Las Vegas: Sure it's family friendly...

Las Vegas, the infamous city of sin where, “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”.  Since I visited on a Tuesday through Thursday for work though, I can’t fully relate.  It was fun, don’t get me wrong, but I am going to have to go back for the traditional madness that ensues.  (I was there for work after-all.)

Mural in the Venetian

This all being said, I did drink - quite a bit - in the streets - as everyone meeting the legal age of 21 should.  Even if you aren’t going out for a wild night or decide to believe that the moniker of being family friendly is true, there is enough extravagance to take in that it won’t be difficult to enjoy a simple walk down the strip.  And, in our case, make a quick stop at a casino whenever you need a refill.  As a side note, the casinos seem close together until you start walking.  To say the least, we didn’t have to skip a single casino due to an unfinished drink.

In all reality, I just wanted to walk the strip, see the city a bit, and find a big slot machine to pull the handle on.  If it was not big, and did not have a handle to pull, I was not interested.  We stayed at the Mirage in between Treasure Island (TI) and Caesar’s Palace right in the middle of it all.  I was fortunate to have been traveling with some seasoned Las Vegas pros who could show us youngins the ropes, or in this case, inform us of what Casino we were even in. 

I found my big slot machine - and won too!

During our two nights of roaming we managed to visit TI, Caesars Palace, the Bellagio, The Venetian, Margarita Ville, and more, including a street corner bar or two for refills.   The architecture, as expected, was extravagant and the street scene exactly as you would image it.  And don’t be surprised to run into kids, grandparents, young 20 somethings and anyone in between, dressed from casual attire to high-rolling suits.

I found eating in general was over-priced, not a surprise, but ultimately provided a pretty enjoyable experience.   (I had never cooked thin slices of steak on a very hot rock before.)   However, I unfortunately wasn’t able to experience one of Las Vegas’ infamous buffets.  That will definitely happen the next time I visit!

Las Vegas, NV

Lesson Learned: if you do not smoke cigars (or in general) and do not particularly enjoy dairy, deciding to smoke your own cigar and drink white Russians all night may or may not leave you with a good experience in a random casino bathroom.  Memorable - yes, good – no

Mixing It Up!

I am so far behind, that I have decided to share my experiences as I am able rather than try to keep them in consecutive order.  I may go back and re-date them in the future (I think I can do that), but until then just note that one post may have happened a year ago and the very next post may have happened yesterday.  Fun right?!

Enjoy - and I hope that these posts ignite your feeling of wanderlust, and even more-so, provide the needed boost to get you out there exploring too!

Cheers!

     Quillyn

A beautiful day in Chicago, IL USA

London: Between Two Bridges

I knew as soon as I arrived that London was much bigger and busier than anywhere else I had been in the U.K.  I could hardly find my way out of the train station at first, but once I figured it out, the subway, also known as the London Underground or “the Tube”, was very easy to navigate.  Not to mention having enjoyable line names such as Bakerloo, Jubilee and Piccadilly.

One of the best things in life is an encounter with an old friend.  Well, I had the opportunity to meet with a group of friends that I hadn’t seen in over 7 years and that I had also met in another part of the world entirely!  Imagine an Ecuadorian, a German, and an American all meeting in London after originally meeting in Brazil.  It was destined to be a good time!

Catching up with Pato and Katha in London, England

When I first arrived I checked into my hostel, St. Christopher’s Village, and was met soon after by my dear friends Pato and Katha.  The hostel was near the London and Tower Bridges so we took a walk along the waterfront between the two.  It was a beautiful night and in addition to the excitement of catching up with old friends we were also fortunate to see the Tower Bridge rise below a nearly full moon.  I’m not certain of how often the bridge rises, but it was impressive.  I am continually amazed with both architecture and engineering, and bridges can be such a quintessential example of both.

Tower Bridge in London, England

We caught up and had a couple drinks before Katha and her boyfriend, who spent the day travelling as well, had to call it a night.  We were near the London Bridge, and I believe that there was a university close by as it was a pretty lively area with many young people out and about.  From there, Pato and I met up with some of his friends, who were also in London for University, and they took me out for an amazing night with a twist of Latin American culture.   Who would have thought I would be salsa dancing until the wee hours of the morning in London!

