Monday 10th December The day finally arrived. We are off to Vegas. Virgin Atlantic didn't seem to be as keen as us to get there though as the flight was delayed by 2 hours. We had been up all night so as to sleep on the plane and get into LV more quickly. That plan backfired as I didn't manage to sleep for more than an hour or so. Neil got about 3 hours. We finally touch down on the tarmac at about 3.30pm local time. We are near the front of the plane and so are offloaded really quickly and, therefore, the wait at customs is only 10-15 minutes instead of the usual 50. The cases arrive really quick (as usual) and before we know it, we are in a taxi on our way to the Planet Hollywood Hotel. YIPEE! When we arrived at the hotel, I used my charm (cough) and managed to get us upgraded from our "Deluxe (standard) Room", to a lovely "Resort Room". I asked for a complimentary upgrade and said I would really like a newly refurbished room (a lot of the rooms are still in the old Aladdin style) and preferably that it have a Bellagio view. I asked all this whilst twiddling with a $50 note and said I would make it worth his while. He punched away on his little keyboard and within minutes he found us a Resort Room with a Bellagio view at no extra cost, except for the $50 obviously. I put the $50 next to his keyboard and he swiftly put the keyboard over it so no one could see LOL. We got to our lovely room and it was everything I had requested. Lovely. We both freshened up in the nice deep tub and then wondered downstairs to get the lay of the land in the casino, our home for most of the next two weeks. Now to say we got lost is an understatement. We are both really tired having had no sleep since two nights before, and we are also keen to find everything as quick as possible. We walked round the edge of the casino (this is the best way IMO to get to know the lay of the land. If you just walk straight through the middle all you see is slot machines). So we walked around twice and still weren't sure where everything was and kept having trouble finding the elevators. We eventually (kinda) get the hang of where everything is and then take a walk around the newly named "Miracle Mile". There are a lot more new shops than last year and another ABC store, which is closer to the PH entrance, for all our drink/late night nibbles needs. They also now stock hard liquor which is quite rare in LV. After a few hours wandering around and being accosted by time share people trying to sell us one of their new properties, we finally sat down to play a bit of Video Poker. Neil hit quad Aces within about 5 minutes an I hit quad 4s and quad 7s within the next half hour. So the first day (which we usually end up doing our conkers) was ending up a lot better than expected. Come 7.30pm we are dead on our feet and head on back to the room. By 8pm we are both fast asleep, but not before watching a fountain show out of our window. Tuesday 11th December I slept through 'til 5am and Neil woke at around 6am. I just lay there for an hour trying to get back to sleep because I still felt like I needed some more. I couldn't though - typical! So Neil decides that we are going to take in some of the early morning air and we get onto the strip by 6.20am and head North up to the Wynn. We stop off at the Venetian for a coffee so as to warm us up - it's bloody freezing and the freezing wind is making it worse. The Palazzo next door is almost finished. There are crews of men working around the clock to get it finished in time for its' opening next week. I have a feeling it is going to be put back a week though as it is looking no where ready! We get to the Wynn and have a wander round, remembering all the good times we had when we stayed there a few years back. Check out the poker room, there are about 3 games going even this early in the morning (probably people that have been there all night and still haven't made it to bed yet) Walk back outside to the strip and cross over to the other side and walk back via TI and the Mirage. Next stop is Bellagio, followed by Monte Carlo (our home last year for 3 weeks) and then to NYNY and MGM. By the time we get back to Planet Hollywood I am shattered, but walking down the strip at that time of the day is amazing. It is so quiet and you don't get barged into at every turn. The sun comes up and the chill goes and you can walk around with your coat off (if you are Canadian you walk around with shorts and T-Shirt!! god those guys are tough) We decided that for breakfast we are going to try the newly names "Planet Dailies" inside our hotel. It was 10.30am and so the breakfast menu was the one we had to choose from until 11am. Everything had eggs. There was not one thing that did not have eggs. The Americans seem to think that you have to have eggs for breakfast. Fair enough. So we had eggs. Bit expensive I thought, at $47 incl tip. Tomorrow we will try somewhere else for our breakfast. The VP is calling us and so we sit and play for a while. Not having the same luck that we had last night, we left the machines and headed off to find the Spa and Gym. Finally locate it on "The Mezz", or the mazzanine level for those of you who talk English. I was allowed to look around the gym to check out the machines and it looked pretty well set up. Plenty of treadmills, bikes and cross trainers for me to get on and get the old heart pumping a bit faster. The cost per day is $25 which I thought was a bit steep but I need to use it at least 4 times a week so I will have to put up with the extortionate prices. They open from 6am to 8pm so no excuses on them never being open! We found out earlier that the PH runs a slot tournament for its' a-list guests (that's someone who has signed up for their points card).  Basically, you go to the "a-list" desk, they swipe your card, you get a free pull on the big slot machine and they give you a ticket to the free slot tournament.  You can play from 12 noon to 8pm.  You get to the roped off area, hand over your ticket and they seat you at one of the machines.  You then have 5 minutes to get as high a score as possible.  Our first attempt was today and we both won a prize!  I won a "tote bag" for getting over 6000 points and Neil won a shitty plastic keyring (LOL!) for getting over 5000 points.  You need to get over 7500 for the really good prizes to kick in.  Theatre tickets, free play etc.  It's free and it's a bit of fun so we may do it every day assuming we remember.  We fill the next few hours with more walking up the strip; we stop off at the Paris and check out prices for the trip up the Eiffel Tower. It's $9 each, but if you sign up for one of their reward cards, it's $9 per couple. So we will go back tomorrow and sign up. On our way out there is a drinks kiosk that sells margaritas and cocktails of a similar nature. We both order a strawberry margarita (Neils comes in a rather large Eifell Tower shaped receptical and mine comes in a balloon shape one. It's only 4pm and people are staring at us as we wander up the strip drinking our margaritas and calling us drunkards as they walk by staring and pointing. You would think we had two heads or something - jeeeez. Dinner time was fast approaching and we were rather tipsy too, so we head towards the M&M and Cola stores where there is a food court next door. We both opt for Panda Express and have the orange chicken (which is their top seller apparently). It is yummy as always but probably not very good for my diet! I have walked the length of the strip 1.5 times today though, so who cares. After dinner we walk back to Planet Hollywood and partake in a few more beverages whilst we play the slots and get slowly merry. We head back up to the room at about 9pm after losing yesterdays winnings and most of todays, back to the VP gods. Will we ever learn? NOPE! We chill out and check email when we are back in our room and eventually fall asleep at about 10pm. Still too early to sleep but we are getting there. With any luck we will be up playing poker with the rest of the PH losers by the end of the week. Wednesday 12th December I braved the gym this morning.  Wasn't too bad.  