Elvis has left the building.

Lazy lie-in, of sorts. Steve did, I couldn't, but it was later than yesterday when we headed out to MacDonald's for breakfast. Yes, I know, but we thought we'd better eat a bit more cheaply today, and remember I'd rather liked their oatmeal - porridge to us - and fruit; and they do have good coffee. The wind had shifted 180˚ and was blowing strongly from the north (for New Zealanders, read that as from the south - a bit flippin' chilly). We'd decided to go up the Eiffel Tower this morning and if I'd had my cardy with me, I'd have put it on. It was only 66˚ apparently, down from 95˚ yesterday, so quite a difference, but I know, I'm still a wuss. The lovely lady lift attendant was very informative and told us that Paris was the last of the million dollar hotels to be built, coming in at $765 million. I was momentarily confused (doesn't take much) before she continued, stating that all the hotels built since have been billion dollar ones. (Obviously!)

In contrast to the cosiness of Paris, Luxor seemed to us to be rather stark, despite the impressive design of the pyramid hotel. 

We may have felt a little more sympathetic to our surroundings had Team NZ won the first race today, which we followed whilst sitting beside a rather impressive obelisk, but they didn’t, so we’ll never know. Steve was keen to show me around the MGM hotel as he’d stayed there 3 years ago, and when I was booking our trip he’d been quite keen to return. I’m glad I didn’t listen to him! It’s enormous! No soul, IMO. And we lost the second race whilst we were sitting in the food court, reading the live blog from the NZ Herald.

We did make it to the pool today, although only for about an hour before the sun went behind the rollercoaster and carpark, but it was enough to freshen us up before heading on out down to Fremont Street, the original Las Vegas 'Strip'. We even caught a bus, with a brilliant lady driver who obviously loved her job - she'd turned off the pre-recorded route guide and talked to us herself, keeping us well entertained for the hour that it took! The covered Fremont St really wasn't like anything we'd imagined. I'm sorry if you've been and you loved it, but we thought it was really pretty tacky! We did have a terrific pizza for dinner, mind you, bought a few little prezzies for our gorgeous kids back home (quality gifts, of course!!) and watched the amazing light show set to Queen's 'We Will Rock You' and 'We are the Champions', on the ceiling of the street. 

Oh yes, and watched Elvis perform; he sounded OK for someone who's been dead for 36 years! Vegas has been a holiday within a holiday, and we've loved the experience, but both agree that we are happy to be moving on to the quieter life tomorrow morning.