You might wonder why it was so quiet on the Blog this week. The answer is, INTERNeX went to Las Vegas for the 4th of July celebrations and I obviously couldn’t miss out on that. Still tired, I feel the last couple of days in my bones while sitting back at my desk in Vancouver. It was my very first time in the city that never sleeps and I understand now, why people say that. Here’s a little POV from our trip.
We’re on the plane early in the morning, excited to arrive at the shiniest place on earth. The city is so big you can see the flickering ads on the buildings from up in the sky. After refreshing ourselves at the hotel we decide to take the Monorail (kind of like a skytrain that runs parallel to the Las Vegas Strip) and go down to the famous ‘Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas’ sign to take a nice group photo. The last station of the Monorail however, is a bit further away, which means we have to walk quite a bit to get to the sign.
At first that seems totally fine, but it is 42 degrees pure sun shining on us, so it gets harder with every minute of walking. I really feel that I’m in the middle of a desert. In the distance we see something… is that a Fata Morgana? A yellow ‘M’ appears on the horizon and it whispers ‘Air Condition’ and ‘food’. Thankfully we are right, it’s a McDonalds that was going to save us. It feels really good to cool down, eat and drink an iced beverage before continuing our journey.
Surprisingly we all made it to the sign, just to find out that there’s a long queue of people waiting in the heat to take a photo. We find a way to sneak to the side and skip the line by taking a photo there instead of right underneath the sign. If you are ever planning on going, keep that in mind! Another thing we’ve come to realize, it’s cheaper to take an Uber or Lyft when you are travelling with a group than it is taking a bus, plus it’s more convenient as well.
After spending some free time we all meet again at a nice Mexican restaurant to have dinner and drinks together. The tacos are amazing! The first day has been successful, but tiring. Matt plays a round of Black Jack at the Casino but gives up pretty fast, I guess it’s time for bed. We decide to keep it chill and save our energy for the next day.
A few of us are going to a pool party, the perfect place to be on a hot sunny day, and indeed it is so much fun! I’d recommend buying tickets in advance as well as eating and drinking lots before going because prices are insane; $57 for a cocktail… Everything else is totally worth it though, we’re having a blast! Another group of us is taking the day to explore the city some more.
In the evening everyone is out to see the Independence Day fireworks! My favourite view is from the Bellagio Fountains. There’s a fountain show with light, music and the fireworks in the background. Even at night it’s nice and warm in the city. I actually prefer the night over the day in Vegas! Everything is sparkling in bright lights, and the sun doesn’t burn you. 😀
There’s definitely always something to do and the time of our departure came too fast. After two days it’s time to say Goodbye to Vegas. We all agree it’s a very unique place. It doesn’t seem like a regular city, it’s its own little world. I still feel like I need to process the past days, so much happened in such little time, and with barely any sleep. But I guess that’s how it is when you visit Las Vegas. 😉
Have you ever been to Vegas? Would you go? What do you think of it?
I’d love to chat more about it at tonight’s pub night, 7pm at The Blarney Stone! See you there!
Cheers,
Laura 🙂
It all started Thursday evening. At 7pm, our bus departed from the Pacific Central station. The destination: Portland! We left Vancouver, crossed the border, had a 1.5 hour stop in Seattle from where another bus brought us to the desired city. I’m not much of an in-the-bus-sleeper, so that was quite a sleepless night.
At 10am on Saturday, it was time for Miri, Elisabeth, Angy and I to go to the Lan Su Chinese Garden. The rest of the Portland gang went to have a tour on the USS Blueback submarine. It rained quite a lot in the beginning of the day, but suddenly the sun decided to show her face. The whole garden was brought into a different spotlight. The pavilions, the bridges, the water, the plants… It was just wonderful to look at.
In the evening, some of us played mini-golf. It was not just normal mini-golf, but mini-golf in blacklight with a pirate and underwater theme. Exciting! I did not win, unfortunately, but it was fun, anyway! When we got back to the hotel, we did the same as the evening before: playing card games and talking and laughing with each other. Around 3am, it was bed time. The next day was not that special. Breakfast, check-out, driving back to Vancouver by bus. And still: an entire day passed by with that.
INTERNeX Canada 