Las Vegas & California Trip - Part 7 (Heading back home)

From a great time in Vegas and California, it was time to go back home.  It's so true, whoever has said this that "time flies when you are having fun" .... and that's exactly what had  happened.  I didn't even realize where my week went by :).

We got up at 6 am and got ready by 6:30 am.  We headed to the lobby of Travelodge to get some breakfast before we start the long drive.  I checked out of the hotel, we wrapped up everything and then started the drive around 7 am.  The drive was not bad and we kept it steady.  This time, we only stopped twice in between, once for restroom break and then for lunch break.  After that my dad drove all the way to Colorado with no stops which was around 300 miles or so.  I don't know how he does it but I don't think I will be able to drive straight like that.

On the way to home, we encountered some beautiful scenery and fall colors!!  Check it out!!

We finally got home around 8 pm and it was great to be back home!!! Home Sweet Home :).  One thing is for sure....no matter wherever you go, for however long you go, there is nothing like home!!

Well, with this post, I conclude my marathon of vacation-posts and hope you enjoy each one of them as much as I enjoyed writing them.  I don't think I am going on another vacation any time soon...so until then, I will find something else to write about and to entertain you with.  I have started back the cooking experiments and already had a successful run at making Mutter Paneer, so I will be posting the recipe soon.

Have a nice day, everyone!!

Travelodge Las Vegas Hotel (next to Circus Circus)

I had booked Bally's hotel for my 2 night stay and since we had to stay another night at Vegas on Friday, coming back from LA, I booked Travelodge hotel (next to circus circus) which had reasonable charge for a Friday night stay ($80/night w/ tax) unlike other hotels which were super expensive.  I had seen some reviews online and based on that decided on this hotel since there weren't that many options for me and plus we just needed the place to stay the night since the next morning we were going to head out earlier.  Anyways, with that here goes my review!

Room & Lobby:
We pulled into the parking lot of the Travelodge hotel and the lobby is right there at the entrance (we missed it actually and went inside a bit before finding out that it was right at the entrance).  We walked to the lobby...or should I say lobby "slash" breakfast area.  It was very small and I can see it get crowded instantly if 4 or more people came to check in at the same time.  The check in was quick and I requested for a room on the main floor which ended up being a room at the very back of the hotel, but that's ok since we had a car and weren't going to walk to that room anyways!!

We got to the room and there was a big surprise!! The size of the room was much much smaller than what we had expected and also smaller from what I had seen in the pictures of the hotel.  This was basically 1/3rd size of the Bally's room and not suitable for 4 people.  There was hardly any room to walk around and 4 of us kept running into each other while trying to get around bed or while going to the bathroom.  My mom was a bit disappointed seeing the room, and honestly, I was disappointed too!  After staying at Bally's spacious room, who would want to stay here!!  Well, I managed to convince myself and my parents that we are just staying here for one night and leaving early next morning, so we can adjust for a short time..(I guess).  We checked the bedsheets and both the beds had some stains on the sheets so we called the front desk and they sent someone out right away.  Also the table lamp bulb wasn't working so that was fixed too.  Apart from this, the bathroom was very small as well and the stand-up shower wasn't that spacious either :(.  The bathroom window wasn't closing properly and since we were on the first floor, I wasn't comfortable leaving it that way, so we called the front desk again and got it closed properly and told the maintenance guy to just lock it completely since we didn't want it open.

Maintenance & Customer Service:
Their staff was friendly and customer service was quick.  Our check-in and check-out was quick as well.  We needed to have our bed sheets changed along with the lamp bulb, so the maintenance lady came pretty fast within 5-10 minutes.  No complaints there.

Breakfast:
Travelodge does provide a morning complimentary breakfast but it doesn't have much to offer.  It had bagels, bread, grape jelly, cream cheese, hot water, tea bags, muffins (I think), and I can't really remember anything else.

Personally, I don't think I would want to stay here again.  There are 2 reasons for it: 1) This hotel is kind of away from the middle of the strip which makes it hard to get to some of the hotels and 2) it wasn't that great stay that I would just come back and stay here.  I would rather pay little more and go somewhere else.  Well, that's my 2 cents!

