A California trip for a week: Las Vegas

I’m back to talk about my California trip! The last city I told you about was San Francisco now it’s Las Vegas time baby! From San Francisco to Las Vegas it takes about 12h of Flixbus and it shouldn’t cost more than $20. It’s better to travel at night so you can actually sleep and see the sunrise in the Nevada desert. My friend and I spent there two nights and three days. We wanted to see the Grand Canyon with our own car – that we rented, as usual, with Enterprise, but the trip was very long. 

Mojave Desert

So, we left San Francisco at about 10 pm and we arrived in Vegas at 10 am circa. Luckily, the stop is near the Strip, which is the main street of the city and we were staying at the Best Western Plus Casino Royale. The hotel is quite good and it has a perfect location. As you can imagine Vegas it’s just about crazy parties and gambling. Each hotel has a casino and it’s decorated in a particular way, like the one in the picture. Las Vegas, also known as the Sin City is the most populated city in the state of Nevada and when you go there you ask you how it’s possible!

Las Vegas Strip

Las Vegas is practically just about visiting casinos and hotels, if you have money to lose you can try gambling or you can simply shop, up to you guys! I tried gambling some dollars and I always lost. During Christmas time the hotels were super decorated and it seemed a bit like a wonderland! The most beautiful one was The Wynn. Then, you can’t miss The Venetian Resort, The Caesars Palace, and The Bellagio were in the pools every 15 minutes you can see the fountains show of the crazy huge pool in front of the hotel. We can say that the beauty of this city is that in one day you can go from the USA to Paris, and Venice and Egypt, and then back to New York City, and this just thanks to these crazy hotels.

The Bellagio

Others cute places worth to mention are The Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel & Resort, where you can admire flamingos; the Cosmopolitan with the largest Swarovski chandelier you will ever see in your life; Luxor Hotel where you can feel as being in Egypt and the magic world of Excalibur and the sword in the rock.

The Caesars Palace

If you wanna go to a club keep your eyes open during the day because it’s really easy to meet some promoter that will give you free entry to some clubs. The had the chance to go to the famous Omnia Club, the biggest club I have ever seen where Martin Garrix or Calvin Harris usually are the DJs. If you are asking for places where to eat well I can only suggest you El Segundo Sol where you can find frozen margaritas and bottomless chips with sauces at just $4 (best thing ever done!), and Bruxie, where you can try fried chicken and waffle sandwiches. I know it can sound gross but it’s actually quite tasty. 

The last but not least thing to see in Vegas is the well-known Welcome Sign which is right next the airport! Better during the day rather than night. In both cases you will have to queue to take a picture!

Las Vegas Fabulous Sign

But the best part is coming now. During these three days we decided to visit a desert. The Grand Canyon was a very long trip, and pay for something already organized was a lot of money, so we chose The Valley of Fire State Park. I think this was one of the greatest experience of my life among the whole ones I did while I was in the USA. From Vegas it takes about 2h to get there and you will spend this route in the middle of the desert. It was kind of scaring seeing nothing and no-one around but at the same time you could totally feel the power and the infinity of the nature.

The Valley of Fire State Park

To enter the park you will have to pay $10 which is really good, and then you are good to go. You can visit it hiking or going to the points of interest with your car. Take with you loads of water and a sweater because even if it’s winter you will switch from a hot temperature to a low one in seconds. Plus be careful not to get lost as there is no reception for most of the time. The park is famous for its bright red Aztec sandstone and it contains ancient, petrified trees dating back more than 2,000 years. While being there you can enjoy a silence we are not used to it anymore. You totally close your mouth and just listen to nothing. The feeling is precious and not replicable. 

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If you are lucky during the visit you can also encounter some animals! I saw the kangaroo rat, that can seem gross but this baby was actually a cutie pie similar to the Cinderella mice in the Disney cartoon. At the end of the day you will feel filled up with a great positive energy from this experience, something you will never forget. Before going back to Vegas my friend and I stopped to another weird place in the middle of the desert: Seven Magic Mountains, a two-year public art installation by renowned Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone. Seven Magic Mountains offers a creative critique of the simulacra of destinations like Las Vegas. According to Rondinone, the location is physically and symbolically mid-way between the natural and the artificial: the natural is expressed by the mountain ranges, desert, and Jean Dry Lake backdrop, and the artificial is expressed by the highway and the constant flow of traffic between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Seven Magic Mountains