Viva Las Vegas

The best advice I received about going to Vegas is "Don't think - just enjoy yourself" and I've been doing just that. After all my European & Asian travels, it's easy to look at the Las Vegas strip and see kitsch, tacky & loud. But if you set aside cultured adult tendencies, and embrace your inner gambler, this city is fun with a capital F.

The Strip by day: Luxor Casino & New York, New York Casino

A familiar feeling seized me the moment I caught sight of Las Vegas Boulevard from the plane window. It was the scene from the opening credits of CSI - the original series. Be ready for an assault on your visual senses when you first drive down the Strip. It's one incredulous OTT (over-the-top) experience after another. From the Sphinx at Luxor to the NYC cityscapes to Venetian Palazzo, you really have to see it to believe it.

Aunty Jo Jo at the Venetian Grande Shoppes & St Mark's Square

The Venetian was our first stop and we all fell in love with it at first sight. It really is Venice at its best- with the pretty gondolas and classical buildings in airconditioned comfort, minus the canal smells! :-) The casino was pretty good too. I made $150 at the slots. Beginners luck...let's hope it lasts for the rest of the trip.