to the Bellagio to see the WPT and it had been moved back to the cardroom.  They were playing down to 6 today and the final 6 will be what we all see on TV.  No brits are left.   We pretty much spent the whole day in the Bellagio, around the poker room and at the slots and sports book.  Made a little profit on the slots after hitting quads three times.  I want that Royal though.   Tonight we fancied a pizza at the Mirage and took a very slow walk there. We are both suffering with aching legs from walking miles. On top of that I apparently (according to some woman who sold me a $40 tub of aloe vera today) have desert rash on my legs!! Anyways, that's another story. I think I've been robbed lol. After munching our way thru two very yummy pizzas we got a taxi back to The Wynn and spent the rest of the night drinking Bud and Corona and playing the slots. Between us we hit a straight flush (not the royal - booooo) and at least 8 sets of quads. I can feel that royal coming sooooooon. I want that jackpot :-P    Friday 16th December After a very poor nights sleep, I found myself awake at 8am doing casino results. Didn't get to bed 'til gone 3am and I woke up at 4.30am when the alarm clock randomly started bleeping! The WPT at the Bellagio was due to start again at midday (or so we thought) so we trundled off back to see what was going on.  We got there just after midday to see a poster telling us that play would resume at 7pm and if we wanted to watch it, we could do so in the Sports Book.   We took a slow walk back to The Wynn stopping at Paris and Ballys and then onto The Flamingo where we noticed a sign saying that they had a wildlife habitat.   Following the signs we found the habitat right out the back of the hotel.  It was very peaceful and had a selection of flamingos, penguins, rare species of ducks and other birds.  It was a nice break from the hustle & bustle and clink clink of the slots.  The sun had just gone down so it was starting to get a bit chilly so we started to head back to the strip.    Next stop was Casino Royale which I had passed numerous times before and didn’t even notice.  We walked inside and it was jam packed with people playing the slots and blackjack tables.  We sat and did the usual $20 each in the slots and moved on after losing it within 5 minutes.  Next stop was The Venetian, where we spent about an hour walking around the shops and taking in one of the free shows.   The Venetian have also just signed a seven year contract and are the new home of The Blue Man Group.  We got prices and times and plan to go and see them in the next week or so.   We eventually arrived back at The Wynn by 5pm and having had no sleep the night before I immediately collapsed in a heap and was out like a light within seconds.  I was awoken at 9.30pm with Bondy getting out of bed and getting ready to go back to The Bellagio.  I crawled out of bed and got dressed and we jumped in a cab to The Bellagio.   We stayed and watched the first two finalists go out and then decided that it was like watching paint dry as each flop, turn and river takes an eternity with the cameras having to get every shot.   Back to The Wynn for a night of pumping money into the slots and going to bed broke. What joy.   Saturday 17th December  Got a MUCH better nights sleep last night.  Am feeling much brighter today.  Just as well as the plan is to go to The Orleans and play in the $100 re-buy tournament at 6pm.   We had 6 hours to kill before the Orleans tourney so went to Circus Circus.  Last time we went it was about 10am and a week day and was extremely quiet.  This time was completely different.  Hundreds of screaming kids running around (including Bondy) made it a lot more entertaining.   We went on almost every side show.  I won a toy on the tic tac toe game, the throw the ball in the basket and make it stay there game and another on the horses game.  Bondy won one on the horses game – he’s pants at fairground games!   We gave one of the toys away to a little girl who looked upset that we beat her.  Made a little girl happy.  Then we made our way back, stopping at the Riviera and the Stardust.    By this time we were hungry and came across a little 24/7 place called The Peppermill.  Heidi had recommended we try this, saying it was a great place to eat.   Took a while to get seated as some stupid yank was complaining about something or another, but we eventually sat down and ordered.   After consuming too much food, we walked back to The Wynn VERY slowly for a quick kip before the tourney.     We arrived at The Orleans in plenty of time.  We brought in and had time to go to one of the many bars The Orleans has to offer, for a quick drinkie.  The time came to take our seats in the tourney.  My table was mad, with all-ins every other hand and re-buys being taken.  You started with 1000 chips with the blinds starting at 25/25 on a 20 min clock.  