Day 11At 7am Las Vegas is quiet, we’re on the way to the airport, and there are no signs of any of the frivolity of last night, the crowds are gone, and apart from some decidedly ‘under the weather’ looking people, the city appears innocent. Sin City we discovered, doesn’t get going until late, the streets are busiest around midnight, and all ‘sins’ are committed at night, under a neon glow. (Actually, I’ll take that back, Gluttony, one of the ‘seven deadly sins’ starts for me in the broad light of day.)
The popularity of Las Vegas is no surprise, because there are so many things to do, even if you don’t gamble. During the day there are day trips to the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, or you can just recline by the pool. Just visiting the casinos provides enough entertainment; See Venice at the Venetian, Ancient Rome at Caesar’s Palace, the Eiffel Tower of the Paris Casino, and that is just mentioning a few. At night, Las Vegas really comes alive; there is a real sense of excitement about the place. However for me, the icing on the cake is the top quality entertainment at the strip, like the Cirque De Soleil shows, and the top entertainers that regularly attend the strip, like Jerry Seinfeld, Bette Midler, Cher, Elton John, Cold Play, and Celine De Leon. Nowhere else in the world, can you get all this, and stay in a luxurious hotel, for a relatively cheap price. We have to go, but like Arnie says, “I’ll be back.”
The taxi ride from the hotel to the airport is only around ten minutes, for the airstrip is conveniently located very close to the Las Vegas Strip. But, once you arrive at the airport, there is no need for your Las Vegas experience to end there. No, you can continue to gamble at the Poker Machines at the departure lounge (Pictured above). That’s great, I can just imagine some poor sucker fishing around in his pockets for his last bit of change before he has to go back home, thinking “if I just can win back some of that money I lost …..”
We knew something was up, when we couldn’t self check in on the internet last night. Upon arrival at security, we were asked to go to Lane 9 for a ‘random security check’. We had to remove our shoes and place them on the conveyor to be X rayed, along with all our other items. Then we had to go through a machine that looked like a giant X-ray machine, like something out of Star Wars. Louise went first. Suddenly, I heard the machine hiss, like the sound of an air compressor, and a girly squeal. “What’s the machine doing?” Louise asked in a nervous voice. It was very funny in retrospect, although nobody laughed (I tried to, but I was too scared). Little barriers come down either side, so the occupant, can’t get out. I guess the machine smells for explosives. Then the security officer physically checked all our belongings. Well, at least, we didn’t get strip searched. They take security very seriously here in America; they didn’t laugh at Louise’s jokes, or her girly scream – tough audience.
The security officer told Louise that the airline has to nominate a certain number of passengers for security checks, which explains why we couldn’t check in, and why when we looked at our boarding pass, Lane 9 was written on it. I love the logic of the screening; all the 911 terrorists were male, with dark eyes, dark hair, and Middle Eastern – Louise is female, has blue eyes, blonde hair, and Anglo Saxon, as were the three ladies behind her who had been ‘randomly selected.”
TRAVEL TIP: If you get selected for a “random security check”, don’t scream like a girl when the explosive machine hisses (that’s the sound of freedom).
The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for the security at the Airport, along with the protection of the entire United States mainland. It was created after the terrorist attacks of September 11, or 911, as it is called here. This attack must go down as the most go down as the most successful operation in military history. For a reported cost of five hundred thousand dollars, and a dozen or so dead Islamic terrorists armed with box cutters (there are plenty more prepared to take their place – they get 70 virgins in the next life), they created a massive security response by the United States costing billions of dollars. In business terms a massive return on a relatively small investment. However, since this security increase, there has been no successful attack on the United States, albeit air travel has never been the same since (Or as cheap).
Osama Bin Laden is an interesting character, he gave up a life of privilege, and he is after all, a multi millionaire, to live an ascetic life (he reportedly lives in a cave in Pakistan). He gave up everything to lead a war, or Jihad, as they call it against the most powerful country on Earth. What was he thinking? Obviously, he didn’t study Pearl Harbor, or he would have known that the United States would strike back hard. Or was that his actual plan all along? Provoke the giant into over reacting. In any case, I hope he is cold hiding in his cave, and it has bats, lots and lots of bats.
We flew US airlines, the plane was really old, it had those 1970’s airline seats, with ash trays in the seat rests, and the only suspected terrorist was the pilot, who spoke in a heavy Middle Eastern accent, which was all very reassuring.
However we touched down safely in San Francisco around midday. There was some heavy traffic in “the streets of San Francisco”, which strangely look like Sydney, well, they’ve got the traffic down pat. It’s much colder here, a little bit of shock for us, as went from Las Vegas’ 39 degrees to 18 degrees in the space of less than two hours. The Hyatt Hotel is on North Point Street, a couple of streets back from the famous Fisherman’s Wharf area. We were a little early for our check in, so we went for a walk to this popular tourist spot. Almost immediately, we caught sight of Alcatraz, or “The Rock”, as it is known locally (pictured below). I’m not surprised nobody ever escaped alive, its cold, the water must be colder still, and the current looks like it is really motoring. It’s a short walk along the side of the harbor, reminding me again of Sydney, to Pier 39 (pictured below). By the way, if you’re into Pandora charms (Louise and Ann are), there’s a cute little jewelry store called Charms by the Bay, which is a ‘gold’ level Pandora dealer, meaning they stock the full range. Ladies, you might be interested that Louise bought a cable car, a Queen Bee, a sea shell, and two Rhinestone bands, for her Pandora bracelet. We had lunch at one of the seafood restaurants called the Wipeout Bar and Grill, the food was average, but the service friendly, Chris, our waiter told us all about his Australian sheep dog.
