Aussie Wendy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2008
Day 17 Friday 15 July
Was so, so good sleeping in-nowhere we had to be, no sunrises to be up to view. DD and I slept til after 8. DH and I planned to slip out and buy some Danish and coffee and bring it back to bed rather than eat breaky out somewhere but got rather cross as could find nowhere open. (Discovered later in the day either further up or down the strip had more choices in this regard.) Back at Bills the hotel reception staff pointed out a tiny café in a corner of Bills at the entrance away from our lift to door route. Bought hideously expensive coffees and Danishes for the price we could buy a full big breakfast at the Victorian room for all of us if we wanted to eat out (which also irritated me greatly at the time). Anyway had our continental breaky back in bed then showered etc and headed out around 11.30am to explore the Strip.
Walked north towards the Venetian past Hannah’s and the Imperial-seemed to be heading into a cheaper cluster than where we were with little shops and stalls. We loved the Venetian- from the escalator that curved up over the canals at the entrance (though the canals had been drained and were being painted) to the Grand Canal shops with winding streets and singing gondoliers under another fake sky.
Outside
Detail
Close up of the ceiling
We browsed the shops but mostly just admired the architecture and theme.
Came out by Walgreen’s so stocked up on ice cold cheap water and snacks for the return flight the next day. We crossed the street on the overpass.
Looking back the way we had come
And heading downtown
We walked down past TI noting it was only a narrow viewing area and decided probably too far to walk back to watch the show this night.
A pic of one of the pirate boats outside TI
The blocks are HUGE here. Called into Fashion Mall which had a big Neiman Marcus, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s etc. If we had longer here I would have gone out to an outlet mall-but as you can tell we are not big on shopping generally. DD spent quite some time trying on outfits in the multi-level Forever 21 and we went looking at graduation dresses in Macy’s. Found a couple she really liked but none her size and in the sales racks so only what was on the floor available. She was also excited as they had a branch of Hot Topic so she bought several CDs she couldn’t buy in Aus and some band Tshirts.
By now it after 2pm and we were getting hungry. We could have eaten here but I had seen some places I liked in the Venetian so headed back there, past Wynn with its lovely waterfall and a nice pizza café overlooking it (but didn’t fancy pizza). Back in the Venetian saw a sign for Zaffarini’s and liked the look of the menu. Didn’t expect to be led upstairs and along corridors only to come out above overlooking the Grand Canal with the voices of the gondoliers for entertainment. We had a lovely, slow meal-it was cool and quiet and as we crossed between lunch and dinner we got to admire first flowers and then candlelight on our table! I had a glass or two of Prosecco and ate far too much crusty Italian bread-we asked for oil and balsamic vinegar and they also brought out parmesan cheese to dip the bread into, before for me, delicious slices of lamb with orange salad-very a la carte small size serves but just what I felt like. DH had lasagne and DD chicken parmigiana that came with home-made pasta. Our waiter was very attentive and fun and insisted we have desert and persuaded us to have the Zaffarino special-layers of puff pastry and cream with fresh raspberries. It was so good.
So full and relaxed and me feeling much more in a mood to like Las Vegas (when my stomach is happy I am happy), we strolled back to the room for a siesta, as too full for a swim. I had debated about booking a show for tonight from the half price booth outside Bill’s this morning and in retrospect disappointed I didn’t, but had blown the budget somewhat in add-ons for this trip anyway.
Was so, so good sleeping in-nowhere we had to be, no sunrises to be up to view. DD and I slept til after 8. DH and I planned to slip out and buy some Danish and coffee and bring it back to bed rather than eat breaky out somewhere but got rather cross as could find nowhere open. (Discovered later in the day either further up or down the strip had more choices in this regard.) Back at Bills the hotel reception staff pointed out a tiny café in a corner of Bills at the entrance away from our lift to door route. Bought hideously expensive coffees and Danishes for the price we could buy a full big breakfast at the Victorian room for all of us if we wanted to eat out (which also irritated me greatly at the time). Anyway had our continental breaky back in bed then showered etc and headed out around 11.30am to explore the Strip.
Walked north towards the Venetian past Hannah’s and the Imperial-seemed to be heading into a cheaper cluster than where we were with little shops and stalls. We loved the Venetian- from the escalator that curved up over the canals at the entrance (though the canals had been drained and were being painted) to the Grand Canal shops with winding streets and singing gondoliers under another fake sky.
Outside
Detail
Close up of the ceiling
We browsed the shops but mostly just admired the architecture and theme.
Came out by Walgreen’s so stocked up on ice cold cheap water and snacks for the return flight the next day. We crossed the street on the overpass.
Looking back the way we had come
And heading downtown
We walked down past TI noting it was only a narrow viewing area and decided probably too far to walk back to watch the show this night.
A pic of one of the pirate boats outside TI
The blocks are HUGE here. Called into Fashion Mall which had a big Neiman Marcus, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s etc. If we had longer here I would have gone out to an outlet mall-but as you can tell we are not big on shopping generally. DD spent quite some time trying on outfits in the multi-level Forever 21 and we went looking at graduation dresses in Macy’s. Found a couple she really liked but none her size and in the sales racks so only what was on the floor available. She was also excited as they had a branch of Hot Topic so she bought several CDs she couldn’t buy in Aus and some band Tshirts.
By now it after 2pm and we were getting hungry. We could have eaten here but I had seen some places I liked in the Venetian so headed back there, past Wynn with its lovely waterfall and a nice pizza café overlooking it (but didn’t fancy pizza). Back in the Venetian saw a sign for Zaffarini’s and liked the look of the menu. Didn’t expect to be led upstairs and along corridors only to come out above overlooking the Grand Canal with the voices of the gondoliers for entertainment. We had a lovely, slow meal-it was cool and quiet and as we crossed between lunch and dinner we got to admire first flowers and then candlelight on our table! I had a glass or two of Prosecco and ate far too much crusty Italian bread-we asked for oil and balsamic vinegar and they also brought out parmesan cheese to dip the bread into, before for me, delicious slices of lamb with orange salad-very a la carte small size serves but just what I felt like. DH had lasagne and DD chicken parmigiana that came with home-made pasta. Our waiter was very attentive and fun and insisted we have desert and persuaded us to have the Zaffarino special-layers of puff pastry and cream with fresh raspberries. It was so good.
So full and relaxed and me feeling much more in a mood to like Las Vegas (when my stomach is happy I am happy), we strolled back to the room for a siesta, as too full for a swim. I had debated about booking a show for tonight from the half price booth outside Bill’s this morning and in retrospect disappointed I didn’t, but had blown the budget somewhat in add-ons for this trip anyway.