If you want to re-buy (1 optional OR add-on) then you can do so for another $100.  For this you get 2000 chips.  I took a nice pot early on when I raised 400 chips preflop with pocket queens and had 4 callers.  The flop came A high and I bet big and they all dwelled up and folded. NICE!  The time then came for the add-on and a quick break at which point I had 3800 chips.  99 runners started the tourney and I was knocked out in 31st position when my pocket sixes were beaten with KQo on a 357 flop.  The king came on the river and I was outta there.  That pot would have given me 26k in chips and a good chance at the final table.   It was a relatively long day and come midnight, we were back in our room fast asleep.   Sunday 18th December  This morning Neil needed the laptop for a few hours so I took a walk over to The Fashion Show Mall.  I wasn’t surprised to find designer shops a plenty, it’s what I had imagined.  They have a Macys Department Store (along with 2 others) and a selection of designer shops and electrical gadget shops.  I walked around for an hour or so and then headed back to The Wynn and plonked myself at a Video Poker machine.  I was sat for about 30 minutes when I hit quads deuces and cashed out.   Got back up to the room and Neil was still on the laptop, so I thought I would just lay on the bed for a minute to rest my eyes.  Four hours later I woke up!   We hadn’t eaten all day today, and had been saving ourselves for a trip to the Outback Steakhouse above the Casino Royale.  Im glad we did because when the food arrived – a 14oz steak each with all the trimmings – we looked at each other as if to say theres no way we are gonna finish this lot.  Bondy polished his off in no time at all, I took a bit longer but couldn’t finish.  The steaks here are fantastic.  I suggest that anyone who goes to Vegas, tries this place out – you won’t be disappointed.   Having just consumed, what felt like, half a cow between us we started to walk to The Venetian hoping to find a nice cheapo slot machine to sit at for a few hours.  No such luck here.  The Venetian was packed solid and was impossible to find a machine we wanted.  So we went back to The Wynn to settle in for the night at the slots.   Neil put $20 after $20 after $20 into his machine whilst I was having a good run.  About 2 hours in and 4 beers later, Neil flopped AKQJ5 (all spades).  The decision here is easy, throw away the 5 of spades for the made flush and spin hoping to hit the T of spades.  He paused, closed his eyes and pressed the button. JACKPOT!!!  Royal Flush at last.   We’ve never been happier to see the T of spades. WOOHOO.   The machines in The Wynn don’t pay out these smaller jackpots automatically.  You have to call an attendant who resets the machine and pays you on the spot.  She handed us 10 x $100 bills and was on her way with a nice tip from Neil.  The waitress also arrived at the same time and I gave her a $10 tip!  We were in a good mood.  “Keep those beers coming!”.   Come 4am – we were pleasantly drunk and ready for bed.  No doubt going to have a hangover in the morning.   Monday 19th December  We were rudely awaken by some yank woman on a loud speaker saying over and over saying “Attention, this is the hotels security system, the alarm you are about to hear is part of this system, we apologise for any inconvenience”.  She says this over and over and over and over and over.  Eventually it stopped after about 15 minutes.    I am starting to wish I hadn’t had those beers last night, hangover is nicely set in by now.  A quick soak in the deep tub and a couple of nurofens and I am back on track.   We go downstairs and play some video poker.  20 minutes in, another alarm starts to sound.  Same woman, different message. Something about a minor incident is being investigated and she will get back to us.  Blue lights are flashing and sirens are going off.  The nurofen hasn’t started to do it’s job yet so we go outside to get away from the alarm.   We take a walk up to the Riviera and walk back to The Wynn and then jump in a cab back at the Wynn to go Downtown.   When we arrive, the place is heaving.  So much going on.  There is a guy who you must see if you ever go Downtown.  He spray paints the most fantastic pictures.  He has a ton of different colours in spray cans next to him and within 20 minutes he has created yet another original masterpiece.  Amazing – you have to see it to believe it.   Then the Fremont Experience starts.  "God Bless America" .  Damn it – we get unlucky.  Anything but that is what I was hoping for.  I hate that song!!  It was a good show though, but the dancing Americans all around you kinda puts you off a bit.    It’s getting a bit cold by now, so we trundle off to try and find a warm place to eat.  Heidi recommended a place to us in the Golden Nugget. So we head off to find it.   