The machines are completely different to the ones I use at my gym in Leighton.  You can't seem to programme them manually to do what you want and so you put in your details and it sets the resistance etc for you, which is a bit pants coz the cross trainer set too high and the bike wasn't high enough.  I didn't take advantage of the steam room, jacuzzi or sauna this time but for $25, I probably should next time. Spent about an hour in the gym and headed back to the room to get showered and dressed for the day.  We headed straight on over to the Bellagio as Day 1a of the WPT Doyle Brunson Classic starts today.  They have cleared a huge area in the casino, just outside the cardroom, and assembled 30 poker tables there.  We had a look around and didn't see many faces at the tables.  Dan Harrington, Johnny Chan and Gavin Smith were the only three people we recognised so most of the pros must be playing tomorrow. So we left the Bellagio and headed up the strip to the Fashion Show Mall where we were told there was an Apple store for me to buy my iPod.  We eventually found it around the hundreds of shops and I purchased my brand new shiny 8GB Nano.  Nice. We then walked back via TI and stopped off at their buffet for lunch.  We haven't had any buffets in LV in all of our trips, except for the free one we got when we stayed at the Wynn a few years back, so this was a new experience for us.  It was very good too!  Neil went up several times and re-filled his plate with many different food stuffs.  I think we will be doing more buffets while we are here as they are such good value.  The TI lunch was approx $15 each with tax and a tip and we certainly got our monies worth. Walked very slowly back to Planet Hollywood to relax for an hour or so and had a nice long soak in the tub.  We decided that as it was only 6.30pm and we are both tired, that we should try and sleep for 3 hours and get ourselves back into a more normal routine as going to bed at 9-10pm in Vegas is just not right!  So I set the alarm for 9pm and we nod off to sleep.  Next thing we know, it's 2am!  The alarm didn't go off or I didn't set it loud enough or something FFS!  I am still really tired and decide that I am just going to sleep thru 'til 6 or 8am or whatever, but Neil gets up and takes a walk down the strip to MGM, NYNY, MC, Bellagio then back to the room for about 4am.  While Neil is out, I can't sleep, typical.  So I am lying in bed trying to get back to sleep.  We both get back to sleep at about 4.30am and hopefully we should have had PLENTY of sleep to see us through the whole of tomorrow! Thursday 13th December So, we finally wake at 8am and are up and out of the room before you know it.  We hadn't eaten since the TI buffet so we were both starving.  We decided against the all egg all expensive menu at Planet Dailies and opted for a Breakfast Sandwich at the "Earl of Sandwich" shop, located inside PH, instead.  Not a bad sarnie for $2.99, but you need 2 or 3 of them if you are a bloke as they are rather small.  We are now energised and heading for the Rio, ON FOOT!  You never used to be able to walk to the Rio but there is now a pathway and pedestrian crossings over the main roads so that it is now possible.  It looks a long way when you see it from your hotel room, but it took us about half an hour from PH to the Rio, walking pretty fast.  We spent about an hour in the Rio when we got there.  Brought a couple of drinks, played a few slots and I was introduced to the game of Keno.  What pants that is!  We then walk next door to the Gold Coast, play a few slots, check out the poker room (where there looked to be a rather juicy cash game going on) and saw that their lunch buffet was only $9.  So we decided that we will come back here later for lunch.  OMG we've gone buffet mad!! Upstairs in the Gold Coast there is a 70 lane bowling alley.  It's awesome and we go up and watch some of the pros practicing their game.  Get another drink and chill for a while. We then head on over to the Palms.  We wanted to check out the times and prices of "The Golden Compass" at their cinema.   It is showing every 2 hours and if you go before 6pm it's $7.50 each instead of $14.  It's coming up to lunch time now so we head back to the Gold Coast for the lunch buffet.  Not as good as the TI buffet but not bad either.  I tried Sushi for the first time - YUCK!  It was nothing like I imagined. YUCK YUCK!  Neil has his usual 2 plates worth and we finished and were ready to explode so thought that now was a good time to go back to the Palms and collapse in some nice comfy cinema seats. We got the 3pm showing and walked into theatre No 1.  It was empty.  Probably something to do with people being upset about all the references to the church etc.  Within 15 minutes the film was starting and another 5 people had taken their seats.  It's a big seller this movie, here in the States lol. Just before I came away on  our trip, I read "Northern Lights", which is the book on which this movie is based.  I am glad I read the book as I wouldn't have understood half of what was going on.  Also, they chopped and changed the story so much that I think it ruined it.  just my opinion tho.  Neil hated that they chopped it so much.  He is on the third book of the trilogy fwiw. We leave the Palms whilst debating the film and how poor we thought it was and how much better it could have been if only it had been half an hour longer, so much more could have been right.  Anyways, we were going to get a taxi back to the strip but ended up walking back as it's cheaper.  It takes us about half hour again, walking pretty fast and first stop is the Bellagio to check out day 1b of their WPT event. Lots more faces this time.  We spot Daniel N, Phil Hellmuth, Doyle, Phil Ivey, Daryll Dicken, Jenifer Harmen, Gus (mmmmmmm Gus), Huck Seed and many more.  They are all here today.  We stop for a while and watch, along with hundreds of other spectators jostling for a space by the edge of the ropes to see what's going on.  Enough of that pushing and shoving so we go back to PH. We stop on the way in and get our slot ticket and go take our turn on the machines for our 5 minutes.  We both got under 4000 and so won bugger all. Neil then went to the sports book and had a bet on the NFL, we then went to the Xtra Bar and sat in their big comfy chairs and watched the game.  Neil won his bet and by the time we left we were both rather sloshed.  There is a 2 drink minimum rule in the Xtra bar, I guess to stop people just coming in and taking up seats of paying customers.  So of course we had to partake.  Shame we didn't stop at just 2 tho. After a long day we head back to our room and fall straight to sleep.  What a good day that was.  Oh, still no poker has been played.  Oops.  Maybe tomorrow? Friday 14th December This morning I was on coffee duty after writing yesterdays report, while Neil sorted out a few things online for an hour or so.  I went to the Earl Of Sandwich and got a yoghurt breakfast thingy for me, a sarnie for Neil and a couple of coffees.  The coffee there isn't bad and it's reasonably priced too. Once all the online stuff is done we head on out for the day.  The sun is shining as we walk to the MGM.  I wanted to stop off and see the Lions on our way to the Tropicana.  We spend about half an hour in the MGM watching the lions.  They are a playful pair of sisters called Chilli and Pepper. Here are a couple of short videos of them: Video #1 & Video #2 Earlier on, on our walk to the MGM, we stopped off at "Tix for Tonight" which is one of four of these on the strip.  They sell cut prices tickets for that day.  Some are as good as 50% off but most are about 20% -40% off normal ticket prices.  We wanted to see the Titanic Exhibition at the Tropicana and brought our tickets here for $16 each as opposed to $30 each (or so the sign says).  The Titanic Exhibition was pretty much what we expected.  Lots of genuine artifacts to be seen, and extremely interesting.  There are a few bits that were interesting when you walk around which are set out as if you were on the Titanic, so you can see how it felt to the passengers in the lower decks for instance, with the constant humming of the engines and tiny rooms that they were squashed into.  