| Las Vegas is a long way from Europe. | | | | sight, was strange. It was August, so the |
| Thirty-five years ago, I had seen the place | | | | journey from one casino to the next involved |
| on TV, and wanted to go there. When you're | | | | leaving one very cool casino and entering |
| 22, Vegas has a magnetic pull.I was on a | | | | what seemed like the very hot outlet of a |
| tight budget, so my girlfriend and I bought | | | | giant hair drier, before escaping once more |
| the cheapest air tickets we could find to the | | | | into the next.We quickly learned where to eat |
| west coast, together with vouchers to stay in | | | | well for practically nothing, if you didn't |
| cheap motels. We pre-booked the cheapest | | | | mind standing in line for a while. It was |
| rental car we could and then complained about | | | | possible to drink cocktails free 24 hours a |
| it at the airport pick-up, so they gave us a | | | | day, just by putting a coin in a slot |
| free upgrade to a more expensive model.In San | | | | whenever you caught sight of a |
| Francisco, we looked at the map. Being used | | | | waitress.Circus Circus was just amazing - |
| to UK road maps, which were on a bigger | | | | high wire and trapeze artists performing |
| scale, the distance from San Francisco to Las | | | | right over the heads of the folk on the |
| Vegas looked like a half-day drive - so we | | | | gambling floor.For us, the nightly |
| left in the early afternoon. Late in the | | | | entertainment was the most enjoyable part of |
| evening, having driven longer than was good | | | | our stay. We saw the Four Tops one night and |
| for me, tired and probably dangerous, we saw | | | | Diana Ross on another and at a tiny fraction |
| the great glow of Vegas ahead in the desert. | | | | of the price we would have paid elsewhere - |
| I felt like I was on a different planet.It | | | | especially in Europe.I have returned to Vegas |
| was midnight when we checked in to the | | | | twice more over the years and now feel its |
| Vagabond Motel on the Strip. The lady owner | | | | time to get back again. My best tip for |
| insisted on chatting to us for half an hour, | | | | European visitors arriving in the summer, |
| even though we just needed urgent sleep. She | | | | which is low season in Las Vegas, is not to |
| told us about the high number of unsolved | | | | make advance hotel reservations. If you tune |
| homicides in the area and the numerous bodies | | | | in to local radio when you arrive, you hear |
| regularly found in the desert on the edge of | | | | numerous casinos competing with each other by |
| the city. We probably wouldn't have slept if | | | | making really great offers. On two separate |
| we hadn't been so tired.Next day, we hit the | | | | visits, I got a high-class room in a casino |
| town. We set a limit on our gambling | | | | for a fraction of the normal price, with a |
| expenditure and made it last. I think we | | | | free or reduced-price show and free gambling |
| just about broke even, by careful betting. | | | | thrown in!Las Vegas is a great vacation |
| We loved the excitement, the constant buzz, | | | | destination for a short break and I'm ready |
| the timelessness. Being in air-conditioned, | | | | to go back. |
| artificially lit buildings, with no clocks in | | | | |