Las Vegas & California Trip - Part 6

Today was the day when we were leaving LA and heading back to the sin city, Las Vegas :).  I was really excited to go back to Vegas and gamble some more since Vegas was the first place where I actually won some money in gambling!!  Anyways....we packed up and got ready by 10 or so and had really nice lunch around 10:30 or so.  We said goodbyes to my aunt and her friend's family and left for Las Vegas around 11 am.  The weather was hot and the drive wasn't so bad.  We got to Vegas in 4.5 hours.  For a Friday night stay, I had booked Travelodge hotel (next to circus circus) for our stay since all the other hotels were pretty expensive since it was a Friday night.  Before we checked into our hotel, I wanted to stop by the famous "Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas" sign since I had heard so much about it.  I asked about 2 to 3 people on where that sign is located and they just said that it's right across from Mandalay Bay hotel.....well....it's NOT!!! In fact, it's not even in the walking distance from Mandalay bay.  If you are going south on las vegas blvd., you will pass a street called Russel street and then stay on the left most lane and keep your eyes open for the sign and you should be able to see it clear!!  Great thing is that they have decent size parking area for people to park their cars and then take pics by the sign.

Las Vegas sign on Las Vegas Blvd.

We clicked few pictures near the sign and then headed towards the hotel.  Before getting to the hotel, we stopped by a shell gas station to fill up the gas so that we don't have to worry about it in the morning when we drive back home.  Even though Travelodge would have been less than 2 miles away, we got stuck in traffic on las vegas blvd. for about an hour :(....it wasn't fun at all...but the traffic seemed to be cleared up after Treasure Island hotel.  We checked in and got to our room.  Well, the room wasn't as we had expected, but more on that later in my separate post on Travelodge...because I have a lot more to say for that!!  Anyways, we freshened up and then wanted to get something to eat, so my brother and I drove to a Pizza Hut about 1 to 2 miles from the hotel which was right at the intersection of Sahara ave. and Richfield blvd.  We brought it back to the room and ate it together.  After dinner, we walked to the circus circus hotel.  The walk is very short and it's convenient since you don't have to drive your car there.  I feel that this hotel is kind of away from all the action happening in Vegas.  I don't think I would book a hotel in this side of the las vegas blvd. just because there isn't much happening here and it would be a loooong walk to get to any of the big name hotels like Bellagio, or Caesars Palace, Venetian, and many more.

Circus Circus Act

We went straight to the Midway on 2nd floor to see the circus circus acts that were happening every half an hour.  I saw 2 performances and they were both pretty amazing and the performers were from all over the world.  Here is a sneak peak at what we experienced.

We looked around couple of games on the Midway and then headed downstairs to the casino.  My brother found an electric roulette table which was operated by computer so we sat on it to see how it worked for few minutes.  My parents went back to the hotel while we decided to sit and play at the table.

A very important tip for you all first timers, don't get carried away or don't get addicted with any of these games.  You need to stop at some point and get up to make sure that you come out of it happy!! My luck apparently wasn't working tonight since I was loosing.  That wasn't how it was initially...because I won some good amount of money, but then I kept playing and playing and lost all the winning money plus some of my own which I couldn't recover...but then I decided to put a stop right there and not lose any more of my money :).  So, that was a good choice!  Unlike me, my brother had a good luck and he won few $$ which he was happy about.  We both headed back to the hotel to get good sleep before next morning's long drive back to home :).  We called it a night at around 1 am, hoping to wake up early next morning.

Well, before I brief you on my last vacation day, I will post the Travelodge Las Vegas hotel review first...so stay tuned!

