Las Vegas

Monday, 11 July 2016

Vegas Baby

My biggest regret in life is under appreciating Vegas. It had so much to offer, but it was the last place I visited whilst on my travels. On my final day in LA I got the most horrific sunburn - I'm talking practically third degree burns, which no joke, took months to heal. By the time I got to Vegas, I wanted to hide indoors in a cold bath for the whole 5 days.

We had an amazing room. We stayed in Tuscany Suites, which is not on the strip, but sooooo much cheaper and better value. The strip was walkable if you like heat. Or it was like 5 mins in a taxi. My travel mate made me walk once. It was horrific. It only took about 15 mins but the heat was unbearable.

The room we were in was ridiculously cheap - cheaper than the hostel we stayed in whilst in LA, and it was amazing. It was literally a suite. We had a little kitchen area, a sofa, a desk/place to spread out my make up everywhere, and the biggest bed! Me and my travel partner shared a bed, but it was like we didn't - it was so big I forgot she was there.

Whilst we were in Vegas, we went to the hotel some of our friends were staying in. They were on the strip, and there room was tiny. They didn't even have wifi and they had paid about triple what we paid!!

Tuscany Suites had 2 pools, one for fitness and one for relaxing. There was a gym, and a few restaurants. And of course, a massive casino, because this is still Vegas. There was a 7/11 just around the corner too which was pretty handy. I could walk to that without feeling like I was going to die.

Let's talk about that heat. I warn you now. It is like a heat I had never felt before. I have been to Spain/Miami/LA etc which were all hot. But Vegas was extreme. I totally understand why it has such an amazing nightlife. Because people don't want to go out during the day.

I spoke to lady who was working on the Chanel counter in the Mall. She told me she was from the UK and had moved to Vegas after marrying an Elvis impersonator - I know right, coolest story ever. She told me that she hated living in Vegas. She had been living there for years and said you never get used to that heat.

When I first got off the bus - Greyhound. Amazing. Totally another story, it was kind of like I couldn't breathe properly. Obviously I got used to it after a few minutes, but the air was incredibly dry. I did go in August, so I'm not sure if it's always that hot. I am totally aware I sound like the most dramatic person ever right now. But it really is hot.

The best thing we did whilst in Vegas was watch the Cirque du Soleil at Treasure Island. It was incredible. We had front row seats and I sat with my mouth wide open in awe throughout the whole thing. I believe we paid around $70 for tickets. But it was the best $70 I spent whilst in America. It was slightly terrifying throughout because the acrobats were literally throwing themselves around, and I was a bit concerned they would fall and land on me, but they didn't so all was okay. You're not allowed to take pictures in the show, so unfortunately I don't have any to show.

One evening we walked to the famous Las Vegas sign. It was the longest walk ever. The heat wasn't too bad in the evening so it was bearable. We had an idea of where we needed to had to see the sign - because obviously you need a picture with this sign when you go to Vegas. We walked, and we walked and we walked. Everything looks a lot closer than it actually is on the strip. Eventually we made it to the sign. It was a lot smaller than we had imagined. By the time we got there it was dark, so our photos weren't as clear as we would have liked. We did cheat on the way back and stop at the first hotel and get a taxi.

Note: Taxis are not allowed to stop on the strip, so you have to go into the hotels, or side roads if you want to get one.

The strip is amazing. It is basically made up of hotels, but all the hotels are very extravagant. Some of them have themes such a New York New York - which you guessed it, has a New York Theme (it also has a roller coaster built around it). There is also a hotel called Paris, which is French themed with the Eiffel Tower built into it. There are other famous hotels such as The Bellagio, The Venetian, MGM, Planet Hollywood and The Wynn. Each hotel is like a little shopping mall when you go inside. They all have huge casinos, bars and restaurants, and anyone can go in. You don't have to be staying in them to visit.

The strip also has loads of shops. There is designer stores, and many more such as The Coca-Cola store and The M&M store.

Whilst walking along the streets there are fans that blow water lightly over you, which is like heaven in the heat - did I mention that it's hot? There is also escalators that take you up onto the bridges to walk over the road. I like to believe it's because it is too hot to walk up stairs.

On one of our days we got a taxi out to the Outlet Mall. I didn't really have enough money to appreciate it. There were outlets for store such Michael Kors, Pacsun, American Apparel and of course sunglasses and perfume shops. We also went to a normal mall, which was located on the strip. It basically had every shop you could want. There were a good selection of restaurants - we went to Johnny Rockets - very entertaining when the staff just break out into dance. There were a good selection of clothing stores, and a few souvenir stores too.

