Birthday Bash Day

Bellagio Conservatory Chinese Statue
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We woke this morning to another bleak and rainy day, but this was not going to ruin this day – the big Birthday Bash day for my friend Paula. It was her dream to celebrate her 40^th in Vegas and here we all were. The plan for the group was to meet for lunch at 2pm at the Bellagio Buffet. Since Joe has developed a bad cold we decided it was better to stay in and rest and start packing our bags for our departure the next day. This was a challange with all the new clothes that I have bought.

Conservatory Pandas
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Anyway, after the brief dry taxi ride over the road to the Bellagio, we met up with the others for lunch. Much scrumptious food was had by all and I limited myself to only four desserts!! After this while others headed back to their room to pack, Joe and I wandered around to the Bellagio Conservatory, expecting to have a look at their glass garden. We were surprised when we arrived to see the conservatory filled with a giant chinese figure, a bopping head tiger and red chinese lanterns. There was also some panda sculpted out of plants which was curious to look at.

Who's that in the hummer!

World's Largest Chocolate Fountain
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We then wandered around the back of the conservatory to what looked like a pastry shop, with some single-serve pastries that were to die for. If I hadn’t eaten so many desserts at the buffet I would have been tempted to have a coffee and one of these pieces of art. In the right front of the shop was a large chocolate fountain. It was a sculpture with many, many layers of glass platters with light, white and dark chocolate spilling over their edges onto lower level platters until the chocolate grounded in large shells at the bottom – and then somehow funnelled back up to the top. On the wall next to the fountain was the Guiness Book of Records certificate for the World’s Largest Chocolate Fountain. After this we returned to the hotel and started packing our bags.

Birthday Girl
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The plan for the night was to meet the rest of the group at 6.15pm up in the birthday girls’ suite for pre-party drinks. We were to byo drinks and I decided to buy a large Eiffel tower filled with Pina-Colda to sip on during the evening. On arrival I was presented with a bright pink boa – all the girls were to wear one during the evening.  At just before 7pm we all headed to the North door at the Paris and were picked up by a stretch hummer. Paula was excited at this treat I had organised, with its changing colour interior lights. With all 14 of us piling in, it wasn’t long before the windows fogged up from our heavy breathing.

Freemont Street
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First stop for the night was the old Vegas strip – Freemont Street. Even though this is my third trip to Vegas this was the first time I had been here. The buildings here were small but the lights were bright and plentiful. Here there were more ads for gentlemen’s and topless bars. The mall area is covered full-length with the world’s largest screen. Our timing was great with us arriving in time to see the hourly show at 8pm. Every now and then large blobs of water plopped on our heads from above from the earlier rain in the evening. The group hung around here for a while looking in souvenir shops and wandering up and down the mall looking at the bars and shops. I think we left here about 9pm and headed for a cruise down the strip. This took a while with the traffic but our destination was the Welcome to Las Vegas sign where we all got out and took photos.

Me and my Cocktail with Paula at Freemont Street
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After this, we all agreed to head for the Venetian Hotel, as none of the group had managed to get here during the previous days, and this is one place you cannot miss. The ceilings in here are painted like the inside of an Italian cathedral, and we had to fight our way through the crowds of young people lining up to get into the popular Tao nightclub. Once through this, we wandered down past the exclusive shops to where the indoor first floor canal started. Gondolas were being pushed along by gondoliers serenading their passengers while floating under the small bridges that connected the two sides of the canals – just like in Venice. We made our way to the central area – aptly named Marcs Square, where I decided to try some Gelato – yumm! Time was limited, and we made our way back to the pick-up point at 10:45pm. Four of the group decided to try the gondola ride and this delayed their arrival slightly, but we all managed to be in the limo by 10:55pm and were back at the Paris by the planned 11pm finish time. We all agreed it had been a great night and Paula didn’t want the night to end.

Paula and Emmy in the front of the stretch Hummer
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With Joe’s head clogging up with his cold, he headed back to the room, while I went back to Paula’s suite with the other girls. The remaining guys were told to go and have fun, and we fully expected them to head for the nearest girly bar. Us girls sat around enjoying a drink and a chat for a while, but by 1am I decided I should return to my room as we had to be up at 6am in the morning to be ready in time for our shuttle pick-up to the airport. With the rest of the group heading home tomorrow and us going to Washington, hugs and kisses and best travel wishes were exchanged by all. A good end to a great day.