It's sad and amazing all at once.  I am glad we saw it but I wouldn't rave about it or suggest anyone go to see it unless they don't have much else to do. We then walked across to the Excalibur as we haven't spent any time down this end of the strip yet.  There is a new bar in there called "Dicks", which is the woman's version of Hooters, basically just lots of scantily clad men serving the drinks.  They have also now got a 4d theatre showing 2 small "films".  The first is Sponge Bob and the second is The Polar Express (the Tom Hanks animation).  S Bob is 6 minutes long and the PExp is 12 minutes long.  The notices before you go in states that you should not go in if you have back problems, high BP, a heart condition, motion sickness, or think you might be pregnant - but we went in anyway!! It was pretty much just like the IMAX theatre that they have at the Luxor that we went in last year.  Not brilliant but not really that bad either.  It killed a bit of spare time and we laughed alot at everyone screaming around us. Next stop was the Luxor.  We didn't have any plans here, just thought we would pass through and see if anything had changed.  Well the Egyptian theme seems to be disappearing for a start.  New carpets going down, new machines, three new bars that we saw.  Looks like they are in the middle of a re-furb.  Shame, because I liked the Egyptian theme. It's almost 7pm by now and we are hungry.  We haven't eaten since breakfast and want something big for dinner, so we opt for a juicy steak at the Outback Steakhouse opposite the Mirage.  It's a bit of a trek from the Luxor but we eventually get there and are tucking into our steaks before we know it. We walk back via the Bellagio just to see the day 2 people breaking in the WPT tourney and Daniel N having his picture taken with a load of young girl groupies.  What a good sport he is :0) We get back to PH at about 10pm and chill out with a few beers before bedtime.  The plan was to play poker but neither of us was really in the mood so decided against it.  The thought of just chilling out after another long day was too much to pass up on. One more thing I must mention is that there are LOADS of people inside PH trying to sell you timeshares and comps and tickets and dinners etc.  This is now starting to get on our nerves a bit.  They ask you the same question every day and when you tell them "no ty" they give you attitude back for example "hey, I'm only trying to talk here" or "hellooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, can you see me?"  YES, FECK OFF!!!!!  I am going to have to think of some witty retorts for tomorrows many encounters.  I'll show em! Saturday 15th December Today we are up and out by 11am, stop off at Earls for Breakfast and walk over to Bellagio where all the players are about to be seated for the next day of the WPT.   Huck Seed and Daniel N are the only two pros that we see in the last 150 or so players, there may be more but the crowds around the tables are getting deeper and harder to see through.  We thought we might try again later so leave the Bellagio and walk to Caesars Palace.  Once there we head to the poker room and spot the Pussy Cat Dolls area just outside.  Whilst watching, we imagined Nigel sat there at a BJ table doing his money to the pretty PCD Dealers and not caring! The poker room is very busy, even at this hour.  I pick up a few tourney details whilst there and then head to the Forum Shops for a bit of expensive window shopping.  It's the weekend, so it's absolutely heaving, probably not the best time to be out shopping.  We aren't at the Forum long before we escape out the front entrance straight into Harrah's.  Nothing at all has changed at Harrah's.  Most casinos you walk through on the strip have added something since our last trip, nothing new here though.  It's still really dingy and boring.  Flamingo is our next stop.  The strip is heaving and so I suggest we check out the Flamingo Habitat which will most likely be nice and quiet.  I wasn't wrong.  We walked around checking out all their wildlife and then venture a bit further back, more than we were able to last year.  We came across a swimming pool, then another, then another and another.  This place has like six swimming pools.  It was all closed as it's off season and the water was bloody freezing when you put your hand in.  I bet it's lovely in the summer.  They have many bars around each pool, a slide, a BBQ area and lots of other amenities.  Very nice.  After wandering around for an hour or so we stop for coffee to warm ourselves up and then walk back to the hustle and bustle back on the strip. We took a very slow walk back to PH (not possible to walk at any fast pace in this many people) and went straight to the Sports Book where Neil had two bets;  one on an NFL game and one on a Basketball game.  We sat and watched the games over the next three hours, whilst all around us were all screaming at the screens every time there was a touchdown or whatever.  One of our bets lost by two points and the other won, so we broke even.  Not bad though and it was nice to just sit and chill for a few hours with our beers. Once Neil collected the winnings we walked back over to the Bellagio to see if we could find out what was occurring.  Still crowds of people trying to catch a glimpse, so not really possible to see much.  I did see Daniel and Huck still in though.  50 or so people remaining.  It's getting late now and we still haven't eaten yet today, apart from a very light breakfast.  So it's PF Changs Chinese restaurant at the top of the list, because as you walk past it in the casino, the smells entice you in.  There is a 90 minute wait.  BLOODY WEEKENDS!.  So we put our name down on the list and sit down at the VP machines while we wait. Another thing, everywhere you look you see teams of chearleaders' walking around.  It was the same last year but there didn't seem to be as many as this year.  Whilst going up in the elevator yesterday, Neil heard one of the mothers talking about how for the last five years the chearleading competition has been at the MGM and now they moved it to PH.  Well that explains why we are overrun with groups of screaming 10-15 year olds.  It is another reason the wait list is so long at Changs, they are all eating there tonight by the looks of it. The 90 minutes doesn't take long to drift by and we are finally seated and ordering our dinner at approx midnight.  As usual, we order too much (we always forget how big the portions are in here) and so much food is wasted :0( .  A lot of people are doing the same thing but they are taking theirs away in doggy bags to eat later.  If we had the means of heating it up later then we would, but we don't.  Ho hum.   And omg, I need to go to the gym tomorrow. This is the latest we have been up so far this trip.  It's taken us a long time to get to this schedule, usually we manage it a day or so earlier.  No complaints though, we are having a great time.  Sunday 16th December Are you all ready for Christmas?  Got all your presents brought?  Mine was all done before we came away muwahahah.  Not long now - you better get out there and get spending! Anyways, enough of that and back to my dull report... I woke bright and early today, 10am (well that IS early for Vegas).  I had a nice long soak in the tub and wrote the previous days report.  Then I set out to the Sports Book to find Neil who had been up since 7am placing bets and other exciting stuff.  He had 3 big bets on today and had a couple more half time bets on the NFL games that were running and showing on the screens.  I found him at about 12 noon and there wasn't a single chair left in the Sports Book so I went to the Poker Room to see if I could get a seat there.  YES - I thought I might play some poker for a change!!  There was instant seating for 1-2 NLHE and I jumped in and began to play my first poker of the trip.  