We also visited an all you can eat buffet as we heard they were pretty good in Vegas. We went to one at Planet Hollywood and it was amazing. Pretty much any type of food you could imagine and some super scrummy desserts. At one point, whilst sat alone eating a piece of cake, a man sat on the table next to me starting laughing and said 'you're facial expressions are telling me that's a good cake to choose' - awkward. It was a good cake though.

On a night out in Vegas, we went to Marquee nightclub. We had no idea what we were letting ourselves in for. When we were stood in the queue, two men came up to us and said they needed two women to walk in with them get into the club for free. So we followed them to the front of the queue and sure enough we got in for free. I'm not sure if that's normal. I don't really know what happened there.

The place was massive! I can't even remember what the layout was. It was dark and I had a lot of wine. I do remember that a single vodka and coke was about $15. So we didn't buy many drinks.

The place was packed and by the end of our night it was hard to move, so we left.

We also went on a night out to an ice bar - Minus 5 Ice bar, which was also pretty cool. Not any different from any other ice bar I have been to though. You can pay extra to have bigger coats and hats though. You can see the cool hats below.

I have so many regrets from Vegas.....

I regret no taking more photos. For some reason I barely took any!
I regret not going to a pool party. I think it's a must whilst in Vegas. Unfortunately my leg was too burnt, and getting in a pool or sitting in the sun were just not an option
I regret not going to 'Old Vegas' - I'm not sure what is there, but I have heard it is pretty cool
If I had more money I would have love to have done a helicopter ride, because that would have just been the coolest.
I regret not going in and looking around every hotel. I expect there is so much to see in each!
I regret not going to In n Out Burger - WHY WHY WHY
And finally I really wish I had done a bus tour because I am such a fan of bus tours these days

Basically I am going to have to go back one day. What a shame. Or not.

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Philadelphia

Sunday, 10 July 2016

"In West Philadelphia born and raised, in the playground where I spent most of my days..."

Philly was one of my favourite cities. It is so pretty.

My visit was part of a day trip whilst doing Camp America. Each week we had a day trip out, it was usually to small towns to go to the cinema or Wal-Mart. However one of the final trips was Philadelphia.

We spent the day doing a hop-on hop-off bus tour so we could see all the sights. We only got off the bus for the Rocky Steps, as we didn't have enough time to keep getting off. Everyone was super excited to see the Rocky Steps, and I had no idea what they were until we got there. I was expecting to see some crumbling steps - awkward. For any one else that may not know - although everyone probably does - it is the steps Rocky runs up in the Rocky films. Makes sense now huh?

The view from the top of the Rocky Steps was awesome. It wasn't high, but there was just a road that went straight down, with a park area in between (see pic) and it looked very pretty. There was a statue of Rocky that you can have your photo taken with, and a nice fountain at the top of the steps.

Also whilst there we had a Philly Cheesesteak and OMG YUM. Obviously you can't go to Philadelphia and not have one. Weirdly it was quite hard to find a suitable place to eat, but we did get there in the end. I'm sure it was more a case of we were in the wrong area. There is a picture below, it doesn't do it any justice though. I promise it tastes so much nicer than it looks!!

Whilst on the bus we also saw The Liberty Bell, the LOVE sign and Philadelphia Zoo. Unfortunately my photos from the trip completely suck and I didn't get any.

If you're looking to go shopping whist there, the city centre area isn't amazing. There were some basic stores such as H&M and Victorias Secret (they are pretty much everywhere in the States) and a couple department stores. But the best shopping would be at the mall which was out of town - we didn't visit.

On the bus tour, they pointed out lots of cool things, such as spots from movies, famous home and a building that blends in with the sky. One of the cool things I remember seeing was the street where some scenes from The Sixth Sense are filmed.

We also saw some parts of their university and a sorority house.

Philadelphia is a beautiful place, and I would love to go back and see more. 1 day was enough to see everything - but not enough to explore everywhere. There are some incredible building and some lovely park areas. I would definitely recommend a visit. I'm not sure it there was enough to do there to go on a whole holiday there, however if you're nearby, or planning on going to a few places then definitely go there.

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Paris

Saturday, 18 June 2016

Paris was a top destination on my too-see list, and I finally got to go in February last year.

WARNING: February in Paris is colder than words can describe.

After seeing New York, Paris was next on my to-do list.

The week was great and Paris was not how I had imagined it. Unfortuanly I was pretty ill whilst I was there, and the freezing cold temperatures did not help. But I still had a brilliant time.

On Day 1 we spent the day site seeing. As I can imagine most tourists do, we visited the Eiffel Tower first. The whole process was a lot smoother than I thought it was going to be. The tickets were a reasonable price (an adult ticket is €17 and a youth (12-24) is €14.50) and the queue moved fairly quickly. And once you were up it didn't seem that busy. We only went up to the first and main viewing point, but the views were incredible!!