Las Vegas & California Trip - DisneyLand

DisneyLand

 After a fun filled day at the Universal Studios, this was going to be another adventurous day at the Disneyland!!  Unlike Universal, disneyland was at least 1 hour drive (that is without traffic).  We kind of made an estimate based on the previous day and thought it would be ok to leave home around 8:15 am but it wasn't very helpful.  Once we got on the Hwy 101, it was chaos!! The scene was completely different from the day before when we had gone to Universal Studios on the same highway.  The traffic was out of control and I kind of assumed that we are not getting to Disney anytime soon.  The 1 hour drive ended up being 2 hour drive :(.  We reached the toy story parking lot around 10:15 am.  The park had already opened at 10 am, and when we pulled into the park, it was hard to find the parking spot which indicated a crowded day indeed!!  The toy story parking lot has buses coming and going which makes the line moving at a steady speed.  We got to the park in less than 5 minutes and while my brother headed to buy the park tickets, I went to rent the electric scooter.  Even though we were half an hour late since the park opened, we were lucky to get the electric scooter with no problem.  In fact, there were at least 10-12 electric scooters parked and available for rent even after the park had been opened for half an hour.  The good thing about Disneyland is that the scooter rental is outside the park and not inside, so you can rent it even without having Disney tickets.  Anyways, without further delay, we went inside Disney to start the day at Disneyland...yay!

Jungle Cruise boat-ride

I wanted to first go to Indiana Jones Ride, but it turns out that the ride has been closed long ago, many months ago.  So, the next stop was Jungle Cruise ride, but apparently that ride was closed until noon so we had to come back after noon.  Anywaaaays....we move on to the Pirates of the Caribbean Ride.  Thankfully, this ride was fully functional and open to public...phew!!!  This is a boat ride and Disney has re-created the atmosphere and environment similar to Pirates of the Caribbean movie.  It's a nice ride.Next we head to the Haunted Mansion.  Note, this is not scary ride at all!! In fact, it's very creative how they have done it and you will enjoy it.  It was already noon after finishing these 2 rides, so we went back to Jungle Cruise where they had opened up the ride.  This is a fun river-boat ride where you will encounter several animals....pretty interesting.

It's a small world

After covering the rides in Adventure land and New Orleans Square, we headed to Frontier land to check out the Big thunder mountain railroad.  This is a train ride...it's fast and it has some drops (not that deep) that will make your tummy tickle :).  I think my parents liked it but they wouldn't want to go on it again.  It was already past noon and we were hungry, so sat down to have nice lunch and relax a bit.  After the lunch, my brother went to get fast passes for Space mountain while my parents and I went to Fantasy land to see It's a small world.  Obviously, it took me so much convincing to take my brother onto this ride the first time, I didn't want to force him to come the 2nd time...in fact he refused instantly as I said that we are going to the It's small world ride....haha.  Well, I enjoy this ride and find it cute and thought my parents will like it too, so took them on this ride.  And they enjoyed it.  Here are some snippets of the ride...aren't they cute??

It's a small world

It's a small world

I think everyone should get on this ride at least once and see it for themselves how beautifully Disney has created the interior for this ride.  After this ride, my brother and I went to Matterhorn Bobsleds.  This is one ride which I wasn't very excited about after I got off....it's very fast and it's got a lot of turbulence.  I don't think I will be going on this ride again.  After this ride, we headed to the Tomorrow land to check out some rides there.  We first went to the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.  This is fun ride but the only disappointment is that you don't know what you are shooting at.  Your target shows up in front of you but you don't know if the laser on the target is your or someone else's.  Anyways, go on it once and you will know yourself what I mean.  It was already time for our fast pass, so my brother and I went to the  Space Mountain ride.  I remember this ride from Orlando and being disappointed by it because it wasn't as cool as the one in Disneyland....and I was so right!! Disneyland has the best Space mountain ride ever!! It is fast, and it's got a lot of sudden drops and best of all it's a smooth ride unlike the one in Orlando.  So don't miss this ride if you like roller coaster type rides.

