Pages

Monday, November 29, 2010

Wedding in Las Vegas

So today was the day of the wedding plus the show tonight, it seemed odd having a couple of nights off from the shows as its usually just one night between shows. I showered and ironed my shirt and trousers that i had brought over for the wedding. It wasn't going to be a big wedding and was only casual wear. The wedding was at noon today about 2 miles up the strip from my hotel. I went for a walk down to the Walgreens to get something for my throat and cold and also picked up a big bottle of water and a couple of other things to put in the fridge in the room for later on.
Id been watching a program in the UK called Pawn Stars, its about a Pawn shop in Las Vegas and had put the details in my tom-tom before i left the UK as i wanted to call in and see what it was like, However it was the day after Thanksgiving and Vegas was busy and i realised when i drove past that there were a lot of people with the same idea so i didn't stop to go in just took a couple of pictures as i drove by in the car.
DSCF8055 (Large)  DSCF8058 (Large)  DSCF8057 (Large)
The wedding chapel was about a mile away and right opposite what looked like a lovely Hotel/Hostel!!
Would you stay here ?                        View from the wedding chapel           The wedding chapel
DSCF7973 (Large)   DSCF7875 (Large)  DSCF7877 (Large)
I arrived around 11:45, a few of Erin's family were there whom id met yesterday at inner and a few others arrived 5 minutes later. We all sat in the entrance of the chapel and laughed at the Elvis decorations and license plates and other t shirts and wedding “ memorabilia” available to buy.
DSCF7884 (Large) DSCF7886 (Large) DSCF7887 (Large)
After 10 minutes we were all invited back into the main chapel itself. it was nice, and had a few church style benches at each side of the room, i went and sat on the edge of one  towards the rear on the left hand side.
The Chapel
I took a LOT of pictures and have posted the full album of them all at the end of this entry, a few of them are below though, make sure you look through the album though as there's some great shots.
DSCF7921 (Large) DSCF7903 (Large) DSCF7911 (Large)
The ceremony was short , simple but did exactly what it was supposed to. After the ceremony we all made our way outside the chapel and stood to wait for the happy couple to come out. Their names were already in lights on the Las Vegas strip as we exited to chapel!!
DSCF7953 (Large)  DSCF7954 (Large)  DSCF7956 (Large)
We all stood outside to wait for Amy and Alex to exit the chapel.
Man and Wife!
DSCF7984 (Large)   DSCF7983 (Large)
After the wedding we all headed round the back to a reception room where there was coffee and the most amazing tasting cake:) We all hung out in the room for an hour taking pictures and wishing the happy couple all the best, after an hour, Amy and Alex  took a car out to the airport where they were flying out to the Grand Canyon in a helicopter! they would then join us at the bar before Rogers show tonight. I cant thank Erin, her mom and dad and especially Amy and Alex for inviting me to be among their family for the two days, i had a fantastic time and wish you all the best for the future:)
Erin and Amy (sisters)                                              Amyand I
 DSCF8042 (Large) DSCF8043 (Large)
I was shocked after the wedding to see Elvis is still alive and well in Vegas! Well thank you very much!!
Elvis has left the building.

After the wedding i headed back to the hotel , then to meet Kami who had flown in earlier and was out shooting guns! and then to the pre show meet up, details soon.

New entries later on……

Sorry for the lack of updates, had a couple of long travel days, 6 hours from Vegas to Phoenix and then 9 hours driving yesterday in horendous traffic from Phoenix to Huntington Beach, CA. Just gonna go have lunch, sit on the beach and write my blog!

Friday, November 26, 2010

Vegas day 2…..

So my friends Gail and Joe from Phoenix were driving up to Vegas last night and called me around 8pm to say they were still 2 hours away and were gonna look for a hotel and carry on the drive this morning. However they carried on the drive and got a rate of $27 a night at the Stratosphere hotel! The didn't arrive in till gone 10pm and Id had an early night so we didn't meet up at all.

They called me around 8am, i was still in bed but had been awake since around 6. They were gonna shower and head down to my hotel to meet up and go get breakfast.

