Hello again Las Vegas!

 Tuesday July 8, 2025

This morning we decided to have a nostalgic breakfast. When we used to come to Las Vegas I would always enjoy the waffle with blueberries in a cafe in the Paris Hotel. And yes, it was still tasty this time! Steve had an omelette and we both had a tea and breakfast ended up being $90 U.S. after tax and tip! (That is $124.00 Canadian for those of you doing the currency conversion!) A bit much for breakfast I’d say… and thus the nostalgic breakfast will only happen once! This isn’t out of the range of what things are costing in restaurants here these days. We walked by a coffee counter in our hotel and the coffee was actually $7.99 U.S. for a brewed cup of coffee. Luckily we don’t drink coffee. I think this week is going to be a week of searching for cheap eats or eating sparsely!

Side note! As we were walking to Paris hotel you see many little kiosks and vending machines. This one baffles me. Are you ever just walking along and think, "Hey, I could use a piece of cake?" Well if you have maybe this vending machine is for you?! Personally, if I'm going to eat cake, the calories better be worth it... and I highly doubt that cake from a vending machine is worth it... who knows? Maybe we should try it?!

We decided to do a bit of walking this morning to pick up some stuff we needed from the drugstore and searching out some cheap show tickets.

Side note: I know you are trying to imagine what I could have possibly forgotten when we already packed so much. Turns out I didn't forget those things and later found them (after I had replaced them) in a zipped pocket in my makeup bag!

There is a place on the strip called Tix4Tonight which you can find in little kiosks in multiple locations. Conveniently there was one right outside our hotel. We ended up getting tickets for a couple of shows -  the Prince tribute show, which is called Purple Reign, and one of the new Cirque shows called Mad Apple.

It is VERY hot… and will be all week. I am still learning how to keep myself cool enough so that I don’t feel yucky. Here are some tips for you if you are ever in this situation: drink lots of water, go outside as little as possible, find the sneakiest way to get from building to building (there is a lot of walking in Vegas!), and go hang out in the pool!

Side note: They have built these great skywalks to make crossing the Las Vegas strip more safe. I have three comments on this:

1. Great idea. Safety is important.
2. It is like you are in a hot frying pan while you walk on these concrete skywalks in 42 degree heat!
3. Why, why, why are so many escalators broken… and why are they all the “UP” escalators? As a comedian once said, and Steve likes to remind me, escalators can never be broken… they just become stairs. 🤷

A view towards Paris from Bellagio, on our walk.

One of our shortcuts to avoid the outside is cutting through the Miracle Mile shops in  Planet Hollywood. It’s a mall…in a hotel… on the Las Vegas strip. Anyway, the reason I’m telling you this is because there are many "sample" people trying to lure you into their stores by offering you something (I don’t know what it is they are actually offering me… I’m studiously trying not to make eye contact with them). Anyway, they have many lines to try to engage you in conversation… “I like your dress”, “Where did you get those shoes”, “I think you and I will be best friends”, and my very favourite, as they looked at Steve “Do you want to take one for your bodyguard?” This one made me laugh out loud!

One of the places that we cut through after taking the tram from the Aria to the Bellagio (another excellent shortcut) is the Bellagio conservatory. It never fails to disappoint. This one was as beautiful as always and also quite curious. 

I thought it was beautiful and crazy, and spent a lot of time thinking about what the person who created the zebra thing had going through their head. You can make your own judgment after looking at the photo.

After a cheap dinner from the food court we headed out to the Purple Reign show. We had seen it about 15 (maybe 20?) years ago when it was playing in a bar at Mandalay Bay. Since we won’t get to see the real Prince again, this is a way to relive his music (which is one of our favourites!) in a live setting. We both enjoyed it quite a bit and are glad we went. 

One more side note: (I am loving the side notes!) While we were waiting for the show we stopped in for a cold drink in the little bar beside the theatre. There were two things that just scream Las Vegas, so of course I took photos. 

I made Steve pose for this photo! They had a sign with his name on it!

Where else can you get your photo taken under the giant legs of a showgirl?