Disneyland Parade

From space mountain, we went to Star Tours 3D ride which was just next door.  This is a 3D simulation ride like Simpsons ride (from Universal studios) but not as great as Simpsons but definitely better than the star tours in Orlando's Hollywood Studios.  We still had good time on hands, so my parents and I went back to the Fantasy land to try out some of the kiddie rides :).  First, we went to the Alice in wonderland, followed by Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and then next door to Peter Pan's Flight.  It was actually fun to get on these kid's rides.  Finally, we headed back to the Tomorrow land because my brother had gotten another space mountain fast pass, so enjoyed the ride again.  There was still time before the parade, maybe 2 hours, so I took my parents to one last stop which was the Tiki Room.  I don't think they really liked it that much...but we kind of got out before it ended.  There was another reason for that...my brother had called to tell us to hurry up because he had saved a spot for us for the parade and it was getting pretty crowded an hour before the parade, so we decided to ditch Tiki room and head to the parade spot.  This is the first time that I have seen the parade at night.  It was different since you get to see the parade in colorful lights, but before the parade started, an Australian dance group presented a dance to give a head start to the parade :).  Check out some parade pics to see how great it was :D.

After the parade ended, we headed straight to the toy story bus stop and luckily we got on the bus in maybe 10 minutes and got to the toy story parking lot.  From there, straight back to my aunt's place.  It was about 9:30 pm by the time we got home and had a really nice dinner.  Next day, we were going to leave from LA and heading back to Vegas.  It was great day but bit tiring so I called it a night earlier and went to bed by 10:30 pm.

Stay tuned for some more Vegas fun coming up....see ya :).

Las Vegas & California Trip - Universal Studios Hollywood

Universal Studios Entrance

Since summer had already passed and now the park wouldn't be too crowded, Universal Studio hours were not that long.  The hours were from 10 am to 6 pm which is still sufficient to cover the entire park and plus it gave us good time in the morning to get ready instead of rushing to come to the park.  The Universal Studios was only supposed to be like 20-25 minutes from my aunt's place but we were warned that we should give double time in traffice if we want to get there before 10.  In fact, we wanted to get there much before 10 so that we can be ahead in the line.  Luckily, we got to the park in like 20-25 mins and there wasn't much crowd either around 9:25 am.  We headed straight to the line (since we already had passes) and they opened the gates 10 minutes before 10.  We were the first customer at the stroller/wheelchair rental, so we picked up the electric scooter for my dad (paperwork was quick too) and then headed straight to the Simpson's ride first!!  My brother and I went on this ride in Universal Studios Orlando and we loved it, so we wanted to take my parents on this ride as well.  This is a simulation ride and I think there is nothing to be scared about, so I think everyone will really enjoy it!! I still feel this is one of the best simulation rides Universal has created.

Set from War of the Worlds (On Studio Tour)

After Simpson's ride, we headed for the Studio tour.  Since my dad had the scooter, we had to wait in a separate line and they made us sit in the first compartment of the tram.  For those of you who haven't been on this tour, if you want to get good view of some of the sites, sit on the 3rd or 4th compartment.  Sometimes, I felt that the view wasn't that great in the first compartment.  This is the 3rd time I have visited Universal in LA, and what was different was the 3D King Kong adventure in the studio tour.  It was amazing!! You actually feel part of the King Kong movie!!  So don't miss the Studio tour if you want to experience this.

After the Studio tour, it was time for Special Effects Stages show.  Remember that this is a timed show and they have fixed timings throughout the day, so plan your day accordingly so you can cover all the shows.  This show was completely different from the last time when I visited in 2007.  Before they used to have entry every half an hour but now they have timings, and before the show used to take place in 3 different rooms where they show you how they build the sound, special effects, and something else...but it used to be in 3 different rooms.  Now, they have everything in one big auditorium like room so you don't have to go from room to room.  Anyways, even this was a lot of fun and very entertaining.  Note, if you want to participate and be part of the show, get in the line for the show much before the start time because they choose volunteers ahead of time to make them part of the show.

Set of Water World Show

After this, our next stop was the Water World show.  This is the best show at Universal Studios.  It has comedy and action combined.  Note that this show has very limited viewing in the day, maybe 2 or 3 shows only, so catch the first one if possible as it tends to get crowded towards the end of the day.  Also, arrive at least 20-25 minutes early to get a head start on the line because this show has packed crowd.  Even if you can't catch the first show, just make sure to catch at least one of the timings .....trust me...you don't want to miss seeing this one!!!  It has some great water stunts by the actors as well.  Ohh...and if you don't want to get wet....DO NOT sit in the splash zone, because the actors purposely throw buckets of water in the splash zone!!  I was not sitting in the splash zone but it was fun to see others getting wet :P.

