My first time in Vegas was not for a Celtic Supporters Convention but just a
2 night stopover on my way home back to Australia after being in Seville
back in 2003.I wasn't even originally going to go there,a bloke from work
when telling him I was going to get a Round The World ticket kept saying I
should go to Las Vegas as well,so I took his advice and got Las Vegas added
to my itinerary.Would you believe that the hotel my travel agent suggested
to book me into was the Riviera,so I went with that.
I flew into Vegas at nightime and could not believe the view coming into
land as the runway runs parallel with the Las Vegas Strip.The first thing I
noticed when leaving the airport to get the shuttle bus to the Riviera was
the heat,it was about 9pm and it was like opening an oven door when I left
the confines of an air conditioned airport.
Got to the Riviera checked in and made the mistake of lying down for an
hour,I woke up and it was daylight ARGH I was only in town for 2 nights and
the first one was lost before it started :-(. I was starving as well so made
my way to the buffet breakfast at the Rivier,whilst walking through I
noticed a lot of folk covered in Tattoos [some head to toe] and piercings
walking around the Riviera,turned out it was the 'American Tattooist's And
Body Piercers Convention' that was being held there.Well as I had a few
piercing back then and with my small Tiochaidh Ar La and Radio Birdman [an
Oz band] tatts on each arm I kinda fitted in :-)
I had about 30 hours left to squeeze in as much as I could,everyhing looks
so close by so decided to take a walk to the Stratosphere Hotel as that
looked interesting,what a mistake that was it might have looked close and a
5 or so minute walk but it took about half an hour or more to walk to it
:-).Went up to the top of the Stratosphere and I could not believe what I
saw from the top of there, no not the rides which are at the top but the
view of how big Las Vegas actually was.I always thought Las Vegas was a 1
street city of Casinos in the middle of the desert and that was that,but the
place was immense and the view went for miles and miles.Got the shuttle back
to the Riviera and decided then to take a walk in the opposite direction to
see all the other hotels down that end of the Strip.
Again all the hotels look close but really they are quite a distance away
but once you get past the Fashion Street Mall [that thing you see that looks
like a spaceship well thats a shopping mall,Fashion Street Mall] you come to
the Treasure Island all the big fancy reorts are past there and you really
don't notice the walks as the thing to do is walk through each place and see
what it is like inside,believe me inside all these places are amazing with
themed shopping precincts and the free shows on the Strip outside the
hotels. Treasure Island has the nightly Pirate Show that goes every hour
till about 11 but you have to get there early after each performance as the
place gets packed .Next down from the Treasure Island is The Mirage and they
have the nightly Volcano Eruption which is impressive,plus inside they have
the White Lions.Think it is then Cesars Palace which is amazing .Next is the
Belagio with the Belagio Fountains which goes every 20 or minute ir so from
about 3pm till about 11pm.Still on thatside of the Strip further down is the
New York New York Hotel and after that it is the Excalubar,Luxor [the
Pyramid] and then Mandalay Bay.
Across the road from New York New York heading back up towards the Riviera
is the MGM Grand.Quite a few shops on that side though still qute a fw
hotels Paris Paris which is directly across the road from the Belagio and
you can take the lift to the top of the Eiffel Tower [it was $9 to go up in
2009] but again you get a great view of the Strip plus you are directly
above the Belagio Fountains which is good to see from there as well but you
don't get to hear the music that goes with the fountains because you are
that high up.
The Venetian Hotel is the one that has the 2 Gondola's inside and
outside.Most time you cannot just roll up and hope to take a ride you have
to purchase a ticket and they tell you what time to come back which is
usually an hour or so.I can thouroghly recommend doing both Gondolas.They
even sing to you but the fckers only seem to know two songs 'Santa Lucia'
and 'O Sole Mio' I did ask one time when at the 2007 Convention 'Haw Jimmy
Gonnie gie us "Con Te Partiro' :-) or even Nessun Dorma,at least it wasn't
'Haw Jimmy Gonnie Gie Us Ten Guitars' surely some wag familiar with the Billy
Connolly routine would have asked that one :-) Anyway asked if he knew 'Con
Te Partiro' he looked kinda shocked till I started to spell it out "No not
C.U.N........ " it is "C.O.N. T.... ' ". I even hummed it to him and said
it is a famous Italian song by Andre Boccelli that has been redone in
English by quite a few singers as Time To Say Goodbye . He had never even
heard of Andre Bocelli or the song,so got stuck again with Santa Lucia :-(
The best and cheapest way to get along the Strip is to take the 'Deuce' the
double decker bus that runs along the strip 24/7 from Freemont Street and
turns back again at the MGM Grand a singleticket is a few bucks where a 24
ticket is $7 which you buy on the bus.There is a 72 hour ticket that costs
$15 but you can only purchase them from the ticket machines and there is
only 2 of them on the Strip ,one is directly across from the Riviera at the
bus stop outside 'Slots Of Fun' you have MacDonalds at one side and Circus
Circus the other side.The other machine is at the bus stop just outside the
MGM Grand.
There is a million things to see and do in Vegas one of the best places to
give an idea what to do and see is http://www.viator.com/las-vegas-tours/d684-ttd?pref=02&aid=g3320
Also http://www.vegas.com/shows/ for to get an idea what productions
and concerts are on but there are plenty of tour sellers all along the strip including a few
near the Riviera, there is one just outside to the left when you step onto
the Strip on the corner next to the Peppermill Lounge which you will likely
get cheaper.
Best show to see is deffo Cirque Du Soliels LOVE at the Mirage I saw it in
2009 and will be going to see it again in June as will be going to see their
new production ELVIS at the new Aria Resort.Any Cirque Du Soliel production
is quality.