It’s a bit of a treck, but we eventually find it.  A small café called the Carson Street Café.   We were seated right next to the entrance where everyone is stood watching as they wait for tables.  It’s kind of hard to eat when you have a dozen eyes on your every jaw movement.   This wasn’t a problem though as I took one mouthful of the burger I ordered and it was luke warm and tasteless.  Neil had the Chicken fajita.  Again, tasteless.   Kind of disappointing as we heard good things about this place.  Unfortunately though – I won’t be recommending it to anyone.   We take in a bit more of the atmosphere back at Fremont Street before we jump in a cab and head back to The Wynn. Cabbies out in Vegas are either extremely friendly and chatty (want a good tip coz they think you are loaded when you jump in the cab and ask to go to The Wynn) or they are the complete opposite.  The one we got on the way back from Downtown was the opposite.  Drove at 90 mph, the long way round, not saying a word.  Oh and they still expect a big tip!  This guy was much mistaken.  He took us the long way round and can stick his tip where the sun don’t shine.   We arrive back at The Wynn and it’s still relatively early so we walk North up the strip towards Circus Circus.  Taking pictures on the way as I happen to have my camera on me.    Most of the tourists here are walking along with their camcorders, filming anything that moves.  They stop dead in front of you to take pictures.  It can be very annoying if you’re not looking what you're doing.  I have walked into the backs of numerous people who just stop dead in front of me.   We end up at Circus Circus to see what tournaments they run during the day.  They have 4 freezeout tourneys daily at 11.30am 5pm, 7pm and 9pm.  Their cardroom is very small, so it’s unlikely that they get a lot of runners.  We saw a maximum of 6 poker tables in there so it won’t get busy.  You pay $40 entry to the tourney and get 300 chips and if you pay an additional $3 you get another 100 chips.  We are most likely going to go and play a game tomorrow, so will let you know exact details when we know them.   After we investigate the poker room we decide to take a look at the Adventuredome.  I was pleasantly surprised at what I saw.  It is basically a mini Alton Towers in a HUGE dome.  They have a roller coaster, a water flume ride and a couple of scary rides that I would never see myself on as they go upside down!  There are also little side shows where you can win MORE fluffy toys and there are smaller rides for the kids to go on.  There is also a “Reality Zone” with a mass of reality interactive games.  The place is amazing.  We will be going back during the day to get a better look as we went late at night and some things were shutting down and not very well lit.   We take a very slow walk back to The Wynn, feet killing, sat at the video poker machines and both lost approx $100 each within 20 minutes.  Time for bed after that run!!   Tuesday 20th December   Another day on our feet all day.  Walked to Circus Circus and found out that the tournaments at 5pm, 7pm and 9pm are all 1 table tournaments paying 2 places.  The 11.30am is the one with multiple tables.  So we took another stroll around the Adventuredome.  I won yet another cuddly toy.  Dunno how we are gonna get all these toys in the cases!   Walked over to Denny's for a late lunch and then back to The Wynn.  Then thought we would go and play the 9pm tourney at the Stratosphere.  Got there to find out it actually started at 8pm and that the morning tourney was at 9.   We then thought we should take a walk to the Sahara as neither of us had been there before.  Pleasantly surprised when we walked in.  The cardroom was heaving, the rest of the casino was quiet.  They hold 3 tourneys a day and we are going to probably go back and play in one tomorrow night.    We got a bite to eat in some Mexican place called Paco’s bar and grill.  Wasn’t great but wasn’t awful.   Then back to The Wynn to try and catch a show or two at the fountain that everyone talks about.   There’s not much viewing area.  You can either sit outside at one of about 8 tables, stand inside at the glass doors (room for about 10 people or stand at the balcony inside (enough for another 15 or so people.  Like I say, not much viewing area.    We opted to go outside and were told that if we wanted to go outside we would have to buy a drink.  Fair enough.  The waitress eventually turned up and we asked for a couple of beers and she came back and charged us $12.  A bit pricy considering you can get one for a buck each if you are playing on their slots!  So we sat there and made our drinks last for approx 90 mins whilst taking in 2 main shows and 2 intermittent shows.  We were constantly asked if we wanted any more drinks.  A bit annoying but I guess they gotta pay for the show somehow.   The shows are actually fantastic.  