Walgreens, The Hidden Gem

There is a Walgreens drug store along The Strip between The Venetian and The Palazzo. This is an excellent place to save big bucks on snacks and bottled water.

The Venetian

After a quick shuttle ride from the airport, we were delivered to the grand entrance to the Venetian hotel. This hotel along with its sister, The Palazzo, have 7,000 rooms! This is a sizeable complex.

I will be honest with you, the first thing I noticed when I got inside was the air quality. The casino is in the same area as the check-in desk, so the smokey air wafted through the area. Don't let that discourage you, though. Once we got off the elevator near our room, the air was fresh and clean and the noise of the casino was gone. The air quality in the room was excellent.

The front desk people as well as the concierge were very helpful. They were able to help us with all of our needs in a friendly manner. They were really a joy to work with.

If you go to this resort, take some time to look around and notice their attention to detail with the artwork and decorations. It is also fun to take a gondola ride (and much less expensive than in Venice!) The gondoliers will also serenade you during your journey.

The shopping is shared between the Venetian and the Palazzo and it is huge! There are all sorts of stores (high end as well as souvenier) and restaurants. You can lose yourself in there for many hours.

LV Airport Transportation

For some reason, hotels are not allowed to have shuttle buses bring people to and from the airport. There are a couple of shuttle services and the going rate right now is $6 per person one way cash only. The strip isn't very far from the airport so I don't think a cab ride might be worth checking out.

Leaving Bellingham

Judy and I spent Easter with family near Bellingham so we decided to fly out of there. We got a non-stop flight on Alaska Airlines. They pretty much fly to there or Seattle. I hear they are adding a non-stop to Prortland this summer. Allegiant Air also flies out of Bellingham to several destinations.

I love flying out of small airports. Our trip through security took a matter of seconds.

Viva Las Vegas

We spent spring break in Las Vegas and had a fantastic time. I recently studied to become a Vegas Destination Speciaist for our travel business, so I thought I should go and check it out firsthand. The next several blogs will document the high points of our trip.

Pub Food

We really enjoy dining in pubs when we are in London. The food has been quite varied from the usual shepherd's pie and fish & chips to wild boar, venison, lamb, salmon, and, one of our favorites, arugula with crayfish, pine nuts, avocado, capers, and olive oil. That was one tasty salad. Typically you find a table at one of these establishments then go up to the bar to order and pay. They will then bring your order to your table when it is ready. We like this because when we are finished, we just leave instead of waiting around to pay.

One thing we learned this trip was there can be a difference between the time they open and the time they start serving food. I guess they open their doors early to start serving drinks.

Our favorite pub is Pride of Paddington which is catty-corner to the South from the paddington station. The food is good and the people are friendly.

Oyster Cards - The best deal for getting around London by transit

Although you can still use cash to get around on the transit system in London, an Oyster Card is really the best deal. There is a nominal charge to purchase a card and you can "Top Up" your account with cash. When you use the card on the transit system, the charge is automatically deducted from your account. The good deal is that they discount the fares for card users. What would normally be a 4 pound tube ride is only 1.6 pounds on the oyster card. Buses which normally cost 2 pounds per trip are 1 pound on the card. Another feature is that when the fares reach a certain amount during the day, you aren't charged any more because the Oyster card then becomes a day-pass. That amount varies depending upon where, when, and how you have traveled, but is less than buying a day-pass up front. This way you don't need to figure out your travels ahead of time to determine if a day-pass would be more economical.

What I have done is run the balance of my account low toward the end of my trip and add cash as I need to during my last day (there are machines at every tube station) and try to end that last day with a zero balance. So far I have been successful. If you don't want to do that figuring, don't worry: the money left on your account does not expire and you can us it the next time you are in London.