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Adult's Disneyland, Air Canada, Bellagio, Bellagio fountains, Best steak Vegas, Caesar's Palace, Casino, clubs in Vegas, Cocktails, Deacon's Corner, Golden Nugget, House of Blues Vegas, Las Vegas, Lobster Bisque, Luxor, m&m world, Mandalay Bay, Mandarin Bar, Michael Jackson One Cirque Du Soleil, multigrain pancakes, Pyramid Cafe, Steakhouse Vegas, The New York hotel, The Strip, The Venetian, travelling, Vic and Anthony's
It’s been a fair bit of time since my last blog post therefore I wanted to get back into it and thought a good way would be to document the trip Craig and I just took for his 30th Birthday.
Being a huge fan of Poker since he was about 15, Craig had always wanted to go to Vegas so before coming out to Canada we were planning a trip we would do together that would hopefully involve Vegas and we managed to work out a great 14 day trip which not only included Vegas but meant that he could be there for his birthday! The trip we planned included Vancouver, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Seattle and finally Portland.The country I was most excited about visiting was San Francisco but I was surprised to find I actually preferred the others, I think solely for the food!
After having a couple of days in Vancouver which started off amazingly with a trip to Kitsilano beach followed by a friends bbq it was overshadowed slightly by a stressful day of moving house therefore the knowledge that we were going on a ten day adventure soon after helped ease the stress from that day.
So to begin with, destination one, and the place where we celebrated Craig’s 30th birthday it would have to start in Vegas! You might either love or hate Vegas but you most certainly will never forget it. I stayed two nights there five years ago when I did Trek America and I can still picture vividly driving through the city and looking up at the all the huge billboards, the vast amount of hotels, casinos especially the New York hotel with the roller coaster coming out of the top and Statue of Liberty replica. Vegas is as some people call it “An Adults Disneyland”.
We flew out on the 1st June and had a quick and really good experience with Air Canada. I had previously called up to see if they could possibly make an announcement to say Happy Birthday to Craig on the plane and spoke to this lovely woman who said she would work something out. She kept me on hold for 15 minutes so in the end I had to cut her off and then I thought to myself I probably should’ve just waited however a few minutes later she called me back and said that she would try her best and would email me when she had found out what they could do. Unfortunately I never heard from her again, however, on the plane I spoke to the flight attendant and they were extremely accommodating. As Craig was taking out his wallet to order a rum and ginger and I was trying to persuade him to just buy a coke the lovely ladies brought over a little bottle of prosecco and wished him Happy Birthday. Soon after an announcement was made which was pretty hilarious as lots of people on the plane turned around and were staring and wishing Craig Happy 30th.
We arrived in Las Vegas after a two and half hour flight and stepped off the plane into 32 degrees heat. Our hotel was fairly close to the airport so we just jumped in a cab and were at Mandalay Bay within twenty minutes. The shiny gold beautiful building was big enough to simply stay in for a week! Decked out with four swimming pools, a wave pool (we tried this and it had one wave very 90 seconds -crazy!) a nightclub, casino, restaurants, bars and more it was incredible value for money and a fantastic choice to stay. Although located at the end of the strip we found it was close to many of the other bars and restaurants we wanted to try out (with the exception of Craig’s birthday dinner) so it worked in our favour.
As you can imagine, with the move to Vancouver, things have been pretty busy for the last few weeks. I’ve been working long shifts on the show Arrow, the longest one being 17 hours so far and therefore just have not had much time to do my favourite thing, that being baking. Not only have I not the time, I don’t have any of the utensils yet. The flat I moved into is quite new so we just about have cutlery and some saucepans. It’s funny when you move into a new place, how at first you think you have enough to get by and gradually over time you realise what you have missed. The other night I steamed my vegetables and went into the cupboard to look for a drainer, we didn’t have one. I am therefore resting my saucepan filled with hot water against a plate to let the water run down and hope that my peas don’t escape with it. I didn’t think I’d miss baking as much as I do but I’ve always loved it and found I look forward to it. I also miss the cake club I used to go too and the fun conversations with the girls. My plan is to set one up whilst I’m here and run it for a few months so will keep you posted with that! It will be a lovely way to meet people and keep the tradition going. 
It’s only 3 days until I fly off to Vancouver and I can definitely say that the last two weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions! Since handing my notice in at work, my head has been backwards and forwards wondering if I’ve made the right decision, questioning why I’ve been wanting to try moving to Vancouver for a period of time and second guessing quite a lot. At the same time 2015 has also been scary but exciting, liberating and full of incredible moments spent with loved ones and friends that i have appreciated more than I think I would’ve done if I did not have this trip planned.
I applied for the visa last year before I started a new job and then found I wasn’t ready to leave, plus I have strong ties here, a great bunch of friends, family and a boyfriend of 3 years who I love. Therefore why go? The truth is going to Canada has been something I’ve wanted to do since I landed back in the UK after 7 months of travelling 5 years go.
TEA and TAKES 