Very hard to explain as you really need to see it to believe it but it’s basically a light show on a water background.  Extremely clever and very impressive.  We think that we have now seen all of the shows (five in all) but not entirely sure.  We will keep going and looking from the balcony area whenever we walk by.   Did our b*ll*x again at the slots.  Oh well, it’s only money.     Wednesday 21st December  Today was the day we did The Star Trek Experience at The Hilton.  We weren’t really sure what to expect as we had heard no good or bad things said about it.  I can say though, for the $37 entry fee, it is fantastic value and a great idea if you want a few hours away from the gambling.   I won’t give too much away but you basically see the history and characters of all the Star Treks inc DS9, TNG, Voyager etc.  You then get a chance to go onto two “rides”.  They are semi interactive as in they try and scare the crap out of you.  At one point it was completely dark and I was jumped on and screamed at and I grabbed the nearest person to me and hung on tight (thinking it was Neil – how wrong I was).  When the lights came back on I am clinging to this huge American guy who is just laughing at me.  Bastard!   There are two rides, one involving The Borg and one involving the Klingons.  You get to go on both, but given the choice I would go on the Klingon one.   We spent a good 3 hours there and when we had calmed ourselves down, we went to the Stratosphere as I wanted to get a tournament schedule and take pictures from outside.    The poker room gave me times of 9am, 8pm and 12 midnight.   So the plan was to walk to the Sahara , play in the $40 NLHE tourney there at 7pm and then go to the Stratosphere for the 12 midnight tourney.  Come 10pm we were both knocked out of the Sahara tourney (which, by the way, is a fantastic tourney and well worth playing) and were walking back to The Stratosphere.  We arrived by about 10.30pm and sat on the slots for about 40 minutes with a beer and then wandered over to the poker room to buy in.  “sorry” said the guy behind the desk “we don’t have a 12 midnight tourney anymore, they changed the schedule tonight”.  NOT HAPPY!!  We were really up for some poker and were pissed off having come back specially to play in it.  Another plan ruined.   We got a cab back to The Wynn and went to see what games they had available.  We opted for the $1/$3 NLHE.   I got up after losing $100 as there was a drunk woman on my table who not only caught runner runner str8 on me when I flopped top trips, but dissed me for not tipping the dealer when I split a pot with her a few hands before!!  I was SB she was BB and no one else was in the hand.  We split the pot both having a pair of queens and we basically split the blinds.  So I made like $1 and she expected me to give it away.  Stupid bitch.   So I walked away from that table and Neil was all in at the other table and won when he flopped trip 9s, so we left after he finished his orbit and had a nice little run on the video poker machines which brought us back level on the day.   It’s been and extremely long day and I shall sleep well tonight.  It has just gone 5am and I haven’t done any casino results or uploaded any of the piccies that I took today.  I will deffo do that tomorrow.   Thursday 22nd December  We woke up really late today, crawled out of bed at about 4pm, and after having a coffee, jumped in a cab to go to the Rio as we had heard they had a good Christmas show in the casino.   I tried to explain in my last trip report about those huge floats they have that glide around the tracks on the ceiling, well this time I went armed with camera and took plenty of pics so you can see what I mean.   As it was Christmas, you could buy your way onto one of the floats and be part of the show.  People who paid were given tambourines etc to play along to the music.   Just before the show begins, a few clowns run around to get the crowd rowdy and ready to party.  They throw beads at the people in the balcony’s making them cheer and scream.   Then the show begins.  The floats start to gracefully move around on their tracks as the dancing girls do their routines in their tiny Santa outfits.   It’s one of the really good free shows we saw last time and we weren’t disappointed this time either.  It really gets you buzzing and puts a huge smile on your face.   When the show was over, we walked across to the Gold Coast as it was the first ever casino Neil went into when he first visited all those years ago.   Nothing had changed apparently, everything in the same place, same waitresses (LMAO) they are now about 60 years old.   We went upstairs to take a peek at their bowling alley thinking it would be quiet and I might have a go as I am really s**t at bowling.   As we opened the doors, the noise hit us, every lane was being used.  All 70 lanes were full.  