Also if you want to see the famous 'Welcome To Las Vegas' sign to get a
photo taken at ,it is in the niddle of a traffic island just past the
Mandalay Bay Hotel on Las Vegas Blvd.A bit of a walk but one of the best
ways is to take the free monorail from the Excalubar Hotel to the Mandalay
Bay Hotel. There is two monorails at the Excalubar one that goes direct to
the Mandalay Bay or the other one that stops at the Luxor first.Then after
that walk onto Las Vegas Blvd and it is maybe a 5/10 minute walk south,or
jsut get a taxi.
All this rambling on and I haven't even touched on the North American Celtic
Supporters Club's Las Vegas Conventions :-) I fell in love with the place in
03 and made it my point I was going to go back again. I made 2007 my goal to
get to a Convention,and what a Convention it was.It was the 40th Anniversary
of Lisbon and the whole surving squad [except John Clark who was with Celtic
doing their pre season training] and the widows of Ronnie,Bobby and 'The Wee
Man' down in Viewpark it wasn't Jinky it was either 'The Wee Man' or 'The
Wee Bastard' told this to Agnes Johnstone in Vegas and she told me the week
before she was down at his grave and someone else was there and said to her
that he was paying his respects to the 'Wee Fucker' so Agnes said he is now
known as the 'Wee Fucker' as well :-).
I arrived in Vegas for the 07 Convention after criss crossing the
international date line a couple of times Sydney to Auckland in New Zealand
then onto Rarotonga,had to do a Google search and discovered it was in the
Cook Islands,one of these airports that you used to see back on the old B/W
TV shows like The Saint or Dangerman thatched covered roofs etc and that is
not kidding.Left on the Saturday flew into a Sunday back into a Saturday
[The Pilot told us that we flew back in time for an hour or so :-)] and
then back into a Sunday.Arrived in LA for a couple of hours then arrived in
Vegas think it took about 30 hours,the first person I bumped into when going
to Check in at the Riviera was Tam Donnelly.
Yes I was knackered but I was deffo not going to do what I did the first
time in Vegas and that was lie down for a hour or so.Just a quick shower and
shave and somthing to eat and then down to the Bar. I discovered the name of
the bar was the 'Splash Bar' the place was buzzing it was like being in busy
pub before a Celtic game.Then there was another exclusive Celtic bar set up
just across from the Splash Bar and it was buzzing in there as well.Started
talking to someone who introduced himself as Jimmy Bradley and said he came
from Belshill,told him I had two cousins married to two sisters called
Bradley from Bellshill,he named them all straight away and told me he was
the girl's uncle.It was like that almost every day when talking to a
stranger turned out you knew the same people or in some case had met them
before.
Was having a drink in the Celtic Lounge when someone shouted 'Skippy' turned
out when I went to Lisbon for the Benfica v Celtic game 7 months before on
the Saltmarket bus this guy was on the bus as well.Another guy told me he
had been in Sydney four years before for a holiday and was in our Club for a
meeting,it wasnt until he said he was from the London Underground CSC that I
said I remembered him because when he got back home it was to me he posted
a polo shirt and a couple of badges.Like I say it was like that everyday
just start talking to strangers and more than likely you will have common
link.
It was the same at the 2009 Convention was drinking with a couple from the
Bronx CSC she came from Calderbank and knew some of my family and she used
to pal about with one of my older cousins when she was younger.He came from
New Stevenston and lived on the same street as where my grandparents lived
and where my mum was brought up.During that wee drink an old guy came up and
asked us how to phone Glasgow.Invited him to join our company and got
talking I said I was from Sydney[nobody has ever heard of Wollongong so I
just say I'm from Sydney] .Anyway he says he was in Sydney and that his son
lives in French's Forrest [Suburb in Sydney] I said I know someone from the
CSC who lives in French's Forrest his name isn't John Chalmers by any
chance,turns out it was.I had John's number in my phone but phoning Oz with
my Oz SIM in the USA is cost prohibitive,I was only using it for
texting.Anyway the couple from the Bronx CSC had one of those cheap
international calling cards for phoning Scotland from the US so we used
their phone and I called John I told him I was in Las Vegas and had someone
here who wanted to talk to him so put his father on to talk to him.
The best place for a Celtic atmosphere was the Splash Bar it was going 24/7
and many an early morning there would be a sing song going on.Unfortunatly
at the 2009 Convention The Splash Bar was gone and the other bar there just
didn't have the same atmosphere,but for the upcoming Convention there will
be the Queen Vic Pub run by expats inside the Riviera that is open 24/7 and
is also the home of the Las Vegas CSC so I think that place is going to be
jumping 24/7.
At the Huns Nere'day game 6 months before the 2009 Convention I wore a
Celtic Santa hat to the game at our venue Cheers in Sydney,saw these two
lassies with Vegas 07 on their Celtic tops so started to talk to then and
said I was there as well and was going again in June. They said they were
also going again after they finished back packing around Australia.One of
them kept asking for my Celtic Santa hat but I wouldn't give her it, my
sister only got it for me a couple of weeks before when she was home on
holiday.I finally gave in and said I will give it to her on the proviso I
get it back in Vegas which she agreed to.Jump forward to Vegas on the Sunday
I went up to the Celtic Lounge that was upstairs and saw her sat there so
went over and said 'Where's my fckn hat :-)" She jumped up and kept saying
to her family who were all there "What did I say a few minutes ago " some
one said you took somebodys Santa hat in Australia and you have to give him
it back in Vegas" So she jumped up saying 'this is him this is him".She ran
to her room and brought back and gave me my hat back :-).I'm going to bring
the hat with me to the upcoming Convention and if she is there I will give
it back to her.If I don't see her and you see a lassie with one of those
Corked Aussie hats let me know as she wore that one almost every day at the
Convention.
