Tag 245: Las Vegas

The view from the small airplane window reveals only black. For hours. We should be somewhere over the Nevada desert now. The pilot announces that we will be arriving in Las Vegas soon. We descend and an incredible sea of lights opens up amidst the darkness. We land. We grab our backpacks, pick up our rental car, drive to our accommodation, and fall into bed.

After a good night's sleep, we head to the supermarket. Tomorrow we will start our road trip and we still have some errands to run. Las Vegas during the day is a very hot, dusty, beige city. The sun has set. Although we are not gamblers, drinkers, singles, or party-goers, we still want to be swallowed up by the mysterious city for a few hours. Our first stop is the 'Strip'. From the parking garage through the winding luxurious shopping mall, we suddenly find ourselves right in the middle of it all. On the right, the Eiffel Tower, straight ahead the grand 'Bellagio' with its famous water fountains. It is a colorful, playful world with colors, lights, and lots, really lots, of people. We start our evening with a walk through the 'Bellagio'. Opening the door, the scent of cold smoke hits us. Smoking is allowed in the casinos. Everything is done to ensure that the players have no reason to leave their slot machines or tables. There are no clocks, the hallways are winding. It is an exciting spectacle. And at the same time, a sad one. An enormous amount of money leaves the wallets of thousands of tourists here every day. We continue on and stroll through the famous 'Caesars Palace'. As we shuttle between the huge casinos, we see people sitting on the roadside who came to this city in search of their luck and lost everything. We walk past the 'Flamingo', towards the Ferris wheel. We treat ourselves to a dinner at 'In-N-Out Burger' and walk back to the car. The 'Strip' is certainly something special, but more suitable for a casino night. We wanted to get to know the real Las Vegas. Where crazy people are, where parties and sins are at home. We drive to Freemont Street, also known as the 'Old Strip'. From a distance, we hear loud music. As we approach, we walk past the stage and suddenly find ourselves right in the middle of it all. A rock band is playing in front of a small but grateful audience, an LED roof stretches over the street and offers an incredible light show, strippers take photos with tourists, dancers, artists, musicians, and a fat man in a G-string playing the guitar. It's loud, it's vibrant, and we have no idea where to start or where to look. We walk along the street, very casually. We observe the daily spectacle, fascinated, without really being a part of it. After seeing it all, we head back to the car.

9:30 am. The alarm clock rings. Today we will leave Las Vegas. We get ready, have breakfast, pack our things, and load them into the car. Sunscreen, sunglasses, air conditioning, and good music. Our road trip can begin!