It’s the biggest bowling alley I have ever seen and every single American that was bowling, knew how to bowl.  They were all hitting strikes.  There was even a guy in a wheelchair who rolled up and bowled his ball and knocked down all the pins.   We got the shuttle back from the Gold Coast to The Barbary Coast and walked along to the Outback Steakhouse for dinner.  We were very impressed with it last time we went and decided to give it another go.  Again, we weren’t disappointed.  The steak is cooked exactly as you ask for it to be cooked, the waitresses are extremely friendly and run around doing whatever you want them to do (within reason of course hehe).  We finished our dinner and had to both sit for about 20 minutes before we could move!   Walking back to The Wynn we stopped off to take a few more piccies and then plonked ourselves in front of the Video Poker for the night.  Eventually got to bed at about 4am, having been very pleased with our days activities we slept like logs.   Friday 23rd December  It’s really starting to get busy here now.  People seem to be arriving by the 1000 every hour.  Bell hops have been pulling trolleys piled high with wrapped xmas pressies, through the casino and up to the elevators.  Staff are running around preparing.  The whole place is buzzing.   Seemed like a good time to get a cab all the way to the Mandalay Bay and take a stroll back to The Wynn.  It will take hours, but hours we got.   Before we do that though, we go and visit the casino host who, apparently, can get us a free show ticket for our points earned during slot play at The Wynn.  It obviously helped that we are staying at The Wynn because he tells us we have almost enough for two show tickets and then eventually tells us we can have two (as he’s obviously in a generous mood).  We opt to go and see “Avenue Q”.  We go over to the box office to collect the tickets that our host just reserved for us and we then head to the taxi stand for our taxi to the Mandalay Bay .   It’s now approx 5pm and we have to be in our seats by 9.40 for the show.  On top of that, we also got a free buffet ticket each for that evening.  After checking out the times of the evening buffet and arranging what time we needed to be back for we got into the taxi.   The first thing the cabbie asks is “you staying at The Wynn?”.  We have now learned to say “no, just seeing how the other half lives”.  If you don’t say that, they take you the long way round, drive twice as slow AND expect a $10 tip!!   We arrive at the Mandalay Bay .  The Wynn seems so far off in the distance and we have approx 3 hours 30 minutes to get there on foot.    This end of the strip is my favourite I think.  The walk back through the Luxor and the Excalibur and then via New York New York and into the MGM, well it’s a fantastic walk, especially during the evening.    The last couple of nights here, the weather has changed dramatically.  The first 7-8 days was very nippy in the evening and you needed at least two layers of clothes and a coat.  The last few days though have warmed up.  The average temperature in the evening has been mid 60s.  It’s very comfortable to walk around with no coat on.  The desert is a funny place.   When we get to the MGM we are in luck as the lions are in town.  They are having a little snack and a play with some of their toys before they settle down for a cat nap.   One of them was playing with this huge red ball and at one point she pounced on it and looked just like a kitten playing with a ball.  So cute.   We go and check out our points situation while we are in here and discover we can get 2 free buffet tickets in here too!   When we arrive at the Bellagio we just miss a fountain show so we hang around for 15 minutes until the next one which is a Christmas song and really gets you in the festive mood.  The pavements are heaving with people.  It’s just like it was in the summer.  The amount of people arriving has definitely doubled in the last few days.  It takes us about 15 minutes to reach the Mirage, just as the volcano starts to erupt.  We stand for a few minutes to take it in.  We think that they have changed it slightly.  It seems to be a longer show than before.   We eventually arrive back at The Wynn at 8.30pm and head straight for the buffet.  We have 1 hour and 10 minutes before we have to be in the theatre and in our seats.   As we have an “Invited Guest” comp ticket, we are allowed to push in front of over 50 people who are queuing patiently.  This is the reason I never did a buffet the last time I was in Vegas (although I was told I really should try one out).  People queue for over 40 minutes to get into these things.   We were seated and got our drinks order taken and then were let loose on the buffet.  I must say that I was extremely disappointed.  There are about 5 different types of food ie American, Asian, Seafood etc.  