Got off to a bad start and had to rebuy for another $100 but eventually, after 5 hours or hilarity (those Americans are funny) I got up only losing $25. I went to find Neil as I had been gone some time; he was up in the room about to have a kip.  So I told him no kipping was allowed, we're going out! We went to several Sports Books to collect his winning for the day as well as stopping off at the PH sports book and collecting winnings there too.  All in not a bad day for the sports betting. We then thought we would take the tram from the Excalibur to the Mandalay Bay as we had not ventured that far south yet.  MB is a lovely casino but it's just too far away.  I always like to have a play on the video poker progressive machines when I am in there as that's where I got my one and only Royal flush.  After losing (sigh) we headed back to the tram station and onto the Excalibur. It was about 9pm so we were getting quite hungry and walked down to the Mirage to have pizza at the California Pizza Kitchen.  Their pizza is lovely, yummy.  By 10.30pm we had walked back to PH and decided that we would have a night of drinking and VP.  We played a few different machines around the casino and ended up hitting a jackpot on one machine, followed by another good win on the same machines and another good win on another machine.  We won about $800 in 20 minutes - our best run yet. Obviously we put about $300 back into other machines around the casino as we felt invincible LOL.  Managed to have a winning day though - not had many of those yet. Monday 17th December Woke at about 10am, with a hangover :0( I hate drinking. Anyways, we can't let a little thing like a hangover get us down, so it's off to the shops (The Boulevard Mall) for us today.  Lots of stuff to buy. I needed a coat and managed to find one in JC Penny's.  It was on sale for $70 bux from $190!  We also brought some DVDs each and I managed to find something to help me upload pictures from my camera as I left my USB lead at home.  So pictures are now on the site.  After spending most of the day walking around shops, my feet were killing me, as well as my head, so we got a taxi back to the hotel and dropped off all of our goodies. We headed out to find a light lunch.  There is a little cafe on the Miracle Mile that sells salads and chicken wraps and pizza etc.  So we got some lunch in there and sat outside and watched the indoor thunder storm that they have right outside the cafe. It's now time to watch the Monday night football and chear on whoever Neil has a bet on and we decide to watch it in the room while I upload all my pictures for you to enjoy. For the rest of the evening we just chill out, play some videio poker, get a light dinner from the CVS (minimart) across the road and have a few drinks at the Brew Pub at the Monte Carlo. Tuesday 18th December Had a lie in today.  We are going to bed later and so we are also getting up a bit later. I went to the gym as soon as I woke up and then booked an appointment at the hair salon for a colour and cut. Finished my workout at the gym, rushed back up to the room to have a quick shower and book tickets for Spamalot that we are seeing tonight, and then rushed back down to the hair salon just in time for my appointment. I wasn't entirely happy with the lady that was doing my hair.  She seemed very disinterested and the first thing she did was drop a big dollop of hair die about half a centimeter away from my eye!  marvelous. She then put me under a dryer and hit me on the head with it as it was pulled over my head.  By now I am wondering whether I should feign some illness to just get out of there once my colour is done.  But I decided to stick with it and glad I did, because she actually did a very good job of cutting my hair. We are now on our way out to see Spamalot - more later... Well, Spamalot was fantastic.  We paid $108 plus tax for 6th row centre seats.  It was pretty much laughter all the way through.  I would definitely recommend this show to anyone. After the show we stopped off at the Outback Steakhouse, opposite Mirage.  The steak here is good enough for us mere peasants.  If we wanted to spend $200 on a steak (which we obv don't) then we would go to Bellagio or Wynn.  Outback is good enough IMO. Then when we got back to our room we had received a message from our friend who lives in South Dakota.  He had just arrived from the airport and was staying downtown and as tired as we were after our huge steaks, we hopped in a taxi and headed downtown to the Main Street Station where he was staying.  We drank many beers and played some VP and chatted and by 3.30am we made a move back to the strip.  Taxis are a little harder to find at this hour, but we found one outside the Plaza luckily. It was a long day today and I was very glad to crawl into bed to rest my aching feet. Wednesday 19th December Today was coupon day.  When you sign up at various reward card centres you get freebies and lots of coupons for money off of loads of other useless stuff :0) We signed up at Paris today and got a book full of coupons to wade through.  Most of them are not worth the paper they are printed on but some are ok. We took advantage of free drinks and free $5 bets at roulette or blackjack at Bills.  We then signed up at Bills and got the exact same coupon book that we got from Paris.  So we basically have coupons coming out of our ar**s, I mean ears. Once we had used up all the coupons we could, we thought that we would finally try out the Spice Market Buffet at Planet Hollywood.  We have been meaning to try it for 4 years now!  So we go down the escalator, flash our room keys for $5 off the $25 each dinner buffet and are seated at our table. This buffet has been voted number one buffet in Las Vegas for something like 5 years running (possibly more, but who cares) and it IS very nice but to be honest we both preferred the cheaper buffets at TI and Gold Coast! They do have a lot of choice though and the food is quite fancy.  My chicken was dry and the beef was very tough.  Other than that, everything was very nice. We were due to head back downtown to meet our friend from Dakota and another friend from Atlanta who was flying in today and also staying at the Main Street Station Downtown. Before we head out though, we decide to get deliberately accosted by one of the time share morons as we knew from the first day that they got hold of us, that if you go up and have the hour long chat with a different moron about timeshares, then you get some free comps.  So, we were accosted and taken to the desk to see what we would be offered.  We got $80 free blackjack play, 2 free Spice Market buffet tickets and 2 nights/3 days stay (at which we assumed would be at Planet Hollywood).   I then thought I might chance my luck and ask for some "Stomp Out Loud" tickets, the show that is currently running at PH.  He ummed and ahhed and eventually gave us 2 for the price of 1 @ $70 total.  All these things are written on a slip with your invitation number on and you have to go back at an allotted time the next day.  So we set all that up ready for tomorrow at 12.30pm and then get the Deuce bus downtown to meet our two friends. We start by playing some VP at the VP bar whilst chatting away and then after an hour or so, the boys want to play craps so we head to Las Vegas Club. I have never played this game and never really understood how the hell it works, but after standing and quietly watching for 30-40 minutes I understood, kind of, what was going on.  Neil was also starting to grasp what was going on and so slapped his cash on the table and started playing.  After losing $80 and rebuying for more chips, he made it back to almost level by 4am.  At which point we realised we should be getting back as we had to be up at 12 for this silly timeshare stuff.  Luckily there were two taxis outside the Plaza and we walked to the first one (as you do) and the guy (as we later found out was called "short route Mike") jumped out of his taxi and shouted "it's a miracle, i have customers".  I think it must have been a slow night lol. So we tell him we want to go the Planet Hollywood and he tells us he can get us there really quickly as he is called "short route Mike" and the whole way he is pretty much looking behind at us while he's chatting away.  