After picking our next route from a height, we then made our way to the Champs élysées where we visited the beautiful Arc De Triomphe. Fact of the day - the Arc de Triomphe is so big that in 1919 Charles Godefroy actually flew a place through the middle! I never realised that it was quite so big in the pictures.

We spent the rest of the day strolling around the area. Visiting a few shops on the way including Mac, which I have the ability to find wherever I am in the world!
We made our way down to the Louvre, but decided not to go and see the Mona Lisa as we weren't really feeling the queue, or the price. In hindsight, I really wish I had gone in to see it as I think it is such a big part of the Paris sight-seeing.

We decided to then take the subway to find the Moulin Rouge, of course the film had been prep for our trip. The actual place was not what I imagined at all. The area looked a bit seedy and we didn't want to stay long. I'm not really sure why the Moulin Rouge is even a tourist attraction, because there's not really much to see.

The following day we continued our sight seeing. Our first port of call was Notre Dame. I was particularly excited about this trip as The Huncback of Notre Dame is my absolute favourite Disney film - also it's a lot darker than you realise when you watch it as an adult!

It was incredible to see the real life building in front of me, and it was one of my favourite moments from the whole trip!

As the sun was out and it was a bit warmer than the previous day, we decided to get a city tour bus. This made sure we covered all the main sites of Paris, most of which we had seen but it was a nice relaxing way to see the city. The downside was the the sun was misleading, and after a few minutes on the bus we were starting to lose feeling in our fingers and toes and were regretting our desicion. Nevertheless we had paid for this tour so we were going to see this tour. We stuck in it out for the whole journey, and by the end we could barely move. In hindsight we probably could have just sat in the warm on the lower deck, but staying on the top I felt like I achieved something.

We ended the day by seeing the Eiffel Tower at night. Which is way cooler! If you get there on the hour it sparkles for around 5 minutes, which is one of the most beautiful things you will see whilst in Paris.

Our final full day was the most exciting. We went to Disney Land!! The day was very cold again, but we wrapped up warm. The park was surprisingly busy for a cold February day. I had thought it may have been quiet but I was wrong. We had a ticket that included a bus from central Paris to the park. I was a little confusing as to where we had to go, as there were no signs up in the area. The bus was also fairly late. Luckily there was a french lady (who also spoke english) waiting in the same area, and she said we were at the right address and she had got the bus before, so we didn't panic too much.

One of the bad things about going to Disneyland at this time of year was that a lot of the attractions and resturants were closed whilst they 'made improvements'. This was particularly gutting as I had prepped myself to take on Space Mountain, as on my previous Disneyland visit, aged 7, they had turned me away due to my lack of height, but no, it was closed.

We had lunch in Planet Hollywood, which looked like it hadn't had a makeover since I was 7. Let's bear in mind I'm in my 20's now. The foods was average, nothing to rave about unfortunately.

Towards the end of the day we watched the Main Street parade, which was magical. It's amazing how it still gets me emotional at my age, but it was worth standing out in the cold for. I stocked up on numourous Disney gifts from the gift store.

If you're planning on visiting Paris for yourself in February make sure you take warm clothes!

My essentials also included - scarfs, ear muffs, leather gloves, thick socks and lip balm. It was the coldest I think I have ever felt! I did end up getting a nasty cold from my trip so try and make sure you keep warm, as it's not great fun going on a plane when you feel like death warmed up!

If I returned to Paris, I would like to visit some of the museums, as that was something we didn't really have time for. But if I'm completely honest I don't think I will be rushing back - although maybe a summer visit would change my mind. I was glad we had the Disney Tickets, as other than museums, I'm not sure what else we would of done due to the weather, as it was far to cold to explore and get lost.

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The Everglades

Whilst visiting Miami we took a day trip to the Everglades.

We paid $45 dollars for a tour that picked us up from our hotel. The trip takes about half a day, and you have the option of a morning tour and afternoon tour. We went for the morning so we still had the afternoon to do other things.

The trip included an airboat trip and an alligator show.

The airboat tour was brilliant. I was happy to be sat on the end of the row, so I had a good view. Our captain was called Tanya, and she took us on a trip around the waters, on the hunt for alligators. Now and again she went really fast, which was so much fun, and nice and cooling when it was getting super hot. I did lose my hat at one point but luckily it only flew to the back of the boat. And, we did get to see alligators! In fact we got really close to them. It took a while, and I was starting to thick we weren't going to see them. But then they seemed to be everywhere! The tour guide was great, and made sure people on both sides of the boats got a good look.