Each one of those then has about 3 or 4 different dishes to choose from.  I don’t know what I was expecting, but I was expecting a lot more dishes I think.   Not entirely sure whether it was because we were in The Wynn and it was an A La Carte buffet!! But I was really disappointed.   As it happened, we weren’t very hungry and had a salad and picked at a few other bits and bobs.  We even tried the chilled Alaskan Crabs legs as EVERY person had three or four of them on their plate.  YUCK!  We won’t be trying those again.  I also tried the tuna steak which was quite nice.   We then went to the dessert area where Neil almost had a fight with the Mexican woman that was serving the icecream.   He wanted to put a scoop of icecream in with a tiny piece of cake.  Nope, she wouldn’t do it.  “Icecream in bowl, cake on plate” she insisted.  After calming him down and telling him to go get a fecking plate, I got his bowl of icecream and one for myself and went back to the table.   We left with about 15 minutes to spare before the seating began for the show.  We took our seats, there wasn’t an empty seat by the time the show started.   I won’t give too much away about the show except to say that I laughed all the way through.  It’s got a few actors who were the voices of some of the puppets in Sesame Street .  That is put into practice here, except you wouldn’t want your kids to watch it!!      After the show finished we headed to the video poker slots.  We spent about 4 hours plonked at these machines doing our money.  Maybe yt is right, maybe we should play more poker !   Saturday 24th December  Took the shuttle bus back to the Gold Coast today and walked over to The Rio as we forgot to buy something we saw in one of the shops when we were there the other day – doh!!  The show started just as we arrived so we stopped and watched that again.  We then got a cab to Caesars as we wanted to check out the new cardroom that they had opened only 3 days previously.    The cabbie was a nutter – we wanted to get out of the cab the moment we got in, but it was too late!!  He was chuntering away to himself in his own language and talking to us in broken English that we couldn’t understand.  Then he started banging things like the dashboard and the front seats and fiddling with his pens and phone etc.  Everything bar look at the road!  We actually got out of the cab just before we arrived at Caesars as I wasn’t happy about being there.  Not had much luck with cabs so far.   When we arrived at Caesars we walked up to the Forum Shops and went all the way to the end where they have the huge fish tank that has hundreds of marine fish swimming about.  Some of the fish are the most remarkable colours.  We sat there for about 30 minutes when we heard something going off just round the other side of the tank.    A show was just starting.  It was called “The Fall of Atlantis” and was one of the best “free shows” we had seen to date.  Not sure how often these shows occur but it is well worth taking a stroll over there and sitting around for a while and wait for it to start.  You can always wait in the Cheesecake Factory if you don’t like to watch the fishies :-D   It was about time to go on the hunt for food but from the 7pm-10pm the place was absolutely jam packed with people who had the same idea.  So we played some slots while we waited for the massive queues to die down.  Come 10.30pm we eventually managed to get seated at the Outback Steakhouse.   We ended up back at The Wynn by midnight and before we knew it we had lost another fortune on the slots trying to win the progressive jackpot.  There’s always tomorrow!   Sunday 25th December  It’s Christmas Day in Vegas! – ye baby.  We opened the curtains to the room to see hundreds and thousands of people running about their merry way.   Neil went down to the Café for coffee and when he came back told me to stay in bed.  The place is full of people pushing and shoving and if I went down there I would end up hitting someone.   The traffic on the strip was at a standstill heading both north and south.  No cabs today then!   The Treasure Island show starts again today.  When we arrived there was a sign saying that it would be closed for 2 weeks whilst they performed their routine cleaning and maintenance.  As I had missed the show back in June I was eager to see it this time.  We actually saw the 5pm show from our rooms’ window.  Lots of fireworks and flashing lights.  I wanted to get down there early to secure a good spot so we headed there for the 7.30 show with 50 minutes to spare.   Before we even got there we could tell how busy it was.  First day back and everyone wanted to watch it.  Everyone in Vegas in fact.   We braved it and stood packed like sardines for 50 minutes waiting for the show to start.  People were punching and elbowing their way through and others wouldn’t let them through.  It was manic.  