I was holding on for dear life in the back! He was completely hysterical though (I personally think he was either drunk or stoned) and he and Neil were getting on famously.  Talking about internet scams and what the best wording on the emails they send out should be.  Then we mentioned that we have this timeshare thing tomorrow and he just roared with laughter and said he thought we were brave souls, as well as stupid - cheeky git!  If I had been less sober I might have found him as amusing as the drunken Neil did.  I was more worried about hitting a truck on the interstate though. We get back to Planet Hollywood at about 4.15am and I set the alarm for 12 noon.  Hope we wake up in time. Thursday 20th December We woke just before the alarm went off at 11.55am, not really wanting to go to the timeshare thing downstairs.  But we got up and went anyway as we had some freebies coming our way.  You gotta take the freebies when you can whilst in Las Vegas, it can save you a fortune. So we wait in the casino like we are told, at 12.25pm and are still stood there waiting at 12.35.  Not a good start.  Then a tiny little Hawaiian lady came over to us and started talking to us and we couldn't understand a word she was saying.  I managed to translate it into someone would be coming to take us upstairs very shortly.  At least that's what it sounded like.  Anyway, no one arrives, so she motions to us to follow her.  So we do.   We walk about 20 paces when this bloke appears all suited and booted and she tells us to follow him.  This guy didn't even say "hello" or "follow me please" or anything.  So we get into the elevator and whisper to Neil that he will have to speak to us now.  He didn't.  He just stood in the corner facing away from us while we giggled away to ourselves and asked each other how we were today etc.  He didn't flinch once though.  We got out of the elevator and to our surprise he could speak!  He told us to walk to the end of the hall, hand over our invitation and they would take care of us.  We walk up to the desk and are immediately asked for ID as well as a credit card.  LOL!  I told them that I do no have my credit card on me, and what the hell do they want my credit card for anyway?!?  She said we had to provide a credit card and one other form of photo ID or we can't come in.  Neil was almost walking down the hall back to the elevator at this point!  So I told him to give her his Altair (neteller) card which is just a load up and use card.  We showed that and were told to take a seat.  15 minutes passed before our host, Eugene, introduced himself to us.  He gave us a load of BS about how the presentation is 90 minutes but he does it in 45 yada yada.  Everyone else that went in at the same time as us, all left at the same time as us, so that was the first lie that came out of his mouth.  We then spent 30 minutes listening to him say how real estate in Las Vegas is going upward and that everyone in the room knows this to be true.  I didn't dare tell him I knew he was wrong and that I had looked at houses in Las Vegas and they had all come down in price.  We were then taken into the next room to view a sample of what a room in the timeshare building would look like.  It was very nice but I would not pay the $45000.00 for it for one week a year!  Even if he thinks it's the best deal going.  So we tell him that we aren't interested and he goes to get his manager, who then tries a different approach for the next 15 minutes.  He obviously gets no joy from us and walks off with a face of thunder.  Then a third guy comes over and tries to offer us "4 free weeks anywhere in the world, for only $300 a week".  I pointed out the flaw in his plan and told him we were ready to leave. We were told to "book out" and handed in this green piece of paper that Eugene had scrawled a load of numbers over and were finally given our comps.  2 Stomp Out Loud tickets (2 for the price of 1), 2 buffet tickets, $80 free BJ play and 3 days/2 nights free stay. When we got back up to the room we looked closer at the 3 days/2 nights free stay and it's not even for anywhere in Las Vegas.  It's basically at one of several of their other timeshare properties across the USA.  Also, if you book one location and it's not available, they don't tell you until a day or so before that you are going to a completely different state in the USA.  So that's 2 nights that we will never bother getting. Then we go to the cashier and get the $80 free chips.  You get 3 x $25 chips and 1 x $5 chips and you CANNOT change the 25s for 5s.  So you basically have to bet a minimum of $25 per hand of blackjack and $30 for the 3rd hand.  First hand we bet $30 and lose.  Second hand we bet $25 and win and the dealer removed the $25 free chip (they are different from the normal chips so they can tell they are free play) and gave us $25 in real chips.  Now this is the first thing we complain about, but she insists that once you have played the free play chip, you don't get it back, even if you win.  What a load of bollox.  Third hand we play the final $25 and win.  We get another $25 in real chips and the freeplay chips are taken off the table.  Had we been playing with real chips, the initial bet of $25 is obviously returned to you.  What a rip off.  Anyways, we make $50 for 3 minutes work and walk away showing our disgust, not that anyone gave a damn hahah. We then took a stroll up the strip and went to the food court next to M&M/Coca Cola for a light late lunch. There is a storm on the way.  The clouds were coming in over the mountains earlier, very fast.  As I sit here typing this, the wind is howling through the vents in the windows, the palm trees down by the pool are being bent over sideways by the strong gusts and it is raining.  Hopefully it will pass pretty quickly. Friday 21st December Well the storm didn't pass in a hurry,  it was blowing a gale all last night and kept howling through the air vents.  Thanks god we drank loads last night and slept through most of it.  Unfortunately, this meant we both woke with bad heads today and as usual, are regretting it.  It was 2pm when we woke up to construction over the road.  It seems to be getting noisier the last few days. We got ready and were out of the room by 2.30pm and headed to Madam Tussauds at the Venetian.  Bit of a long walk there to clear our heads a bit, which was needed as just before we left Planet Hollywood we collected our tickets for "Stomp Out Loud" at 8pm this evening. So we walk to Tussauds and pay our $20 each to get in.  It's normally $24 per adult but we had a $4 off each person coupon that we took advantage of.  We walked around expecting to be there about an hour or so, but we came to the end in about 20 minutes.  What rubbish!  Still, it was still nice and I had the camera so took lots of pics of us with famous people. We head back to Planet Hollywood and chill in our room for an hour with lots of bottled water.  We have to be down at the Stomp theater by 7.30 as seating takes a while. When we get there it's heaving, the theatre is much bigger than the one at the Wynn where we saw Spamalot only a few days ago. Apparently it's a 28 million dollar theatre.  It's pretty amazing to look at, so much going on all around you on the walls and on the ceiling. The show started and I have to say I didn't know what to expect.  Basically, it's a group of 16 people making music without the use of musical instruments.  Instead, they use brooms, lighters and bin lids etc.  It really is the most amazing experience and I would recommend it to anyone, of any age. We got out of the show at 9.40pm and walked swiftly to the Spice Market Buffet downstairs.  They close at 10pm and we were told to be quicker than normal as the plates get removed at 10.15pm. We hurried around and I went for Asian food this time and Neil went for a bit of everything; Asian, Italian, American, Mexican etc etc! OINK! Still not very impressed with this buffet but it was our freebie for doing the timeshare malarkey yesterday and that was the only reason we ate here tonight. After we ate we sat down at the video poker for a bit of a session.  