The popularity of Las Vegas is no surprise, because there are so many things to do, even if you don’t gamble. During the day there are day trips to the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, or you can just recline by the pool. Just visiting the casinos provides enough entertainment; See Venice at the Venetian, Ancient Rome at Caesar’s Palace, the Eiffel Tower of the Paris Casino, and that is just mentioning a few. At night, Las Vegas really comes alive; there is a real sense of excitement about the place. However for me, the icing on the cake is the top quality entertainment at the strip, like the Cirque De Soleil shows, and the top entertainers that regularly attend the strip, like Jerry Seinfeld, Bette Midler, Cher, Elton John, Cold Play, and Celine De Leon. Nowhere else in the world, can you get all this, and stay in a luxurious hotel, for a relatively cheap price. We have to go, but like Arnie says, “I’ll be back.”
The taxi ride from the hotel to the airport is only around ten minutes, for the airstrip is conveniently located very close to the Las Vegas Strip. But, once you arrive at the airport, there is no need for your Las Vegas experience to end there. No, you can continue to gamble at the Poker Machines at the departure lounge (Pictured above). That’s great, I can just imagine some poor sucker fishing around in his pockets for his last bit of change before he has to go back home, thinking “if I just can win back some of that money I lost …..”
We knew something was up, when we couldn’t self check in on the internet last night. Upon arrival at security, we were asked to go to Lane 9 for a ‘random security check’. We had to remove our shoes and place them on the conveyor to be X rayed, along with all our other items. Then we had to go through a machine that looked like a giant X-ray machine, like something out of Star Wars. Louise went first. Suddenly, I heard the machine hiss, like the sound of an air compressor, and a girly squeal. “What’s the machine doing?” Louise asked in a nervous voice. It was very funny in retrospect, although nobody laughed (I tried to, but I was too scared). Little barriers come down either side, so the occupant, can’t get out. I guess the machine smells for explosives. Then the security officer physically checked all our belongings. Well, at least, we didn’t get strip searched. They take security very seriously here in America; they didn’t laugh at Louise’s jokes, or her girly scream – tough audience.
The security officer told Louise that the airline has to nominate a certain number of passengers for security checks, which explains why we couldn’t check in, and why when we looked at our boarding pass, Lane 9 was written on it. I love the logic of the screening; all the 911 terrorists were male, with dark eyes, dark hair, and Middle Eastern – Louise is female, has blue eyes, blonde hair, and Anglo Saxon, as were the three ladies behind her who had been ‘randomly selected.”
TRAVEL TIP: If you get selected for a “random security check”, don’t scream like a girl when the explosive machine hisses (that’s the sound of freedom).
The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for the security at the Airport, along with the protection of the entire United States mainland. It was created after the terrorist attacks of September 11, or 911, as it is called here. This attack must go down as the most go down as the most successful operation in military history. For a reported cost of five hundred thousand dollars, and a dozen or so dead Islamic terrorists armed with box cutters (there are plenty more prepared to take their place – they get 70 virgins in the next life), they created a massive security response by the United States costing billions of dollars. In business terms a massive return on a relatively small investment. However, since this security increase, there has been no successful attack on the United States, albeit air travel has never been the same since (Or as cheap).
Osama Bin Laden is an interesting character, he gave up a life of privilege, and he is after all, a multi millionaire, to live an ascetic life (he reportedly lives in a cave in Pakistan). He gave up everything to lead a war, or Jihad, as they call it against the most powerful country on Earth. What was he thinking? Obviously, he didn’t study Pearl Harbor, or he would have known that the United States would strike back hard. Or was that his actual plan all along? Provoke the giant into over reacting. In any case, I hope he is cold hiding in his cave, and it has bats, lots and lots of bats.
We flew US airlines, the plane was really old, it had those 1970’s airline seats, with ash trays in the seat rests, and the only suspected terrorist was the pilot, who spoke in a heavy Middle Eastern accent, which was all very reassuring.
However we touched down safely in San Francisco around midday. There was some heavy traffic in “the streets of San Francisco”, which strangely look like Sydney, well, they’ve got the traffic down pat. It’s much colder here, a little bit of shock for us, as went from Las Vegas’ 39 degrees to 18 degrees in the space of less than two hours. The Hyatt Hotel is on North Point Street, a couple of streets back from the famous Fisherman’s Wharf area. We were a little early for our check in, so we went for a walk to this popular tourist spot. Almost immediately, we caught sight of Alcatraz, or “The Rock”, as it is known locally (pictured below). I’m not surprised nobody ever escaped alive, its cold, the water must be colder still, and the current looks like it is really motoring. It’s a short walk along the side of the harbor, reminding me again of Sydney, to Pier 39 (pictured below). By the way, if you’re into Pandora charms (Louise and Ann are), there’s a cute little jewelry store called Charms by the Bay, which is a ‘gold’ level Pandora dealer, meaning they stock the full range. Ladies, you might be interested that Louise bought a cable car, a Queen Bee, a sea shell, and two Rhinestone bands, for her Pandora bracelet. We had lunch at one of the seafood restaurants called the Wipeout Bar and Grill, the food was average, but the service friendly, Chris, our waiter told us all about his Australian sheep dog.
Our hotel room (pictured below), has views of Alcatraz, but more excitingly for techno nerds like me (and maybe Blair), wireless internet.