View from my bed this morning

DSCF7773 (Large) DSCF7774 (Large) 

They arrived around 9, i hadn't seen them since the Toronto shows but it was like we had seen each other yesterday. We headed out to get breakfast and drove down the strip.I was surprised how many places were actually closed for Thanksgiving, we ended up parking at the new Aria resort and after looking round the new casino and hotel which is absolutely spectacular we took the tram over to the Bellagio.

Outdoor beach volleyball court inc sand!     Aria                               Aria complex

DSCF7789 (Large) DSCF7792 (Large) DSCF7787 (Large)

DSCF7780 (Large)  DSCF7807 (Large) DSCF7793 (Large)

The Aria encompasses several hotels and casinos inc the Cosmopolitan, the Aria and the Mandarin Oriental, 4 years ago when i came this whole area was just concrete foundations, its now the most impressive collection of buildings I've ever seen!

We ended up eating at a Crepe store in the Bellagio, i had the most amazing Yogurt Parfait and a sesame Bagel while Gail had a fantastic breakfast Crepe.

jj

This place also had the biggest chocolate fountain in the world, i just wanted to put my tongue under the flowing dark, white and milk chocolate for a minute or two! it was amazing, it was huge and had three types of chocolate all running into various glass dishes that went from floor to ceiling.

 DSCF7806 (Large)  DSCF7801 (Large)  DSCF7800 (Large)

 

Chocolate fountain

We spoke to Ralph and Lori and they were just getting showered and pretty so we arranged to meet them at the MGM and call them when we got in the lobby. It was 11am by the time we arrived and Gail and Joe wasn't sure if they would be able to check in that early but they were and dropped their bags at the room.

Heading back to the MGM through the Bellagio.

DSCF7802 (Large) DSCF7803 (Large) DSCF7805 (Large) DSCF7807 (Large)

Gail and Joe had not met Ralph and Lori but i knew they would all get along, Gail and Lori both like to Party and i said to Lori there's no way you two wont get along and they did like a house on fire! After seeing a couple of Roger promo posters while going into the MGM Ralph said there a great poster round the corner so we headed round to tale a couple of pictures,

What we were here for                                                       Camaro in the parking lot, how can you not like these!

DSCF7811 (Large)  DSCF7810 (Large)  DSCF7809 (Large)

The poster we wanted a picture of was in probably one of the busiest walkways possible, it was in the walkway that led to the hotel elevators, it was easy for me to snap a picture of Ralph and Lori in front of it, i just waited for a gap in the “traffic” and snapped, however getting a picture of all of us by resting the camera on the seat in front of us and setting the 10 seconds times was a challenge! we managed after a couple of attempts though!

DSCF7817 (Large)  DSCF7815 (Large)  DSCF7821 (Large)

We headed out of the MGM to start our walk up the Vegas strip. Gail, Joe and myself  have all been to Vegas many times, however it was Ralph and Loris first time. The weather was no where near as warm as i expected. I had looked online a couple of weeks ago and saw it was 85` i presumed over the next couple of weeks it would drop to maybe 75 or even 70 but what i didn't expect was it to be as low as 481 which it was today!! i was nearly wishing i was back in Denver! Ralph and Lori being from Florida felt the cold the worst but as we walked outside the sun came out and the skies were clear and it warmed up a little.

New York, New York, across from the MGM     The MGM Lion           I missed the Roger sign!

DSCF7824 (Large) DSCF7822 (Large) DSCF7823

We went into the Planet Hollywood Casino for a look round, then headed over to Caesars' Palace, we stopped in a few places on the way and i spotted what was now a challenge to find in each city, a Bull!! Unfortunately it was a little high to do any lewd acts to, however i did find a horse and tried my best but failed! Help, I'm turning into Jens! You’ll have to wait for the Horse picture as that's on Loris camera.

No bull is safe! well this one was.

DSCF7835 (Large)

We wandered around Caesars Palace and by the time we had finished in there i had to make a move back to my hotel to get ready for Thanksgiving dinner at 3:30. I had been invited out by my friend Erin's family for Thanksgiving dinner at the Nine Irishmen Bar in the New York New York hotel at the south end of the strip. I left Gail, Lori and Ralph shopping in the Caesars mall and went back to my room to shower and change.

 

To be continued….

Sorry…….