Hostelling

The best travel experience is always going to relate to the people you are with, or meet along the way.  I don’t believe you can have any stories without the lives and adventures of others intertwined.  For this reason, I love hostels.  Staying in them really completed the whole Euro-trip experience for me because I was able to meet people of all ages, from all around the world, who were in the same locals, for different reasons.  And in hostels, people are generally out for adventure, which makes them even more interesting to meet.

Wonderful ladies I met in a hostel in Paris - we were actually all traveling solo too!

There are many ways to find a hostel, but I had an amazing experience with Hostelworld.com.  So much so that I don’t mind promoting the site without reserve.  They have pictures, recent reviews, pricing, city maps, directions from wherever you are arriving from and you can book your reservation right there.  I was able to find some excellent hostels and I highly credit this site for me not getting bed bugs and/or not being miles away from where I wanted to be.  In addition, I met some incredible people and learned about local spots I would never have known to visit!

Yes! Lisbon Hostel in Portugal

If you are a little nervous about hostels just from what you've heard, read the reviews and look at the pictures.  What I found was that many of the bunk beds had curtains so you could have a little privacy, almost every hostel had lockers available for you to lock your stuff in, and many even had kitchens which is very helpful when you are on a budget.  Not to mention, pretty much every hostel has a social area and internet access.  Of course, I was in Europe, so this may not apply everywhere.  My one hostel experience in Brazil was just as good though.

Oasis Backpacker's Hostel in Sevilla, Spain

If you want to meet other travelers, learn about free tours, get local insights, and don’t mind a bunk bed, a hostel may be exactly what you are looking for!

Stonehenge via Mad Max

In Lacock, UK

Stonehenge is only about an hour away from Bath, and there was no way I was going to pass up the opportunity to see it.   Little did I realize that Stonehenge wouldn’t even be the best part of the tour!   This is one of the very few things that I booked before I left (note my previous post.)

I took the ‘Stonehenge and Avebury Stone Circles Full Day Tour’ with Mad Max Tours, and if you’ve never been you may be surprised to find that we only spent 45 minutes at Stonehenge.  To start, the tour guide was excellent!  (I feel awful for not recalling his name, but being that I’m writing this a year later, I don’t feel THAT bad.)

Stonehenge

Interesting fact: The name Stonehenge actually has a meaning.  A henge is a big ditch around a circular flat, typically with a monument of some sort inside.  So while what we all notice at first glance are the big boulders, if you look again, you’ll also see a ‘henge’ around them, hence ‘stone-henge’.  There are archeological studies that have determined there was also a ‘wood-henge’ located there before Stonehenge.

Avebury

Stonehenge was cool to visit and take pictures with, but what was really impressive was where we went next, Avebury.  Avebury is basically an enormous ‘Stone-henge’ with a town located inside.   It was created sometime around 2600 BC.  Unfortunately, it was in large part destroyed in the 1300’s at the request of the local preist.  What remains are a small percentage of the original stones still standing, a portion that had been tipped over repositioned, and the missing remainder identified with waist high cement markers.   And with a henge about 35 feet deep!  Stonehenge was curious but Avebury was surreal.

Henge at Avebury

Lacock

Our next stop was Lacock, a small, quintessentially English city owned by The National Trust. This was our lunch stop as well, and I had the most amazing meal at ‘The George Inn.’  I don’t recall exactly what it was, but it was the Special of the Day and I don’t think you could find a more filling, think of your mom’s cooking on a cold day, incredibly delicious dish.   Not to mention the Inn has a history dating back to 1361 and was brimming with English charm.  On a fun note, Lacock is often used as a filming location, and can be seen in such films as Harry Potter and BBC’s Pride and Prejudice.  Another fun fact: the first photographic negative was created there over 175 years ago!

Corner in Lacock Village

The tour took us all around the Cotswolds, which is a region of England that is known to be ‘quintessentially English’ and that has retained its traditional charm and historical feel.  As we drove around we also passed some crop circles, the Wiltshire White Horses, and through Castle Combe.  Castle Combe in short, is a single street designated as the ‘Prettiest Village in England.’  One of my favorite things to see though were the traditional thatched roofs – yes they still have them!  We were even lucky enough to see a thatcher at work!

Garden in Castle Combe

I met some really remarkable people on the tour and would highly recommend if you are in the region to take a tour with Mad Max.  Everything we saw was amazing, the trip was well organized and the tour guide was a blast!