Las Vegas

On the drive to Las Vegas we passed the Hoover Dam, the largest dam in America. We got out briefly and got our first taste of the enormous heat here in Nevada. Afterwards we went to the “City of Lights”, Las Vegas. We had booked a casino hotel at the southern end of the strip, the “Excalibur”, which looks like a knight’s castle. On the way to the lobby we first had to walk through the casino and mano man, were there a lot of slot machines! In the queue we were offered a beer on the house and we happily took it 😄. The hotel was huge and very colorful, like everything here in Las Vegas. After putting our things in the room, we went exploring. We played one-armed bandits, tried our luck at roulette and marveled at the hotels along the strip. Right next to us was the “New York New York”, which has a roller coaster running through it and in front of which there is a huge Statue of Liberty. A little further was the “Paris”, which has a fairly large replica of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. Opposite is the beautiful “Bellagio”, where there is a large flower garden inside and a pompous water show takes place outside every 15 minutes. Next to it there is the huge and decadent “Caesar’s Palace”, which some people probably know from the film “The Hangover”, and opposite is the no less impressive “Venetian”, which is a replica of Venice. Gondolas ride around under a deceptively real blue sky with singing gondoliers, all on the 1st floor! It really couldn't be beaten in terms of craziness, but everything looked incredibly beautiful and cool! We spent the days exploring all the hotels inside and out, played a game of roulette here and there - actually won a dollar or two - and couldn't stop being amazed. We also went to two shows, once the crazy magician Criss Angel, who Philip and Sascha knew from TV from their youth. To this day we still can't figure out how he was able to fly through space without any discernible ropes, conjure up pigeons, disappear and suddenly reappear. The second show was the famous Cirque du Soleil performance “O,” which has been going on at the Bellagio for ages. The special thing about the stage is that it can be partially submerged and a deep swimming pool is hidden underneath. The acrobats flew through the air, fell from high above into the pool of water, twisted themselves so that your back hurt from watching them and simply did everything that goes with a good circus show. We were completely thrilled both times!

On the third day we treated ourselves to a brunch buffet at the Bellagio, where nothing was left to be desired. There was so much choice and we almost feasted our way through the entire range until we rolled out of the dining room feeling plump. Later we met Kelly and Daniel, the first people from Saarland on the trip! In the evening we went to the slightly older casino “Circus Circus”, which is located at the very northern end of the strip. Here you could play a lot of fair games, we threw baskets, tried our luck at dancing, hit glowing clown heads with a hammer and had a lot of fun - without losing a lot of money 😄. Otherwise, the dollars were often gone shockingly quickly and it was crazy to see the amounts that many people around us were playing with. Las Vegas is a city of contrasts; in addition to the splendor and chic hotels, you also see a lot of poverty and addiction. Like the magician show, everything is an illusion and you're happy to get involved in it for a while, but it doesn't have much to do with reality.

On the last day, after checking out, Sascha and Philip drove to a race track where Sascha raced around the corners in a Porsche. Jana met up with Kelly and Daniel at that time and walked down the strip one last time. In the evening we drove downtown, past a few small Elvis wedding chapels and walked through “Fremont Street”. If we thought the strip was the craziest thing we'd ever seen, we were proven wrong. There was even more going on, there were even crazier outfits and music and halligalli everywhere! We walked up and down the street under a huge LED ceiling and then made our way to the last item on the program. For Philip and Sascha we went to the “Erotic Heritage Museum”, where their great idols performed and showed a different kind of puppet show 🙈.

At the end we had the feeling that we had really seen everything here. Las Vegas is really a crazy and super cool city. The hotels are as over the top as they are beautiful and we had a lot of fun. Nevertheless, after 4 days here we have had enough and are ready to continue our journey towards California!