But what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas so next blog post will be Sunday after the Phoenix show :)

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Interactive map of my travels part 3


View Roger Waters "The Wall" USA & Canada 2010 tour in a larger map

Denver to Las Vegas…

I had a touch of headache when i woke at 6am, I'm pretty sure it was the altitude as I'm in my room in Vegas typing this up and feel good! Lori, Ralph and i had booked a town car to take us to the airport for 7:15am The airports a good half hour away and all three of us flew to Vegas at 10am. Today was the busiest travel day in the USA, the day before Thanksgiving. I remembered last night that when i booked this flight in the UK many months ago i realised what day it was and id aid the extra for priority check in and priority security, this was a great move as the lines even at 8am were pretty long!

I made my way to the United Airlines lounge and had some breakfast. it only took me 15 minutes from being dropped off by the town car to being sat in the airline lounge!! Ralph and Lori were flying a different airline so were at the Eats side terminal and i would meet them at some point when they got to Vegas. The flight wasn't even a couple of hours and after falling asleep for the take off i sat and watched the latest episode of Gossip Girl so I'm all caught up now:)

The lines at Denver airport.

154261_500712722593_535467593_7224457_5853343_n 

The first thing i saw when i got off the flight was the slot machines!! Vegas is nuts, the only place there aren't any is in the bathrooms and i bet there's some bathrooms that do have them!

What looks like a casino below is actually the airport!

DSCF7701 (Large) DSCF7699 (Large) DSCF7700 (Large)

I first came to Vegas about 15 years ago, have been 5 or 6 times since and the last time was for Rogers shows in 2006. The first thing i noticed when we were coming in to land was how much bigger and spread out the houses and business's had got!! the second thing i noticed was the airport, it was HUGE, it wasn't this big the last time i came and even has a huge car rental facility about 5 miles south of the airport now. its incredible how quick this place has grown and still is!

I went to pick my rental car up from Thrifty and managed to get what id been wanting for a while, well not the one i wanted but my second choice of a Dodge Charger. I love these cars and really wanted the Camaro however they didn't have any in when i picked the car up. I did notice its only the 3.5ltr though and not the 5ltr Hemi one  but hey its American muscle:)

My rental car!!                     Viva Las Vegas!                   Back on the west coast      Oh my!

DSCF7714 (Large) DSCF7706 (Large) DSCF7709 (Large) DSCF7712 (Large)

I hit my hotel in the tom-tom favourites, drove the 5 miles to my hotel and checked in. I have in the past always stayed on the strip and have stayed at Treasure Island, MG, Luxor and a couple of others however i went for something a bit more classy this time and as i would be here for three nights i thought id enjoy it while i was here so i booked the Trump International. Its a beautiful hotel and the service within seconds of arriving is second to none. I got a great deal on hotwire for it too.

DSCF7752 (Large)  DSCF7737 (Large)  DSCF7755 (Large)  DSCF7735 (Large)

I did the $20 trick when i checked in as well, I've always done this in Vegas  and had great results. Just fold a $20 bill up and when you hand the check in girl your id and credit card  just show the $20 underneath as you hand it to her and ask her if there are any upgrades available it works 4 times out of 5!! I was originally in a city view room that was a small parlour room as she put it but she moved me to a strip view with  hot tub and real nice living room area!

Walk in shower      TV built into the mirror!             Jacuzzi tub                             closets on the room

DSCF7718 (Large) DSCF7719 (Large) DSCF7721 (Large) DSCF7722 (Large)

The sundeck                        The pool area                       Encore and Wynn hotels       The cabanas

DSCF7730 (Large) DSCF7732 (Large) DSCF7728 (Large) DSCF7729 (Large)

View of the strip from my 49th floor room

DSCF7715 (Large)  DSCF7723 (Large) 

I went for a wander round, had an In and out burger for lunch and walked it off  walking round the Fashion show mall  across the street from my hotel. I need to do some laundry at some point but can get by till Saturday and do it at my friend Gail and Joes place in Phoenix when i get there i think.

Just gonna chill out in the room tonight, I've just sat in front of the floor to ceiling windows for the last hour or so while typing this entry and never tire of seeing this view below from my hotel room!

DSCF7771 (Large) DSCF7767 (Large) DSCF7768 (Large) DSCF7769 (Large)