I thought that it would be worth it tho.  I had been told that I should see this show as its really good.   WRONG!!  It’s utterly s**t.   If you go to Vegas – steer clear of the Treasure Island show.  I came out of their with more bruises and scratches than I care to think of and for what, nothing.   If I could have turned around and gotten out of there before the show ended, I would have.  Problem was, we couldn’t move so we had to stay and watch.  That’s two hours of my life I will never get back.   It took us 20 minutes, after the poor excuse for a show had ended, to actually get back to the pavement (20 feet away).    We made an executive decision about going South down the strip.  The decision was, DON’T DO IT.  So we headed the other way, towards The Stardust, The Riviera and Circus Circus.  The Stardust was as far as we got.  We were on the look out for coffee and managed to find our way to the cardroom first.  There were a couple of seats open on the $1/£2 NLHE table so we both pulled up $100 and sat down.    The first hand I get dealt I am involved.  I look down to find two black queens.  There is a raise before me.  $20 to go.  I flat call (probably my first mistake but I want to see a cheapish flop).  The flop comes 7 high.  Two of us in the hand.  Guy before me is first to act and checks.  I bet $40 of my remaining $80 and he calls.  Next card is an A.  He checks, and I am all in.  He calls.  Last card is a heart (making four hearts on the board).  We flip our hands over.  He has the other two queens and has just hit his flush.   I pull up another $100 as the whole table is analyzing the hand and saying how unlucky I am etc etc blah blah.  The next 4 hours are spent trying to win back my money.  I eventually leave having won it back and then some.  Neil leaves the game about 30 minutes after me as there is a “live one” at the table that he wants to stay and play with.  He lost back a bit of his profit and then left.   As it was very quiet when we left The Stardust, we stayed down that end of the strip.  We went over to Slots ‘O’ Fun and played some $3 Black Jack for another 2 hours before grabbing a couple of pizzas at about 4am and then heading back to The Wynn for some sleep at 6am.   Monday 26th December  Started to do a bit of packing when I woke up so that I didn’t have to worry about it later.    We then took a walk over to The Hilton.  I don’t recommend walking there if you are staying anywhere further south than The Wynn as it’s quite a hike.  When we arrived there we got the monorail back to the strip.  The monorail makes 6 stops on its’ route with its’ final destination being the MGM.  The cost is really good too.  You pay $3 for a single journey or $10 for a whole day or $20 for 3 days.  We ride to the MGM to find out where all the stops are on the way (for future reference) and then ride it back to Bally’s.    As it’s our last night we just want to take in the Vegas night air.  We arrive at the Bellagio just in time to watch a water show and stay for another two shows as they are every 15 minutes.  It’s then time for some video poker followed by a trip to their chocolate store.   The chocolate store has the worlds’ largest chocolate fountain.  It’s rather impressive to watch and the smell is just divine.   I can’t warrant spending $32 on a box of chocolates so I walk around the shop taking in all the nice smells.  While my back is turned, Neil goes and buys me some chocs.  Yummy.  We scoff the lot while we are playing some more video poker.  It’s a nice way to lose our money (if there is such a thing).   We take a nice slow walk back to The Wynn and spend our last few hours of the night sodding around on their slots and thinking how peaceful it has become again.  No doubt the New Years rush will start in the next day or two and the place will be heaving again.   Tuesday 27th December  We were awoken earlier than normal by the 11.30am early morning call that I had ordered the night before.  Having only gotten 4 hours sleep, I didn’t want to get up, then it hit me – today we have to go home.   Check out time is 12 noon so we only have 30 minutes to get the last few bits packed and get out of the room before the maid starts banging down the door.   After checking out I go back inside for a couple of coffees and we sit outside The Wynn drinking and watching as the Vegas world goes by.   We arrive at the airport with plenty of time to spare as our flight isn’t until 4pm.  Upon arrival we are told that our flight is delayed FOUR HOURS. FFS!!!   We spend the time playing games and doing crosswords and I am sitting here in the departure lounge typing up this trip report with a lovely view of night time vegas just outside the window in the distance.   Will be good to get home though.  I miss my babies and the normality of every day life.   Can’t wait ‘til the next time Vegas is calling though.