The alligator show after was a bit bizarre. It consisted of a woman dragging an alligator round by its tail, and at one point, putting her head in it's mouth, whilst insisting that the alligator was not drugged it was just familiar with her. It was pretty uncomfortable to watch, and I didn't enjoy this part. There was an opportunity after to get your photo taken with a small alligator with it's mouth taped shut, however I thought that was kind of cruel, so kept away. I was also super hot and excited to get back into the air conditioned bus.

The place had a souvenir store, a food bit (didn't have chance to see what kind of food but I assume the normal burger and chips etc.) and toilets. Pretty simple, but going on the tour you did not have time for any more.

I definitely recommend this day trip to anyone going to Miami. It was very interesting, and there was lots to see on the boat tour. There were other forms of wildlife seen on the boat tour such as different birds and fish (I know, not as exciting as the alligator), and the tour guide sure knew her stuff and gave us some interesting facts.

Before you go on the air boat tour, you get your photo taken, which they then print and let you have for free at the end - i thought this was pretty god, as I was expecting them to charge about $20 for it.

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Miami

Wednesday, 15 June 2016

I recently went to Miami for a week, and it was incredible. Miami feels like paradise. It is a mixture of a city and a beach and the weather is fantastic. We stayed in the Red South Beach Hotel and were there for 6 days in total.

Miami had always been on my wish list. As you may have noticed, I love visiting America. I think this is due to my obsession with American TV growing up. I went to Orlando when I was 15, so this wasn't my first time to Florida. Miami was very different though.

We did so many different things whilst there, such as a trip to the Everglades, a baseball game, a bus tour and a boat tour. My favourite part of the trip was the sightseeing bus tour and I would recommend this to anyone who is travelling to Miami. The city is so big and there is so much to see, the hop on hop off tour is a perfect way to see as much as possible in an easy and convenient way.

There were 4 routes, and the ticket lasted for 48 hours - and we didn't even complete it all in that time. There were still places I would have liked to have gone and if we had been there longer, I would have considered buying another 2 day ticket. The buses also have a tour guide, who shared loads of cool facts about the different areas.

Some of the tour highlights were:

Bayside

This was the main bus stop where all the routes start. This area is home to the Miami Heat stadium - much to my boyfriends delight. There is also a small shopping complex with numerous restaurants including Hooters, Chilli's, Five Guys, Bubbu Gump Shrimp and Hard Rock Cafe.

There is a small selection of shops, some market style, and some actual shops such as Express, Gap, Footlocker and Guess. Bayside also has a harbour, and it's where you go to start all the Biscayne Bay boat tours - another must do. On these tours, you can see all the homes of the rich and famous - not sure how true these celeb tours actually are, but there are some beaut views and perfect photo ops.

Coconut Grove

Another beautiful area of Miami, big houses, beautiful scenery and a place you can dream of living in. When driving through, look out for the peacocks strolling through. One of the stops is another small shopping area, where you can find The Cheesecake Factory - home of the best cheesecake in the world, and also some delicious food. I had an amazing Californian Cheesesteak sandwich and it was probably my favourite meal I had in Miami. This was followed by a huge chunk of salted caramel cheesecake, which sadly was so big I couldn't finish it. The choice of cheesecake options is amazing, you won't be able to pick!

Little Havana

This is an area we didn't get to explore properly, but I wish we did. It is home to the Cuban community of Miami. As you drive through, you are hit by a delicious smell coming from the numerous food places. If I ever go back, I will definitely head there for a meal. We got off here as it was the closest stop to Marlins Park - home of the Miami Marlins Baseball Team. we were however warned that the neighbourhood was not the safest to walk through, so we got our first Uber to the stadium for a Baseball game.

Art District

Driving through the art district we saw some amazing graffiti art work on the buildings. This is another area we did not have enough time to explore as I think if we had got off at the art district stop, there would have been lots to see. Lots of people got off here, and the place seemed very busy, so I think there was a lot more there than you see driving through. I did however, get some great photos of some brilliant art.

South Beach

This is one of the main tourist attractions in Miami. The bus takes you nice and close to the beach, and you can go to places such as Lincoln Road Mall - so many shops!!, and Espanola Way - a spanish style street with numerous restaurants. We went to a lovely Italian restaurant, where I had a delicious Carbonara accompanied by Cosmopolitans. The prices were a bit higher than other places, but the atmosphere and tasty food makes it worth it. South Beach is also home to shops such as Sephora and DASH. Along Ocean Drive you can find famous places such as The Clevelander and The Sugar Factory. The tour also takes you past some famous hotels and past Millionaires Row, which is 'supposedly' homes to stars such as Justin Bieber, David Beckham and Simon Cowell. South Beach and Ocean Drive also have some amazing art deco style buildings that make the place even more beautiful.