After about an hour, Neil hit a Royal Flush for $1,000 WOOHOO!!  It's about bloomin time. We didn't stay up much longer after that.  Had a walk over to Bellagio and back again, to try and wake up a bit, but ended up just going to bed as it was 3.30am Saturday 22nd December We both woke up this morning with sore throats.  No doubt because of a certain race of people who walk around coughing without covering their mouths. After getting a coffee we sit in the sports book ready for the NFL games.  I am feeling more ill than Neil at this point.  My glands are up in my throat and it feels like I have swallowed a packet of razor blades.  I brave through it thought as I refuse to lose the last few days of our holiday to illness, like last year. The two games we are on are both winners and after collecting the winnings we think it would be a good idea to walk to the Palms to watch a movie.  Apart from thinking that the long walk will do us good, it's good to get a bit of exercise as I have only been to the gym twice in two weeks.  Oops.  It is freezing cold but we wrap up warm and head for the Palms.  We stop at the Gold Coast on the way to check out their buffet.  It is, however, closed and its only 9.30pm!  So we walk around looking for somewhere to eat but everything is either full (weekends are a nightmare!) or looks dodgy. We decide to put off dinner until after the movie and go and walk over to the Palms to buy the tickets.  There is a 10.20pm showing of "I Am Legend".  It's 10.05pm so we go straight in and get ourselves sat down.  This is a really good film.  Unfortunately, there was a group of people, rather drunk, who didn't have the same opinion and they talked most of the way through the film.  It wasn't too bad for us because they were about 8 rows back, but I wouldn't have liked to have been sat next to them. We then headed back over to the Gold Coast on the hunt for food and warmth.  Everything was still heaving so we walk to the Rio.  Expecting to find three or four places to eat here we are surprised to find that everything but one place is shut.  I know it's 1am, but it's Saturday night.  Why is everything shut in this casino?  What rubbish. So we opt to eat at the last remaining open place which is "The All American Grill" or something like that.  Well the service was appalling, we called our waitress over at one point for drinks and she motioned that she would be right over and we never saw her again for the duration.  We were gasping for a drink so got another person to get them for us.  We were then brought the bill while we weren't even finished and didn't even ask for it.  It was at this point that we decided enough was enough and we left.  The food wasn't that great either.  Oh, and they never charged us for our extra drinks and they never got a tip.  That's the first time in Vegas that we haven't tipped, but as food was not great and service was appalling, we didn't feel too bad about it. We got a taxi back, the driver was on the phone when we got in the taxi and was still on the phone when we got out of the taxi and the whole way back he hardly had a hand on the steering wheel and was obviously not paying attention to the road.  This is why we don't hardly get taxis any more.  They scare the living crap out of you 90% of the time. We were going to go to the A List Players desk to sort out our free play that we had accumulated on our cards this trip, this is when I realised I had left my card in a machine before we left, along with every other card I have collected from other casinos as they were on one keyring.  So now I am feeling angry at the Rio, the taxi and for feeling like shit and now this.  Marvelous.  Both of the desks are actually closed and so I can't check until tomorrow if anyone has handed them in. To top off this great day, the laptop keeps crashing and does not want to be booted up again for like an hour.  Today has been pants, but at least it's been pants in Vegas I suppose. Sunday 23rd December I woke up screaming this morning.  Probably a mix of feeling ill and having a bad dream.  It's only 8.30am and I have had a massive 6 hours sleep.  Can't get back to sleep though so I am here typing up my report.  Neil has gone downstairs to get ready to watch the games, of which there are 3 today I believe.  He has money on all of them, at various sports books on the strip, so let's hope they all win. It is also our last day at the Planet Hollywood as tomorrow we check out and move over to Bellagio for our last three days. It is at this point that I thought I would share my thoughts on Planet Hollywood.  We stayed here for our first trip 4 years ago when it was the Aladdin.  Back then, apart from getting food poisoning on the last day, it was a nice hotel.  Now that it is Planet Hollywood, they have refurbished all the rooms and completely remodeled the casino.  The rooms are ok but we did have a few niggles.  Firstly, the bed linens are made of nylon and you continually get static shocks when you move around in bed.  It can make things interesting to say the least!  The pillows aren't bad although they did make our necks ache for the first week.  The beds are all new too, and not that comfy.  I have had back ache the whole time from the bed.  Finally, the smell in the room every day that comes when you empty the bath is enough to make you want to throw up.  It is a smell of raw sewage and you just can't get rid of it.  We actually had a routine every time we emptied the bath.  Cover the drain in the shower with a wet flannel, put the plugs in both sinks and as soon as the bath was empty, close the plug hole again!  This helped a bit and kept the smells to a minimum but did not get rid of it altogether.  We never had this problem when it was Aladdin, so I am not sure why we got it this time. I know there is a problem with the smells in Vegas, you just have to walk down the strip past Caesars and Flamingo to get a waft.  It's a shame it has made it into hotel rooms.  It also stinks as you walk into the Monte Carlo Casino.  Once you have walked to the back of the casino the smell disappears (either that or you just get used to it and don't notice it anymore).  They really need to get this smell problem sorted.  We have been coming for four years and the problem still persists, it's a shame because it can really put you off sometimes. And now the casino.  Well apart from it being a maze, I actually like it here.  There are plenty of machines to play, the poker room is very big (not that I used it much) and the dealers are very friendly and welcome you to the table when you sit.  There are plenty of bars and places to eat and it all stays open 24/7 except for PF Changs which closes at 1am.  I still love the location too, centre strip, so you can go anywhere you want without having to walk too far.  Inside, the casino has completely changed.  It is a little claustrophobic to some people, you hear this a lot, but I like it.  I have just about figured out where the four main doors are in relation to everything else in the casino, but I do occasionally walk around wondering how the hell to get out.  I guess their job here is done ;0)  One last thing; the timeshare people.  There are a minimum of three of these vultures at every exit.  You do well to get past them without them catching you.  On the times they do catch you, you can either say "no thank you" and get a sarcastic reply or you can just ignore them and get an even more sarcastic reply.  Either way, they are all completely out of order and should be shot on site.  IMO of course. I joined Neil for a couple of games in the sports book and we took it nice and easy as neither of us has much energy at the moment as we both have this bug.  Thank god it's not as bad as last year. We go to PF Changs for dinner and have yet another good meal.  We love this place for chinese food.  It is very well priced and the service is great too. At 11pm we head back up to the room so that I can pack the rest of our stuff ready for checking out tomorrow.  I go to the in room safe and attempt to open it.  I fail.  The numbers on the digital display flicker and then go out and it's dead.  I call maintenance who then put me onto security and promise to send someone up straight away.  Within five minutes a nice man from security turns up who has no idea how to fix the safe and so radios down for assistance.  The person on the other end of the radio is telling him that the batteries have gone on the display and that he needs to get the front of the safe off and get to the batteries.  He sticks his keys and fingers and anything else he can find, into all the nooks and crannies but cannot get the front of the safe off.  So backup arrives in the next 10 minutes in the form of another security man.  He does his best to remove the cover but also fails.  They are both apologetic and inform us that all these safes are new and they have not yet had training on how to fix them.  Marvelous.  So the security men leave after their office tell them that they have called maintenance (who I called in the first place) and that someone would be up shortly.  Shortly in this case was 45 minutes.  After three phone calls stating that we are now getting annoyed and it's our last night in Vegas (well they don't know it's not) and we don't want to spend it stuck in our room waiting for a maintenance man to arrive, one finally turns up.  He sorts the problem and says that we broke it. LOL!  Ye, ok.  He then stood around waiting for a tip.  Well he didn't get one and he eventually left.  Call me cynical, but why should we tip someone from maintenance?  It's not my problem the batteries ran out and I couldn't get to our passports, money, camera, laptop etc.  It's theirs!  So I finished packing and we went back downstairs and sat in the bar and had a few drinkies to help us sleep. Monday 24th December Woke at 10.00am just before the alarm went off.  Need to be out of our room by 11.00am today.  We are in reception at 10.30am and handing over fistfuls of cash to pay our bill.  You would think the clerk had never handled money before as she counted out the money SEVEN times before she was happy that the right amount was there.  Unreal.  We then go back up to casino level in the elevators and get a coffee.  Don't want to walk over to Bellagio just yet.  It's a bit too early and I don't think they like to check you in much before 12 noon as they are still doing the days checkouts and the rooms have to be gotten ready by housekeeping. So we linger in Planet Hollywood for an hour and then make our way across the road, on foot, suitcases in tow, to the Bellagio.  Now you would think that two people coming at you with suitcases that people would get out of your way.  Wrong.  I think I took out three people with my case just crossing the road. We finally arrive at Bellagio check-in and the queue to check-out is huge, but there is a separate line to check-in - result!.  There is only one person in front of us and they are almost checked in so within five minutes I am at the desk talking to the clerk.  I didn't bother trying to get an upgrade here as we had already booked a lake view and the next upgrade would be to a suite, so I didn't bother pushing my luck.  The clerk told me that she could check us in and that our lake view room, # 27024 was ready.  Blimey, another result.  We trotted off to the elevators, flashed our card key to get past the guard at the elevators and headed to our room.  I opened the door and why was I not surprised, the room was indeed NOT ready.  Housekeeping had been no where near it.  So I call down to front desk and they apologise and tell me someone would be straight there to clean the room for us.  There was a fold up bed in this room as well as the king bed and the chairs and everything else all looked really shabby.  I wasn't overly impressed.  The view, however, was magnificent. An hour passed, no housekeeping arrives as promised.  So I called down again and told them that I no longer wished to wait and told them to put us in another room.  Again, very apologetic, the clerk said that we could go to room #27068 and that our keys would now work in that room instead.  So off we went to our new room.  We opened the door and not only was it clean (hurrah) but the whole room was differently decorated.  The chairs were all upholstered differently, there was no fold up bed so it was not as cramped and the view was still amazing.  We were finally happy. I didn't bother unpacking too much and thought we might as well live out of our suitcases for the next 3 days.  Then, the hunt was on for the in room safe.  Could I find it??  Nope.  So I was on the phone yet again and was told that, yes, there was a safe and that it could be found in the armoire (that's a big bit of furniture for those of you who don't know hehe).  Well, I had already looked in there, but not one to be beaten I look again.  Neil is on the bed just sitting there watching.  Men! Anyways, I finally find the safe.  It is round the side in a secret compartment.  Well no wonder I couldn't find it. Once all our valuables were in the safe we walk to the Mirage as we wanted to visit the Secret Garden there.  We visited here on our first trip and it was nice and there has been a new arrival in the last six months so we thought we would go and see him.  Before we went off to see the animals in the Secret Garden we went to the snack bar there and got a drink and sat on a bench among the sparrows that were hopping around.  These sparrow where exceptionally fat.  Obviously they get well fed here.  Within about 30 seconds of us sitting down there were a number of sparrows at our feet.  I threw a bit of my hotdog bun to them and, like magic, another load appeared.  Oh dear.  By now a crowd of people are watching as Neil has the sparrows literally eating out of his hand.  They jump up and perch on his fingers and take the bread and then fly off with their tasty snack. Here is a short video of the little scavengers: Video Back to the new arrival, his name is Sergeant Pepper and he is a 6 month old dolphin.  He was really cute and was following his mum around, both doing tricks together and showing off to the crowd.  We sat and watched for about half hour and then went to see the other animals.  There are some white tigers, a couple of leopards and a pack of lions here.  They all look miserable IMO, but the handlers say they are happy enough. We spend about an hour walking around and decide that the highlight of the day was the sparrows.  Free stuff is always better. We then head to the Venetian for an ice cream to cool down the burning in our throats.  This works for about five minutes by which time I want another.  I refrain and we walk back to the Bellagio for a bit of sleep as we didn't get much last night because I was coughing through most of it.  We got 3 hours sleep and, oh my god, the Bellagio has the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in.  We woke at 7.15pm and watched a fountain show out of our window while we have the sound of the show piped in through the television. The plan for this evening was to go to the buffet at the Bellagio when we get downstairs and then go to the Gold Coast and go bowling, just to get off the strip as it is heaving now.  When we get to the casino level, we can't get out of the elevator lobby as the queue for the buffet is going across the entrance and quarter of a way round the casino!  That's that idea scuppered.  There is no point standing in line for 2 hours for a buffet.  So we wonder over to Bally's to see if their buffet is accessible.  It isn't.  The queue here is at least 1.5 hours long.  Not having much luck on the buffet front.  So we cross the road and head to Bills to decide what to do.  By now, neither of us can be bothered with bowling, energy levels are still low and we feel like poo.  So we sit in Bills for a while and play some video poker and I go and put our name on the wait list of the Victoria Room.  The wait is only 20 minutes.  Not sure if that's a good thing or not as everywhere else is heaving.  We get called to our table and walk into this very quaint and very small restaurant.  There can't be more than 30 tables in there.  We ordered and our food arrived very quickly and was delicious and cheap. After we had eaten we took a very slow walk back to Bellagio, played on a few machines and then went back up to our room with a bottle of booze and polished it off before crawling into bed for a, hopefully, good nights sleep. Tuesday 25th December MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM VEGAS! Well, we well and truly caught up on our sleep.  Woke at 3pm after getting up every hour to cough my lungs up, yummy.  But feel a bit better today.  The temperature has gone but the throat is still sore and the nose is now blocked.  Still just trying to ignore it though and not let it beat us. Our first stop of the day was O'Sheas.  We didn't want to go too far again today.  The crowds seem to have thinned out a little too which is great.  The reason we went to O'Sheas was to play some craps and they, along with Casino Royale, and Bills, are the only places on the strip that do $5 minimum bet.  Everywhere else is $10 or $15.  Well, we wanted to play and so that's where we headed.  We played for about three hours.  Money went up, money went down.  We ended up losing, of course, but we had a blast.  We then walked to Casino Royale and signed up for their reward card.  We got some vouchers for doing so and headed off into the casino to use them. The first one was "$50 free slot play".  Great.  So we ask a floor person what machines we can play this free $50 on and we are told that there is only the one bank of machines.  We find the machines and put in our $50 vouchers.  It is at this point that we notice there is no slot on these machines that print off tickets with your winnings, like every other machine in LV has.  Also, you only win if you hit the jackpot and they pay you by cash.  So we sit and play our $50 free slot money and obviously we lose it within a few minutes.  This is the worst promotion ever in the history of promotions and the machines are no doubt set to not win.  The next ticket we use is the "Hit four of a kind on a 25c video poker machines and get $25 bonus".  OK, we can do that.  So we go and sit at a 25c VP machine and it's not long before Neil hits quad deuces and I have to go and find someone to come and check his machine so that we can get the $25 bonus.  Once that is pocketed, I try for a bit longer but cannot hit quads and so give in. The final ticket we try is "hit 40 or more on a Wheel of Fortune machine spin and get $10 bonus.  Again, it's not long before Neil gets a spin and hits a 25 on the wheel. Nooooo, we need 40 or more.  So we keep playing and Neil hits another spin for 60 this time.  So off I trot again, on the hunt for the one and only floor man.  I eventually catch him and he gives Neil is free $10 bonus.  I, of course, play on for a bit but cannot get a spin.  Ho hum. It's now 11pm and we head upstairs to the Outback for our Christmas dinner.  I try a Prime Rib cut this time and it is delicious.  We also treat ourselves to a huge slab of cheesecake with chocolate sauce. The walk back to the Bellagio was very pleasant.  There seemed to be hardly anyone about.  Did they all go home?  Let's hope so. We played a bit on the progressive VP at Bellagio and walked to the CVS, next door to Monte Carlo, for some water and some cough sweets.  Water at the Bellagio is $4 a bottle, are they taking the micky?  We get a couple of bottles for $3 total at CVS, along with a few snacks and headed back to Bellagio.  We attempted to call home at 2am again as when I called yesterday there was no one there.  Managed to get hold of mum and dad this time :0)  We then went to bed and I finally fell asleep about 4am. Wednesday 26th December Woke up a bit earlier today.  Well, 12 noon is early for us.  Spent about 90 minutes typing up the last few days report and then Neil used the laptop for half hour or so, which meant we left the room at about 2pm. I needed to go to the Chocolate shop downstairs in the Bellagio as I wanted to get a pressie for my sister in law for looking after the cats for us.  Bellagio chocolates seemed like a good idea, if not a little (a lot!) overpriced.  I had to queue for over an hour for them, she better appreciate them!! It is still really busy out there on the strip and as I have a high temperature and feel like crap, I really don't fancy being pushed around as I take every step.  I suggest that we go to the Riviera and Circus Circus as it would probably be much quieter down that end.  I wasn't wrong.  The Riviera was pretty dead so we left rather quickly, but not before signing up for a players card and winning $8.75 of free play - woop. Circus Circus was a lot busier, although bearable.  As usual it was full of screaming kids all running around trying to win stuff.  We went up to the Medway where all the games are and Neil won two cuddly toys when I told him that we didn't need any more toys ffs! He won two anyway and we gave one of them away to a little boy who wasn't much more than 4 years old and was the only child with no toys.  Every other kid has 3 or 4.  The little boy was really happy, I think we made his day.  Obviously he has rubbish parents that can't win. LOL.  We then walked next door to slots 'o' fun where they have a $2 minimum craps table.  We pull up $100 and it's gone within 15 minutes, as everyone keeps rolling a 7. Marvelous. It's absolutely freezing by now and the wind is just making it worse.  Also, being out in the cold is making my throat worse and I lose my voice every time I am outside for more than an hour.  We stop at a Deuce bus stop and wait about 15 minutes.  Feels like 50 minutes.  I suggest we go back to the room to dump off the toy and chill for half hour.  When I get there, I lie on the bed and refuse to get back up.  It's only 9pm but I have had enough and can't take any more.  I was going to go outside and watch a Bellagio water show but they were cancelled because of the high winds. Neil said even though it was our last night, we shouldn't make ourselves even worse by going out if we don't feel like it.  So I have a soak in the tub and crawl into bed. I slept right thru to 2am, when Neil woke up he walked to Monte Carlo for some air and stopped off at CVS for some drinks.  I wanted to get up and try and go out but I didn't manage it and so just went back to sleep. We both woke at 10am and I packed what was left to go in the cases and we checked out and headed for the airport.  The flight was on time, although packed and 80% of the passengers were ill.  Same as last year. Now for my thought on the lovely Bellagio:  My good mate Heidi loves this hotel so I had better be careful what I say. Firstly, the view is fantastic (assuming you pay the extra, like we did, and get the fountain view room).  The beds are also the comfiest beds I have ever known.  The location is the best on the strip. Now to the things that I wasn't that impressed about.  The bath was very short. You couldn't lay down in it unless you were 5ft tall.  It was very deep though, about 4 ft. The room we were in was a little shabby and could have done with a bit of a face lift.  Wallpaper was peeling off in places and painted walls were scuffed.  I know it's all wear and tear but it's the Bellagio, and we paid over $300 a night to stay there, so you would think they could afford to keep the rooms' decor tidy.  Housekeeping ring you every morning to say "we see you have the "do not disturb sign on the door", but just wanted to tell you that if you want your room cleaning later, then you just have to call us".  Yes, yes I know!!  Why the hell did you just disturb me if you know I don't want to be disturbed??  ARGHHHHH Personally, I will never stay at this hotel again, unless I get an amazing offer of $100 a night.  I don't think the view alone is worth the money.  As you know, if you read the whole of this report, we got an upgrade and PH for the same view for an extra $50 total on a $69 a night room.  So, if we are lucky enough to be able to afford to come back here next year, we won't be staying at the Bellagio. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I hope to be doing it again next year.