Transformers 3D Ride - Amazing!!

It was about 1:30 pm by the time we got out and we were hungry, so we decided to take a break and have lunch.  We had a quick bite and then the next show we caught was Terminator 2 3D show.  Unfortunately we got there late for 2 pm show, so we had to wait until 2:20 to get in.  This show runs continuously every 25-30 minutes.  Please be aware that this is the loudest show ever!! But if you haven't seen it before, it's worth watching once (however I have seen it every time I have come to Universal :P....haha)!!  Next, we decided to go on the lower level and check out the new Transformers 3D Ride.  This was another new ride which we had not been on.  If you have been to Islands of Adventure in Orlando, then this ride comes in the same category as the Spiderman 3D ride, but I thought this was much better.  It's a 3D simulation ride which does not stay in one place like Simpson's ride...but the ride actually moves...which makes it a lot of fun.  My parents really liked it.  For those who have wheelchairs and scooters, in order to go to the lower level, we had to take a shuttle van since it's not possible to go on escalator with either of the vehicles.  This kind of took time for us to get to the ride because we had to wait for the van and then again coming back, same thing.

After coming back from the lower level, we went straight to the Shrek 4-D Show.  This is another one of my favorite show because it's 4-D and it's fun!! Instantly from the beginning of the show, you feel part of it when the chairs move you like if you are sitting in a horse carriage....you get water on you when the donkey sneezes and bunch of other effects!!  Don't miss it!  This show also runs continuously, so you can catch it anytime in between your other shows.  The last on the agenda for today was to cover the Universal's Animal Actors.  This show contains bunch of animal actors from famous movies and it's cute :).  Kids would love it and adults would enjoy it too.  With that, our day is wrapped up at Universal Studios Hollywood!! It was not tiring at all and we covered all the things we wanted to.  We did not go on the Jurassic park ride or the Return of the Mummy ride because my brother and I had been to both rides before and it wasn't something that our parents wanted to do...so we skipped it.  But ....if you haven't been on these rides and don't have fear of fast ride or deep falls, then don't miss them!!  Especially Jurassic Park ride has a 35 feet fall at the end but it's pretty smooth so you don't feel much....and you get wet!!  But don't worry about getting wet because it's so hot there that you will dry up by the time you come back to the upper lot.

Alright folks, next post will be on the day at DisneyLand.  Until then, have a great time!!

Las Vegas & California Trip - Part 5

.....Continuing from my previous post (Las Vegas & California Trip - Part 4)

Today was going to be a bit relaxing since we didn't have anything planned in the morning and we were leaving Vegas :(.  Morning was pretty relaxing with getting up and getting ready.  I returned the electric scooter while everyone else was getting ready.  It was quick...I just had to drop it off and one of the bellman took it from me.  We all went downstairs and I checked out which was also quick within 10 minutes.  We got our car from valet parking and then off to LA around 10 am.

The drive was not so bad from Vegas to LA, but it was getting hot in the afternoon with high temperatures.  We reached LA within 4 and half hours, so it didn't seem much of a long drive.  We went to my aunt's place and it was great to see her after 3 years.  She welcomed us all and we relaxed for a bit.  After freshening up, we sat down to have lunch because I was really hungry.  It was a good day not to do anything since we were all still tired from the vegas adventure.

Btw, this week of Sept. 23rd was the week of Ganesh Chaturthi festival and my aunt told us that LA's hindu temple celebrates it big time.  It's a 9 day long festival, I think, and the devotees do puja every day and they have dinner (prasad) afterwards.  So we decided to join the celebration that night and enjoy the festival with everyone.  It was indeed magnificent!! They had decorated Ganpati's murti(sculpture) so beautifully that you don't want to take your eyes off of it.  There was aarti followed by dinner and delicious sweets (my favorite - Jalebies!!!).  I think I filled my tummy by just eating Jalebis only!!  I love them...Jalebi is the best sweet ever...no doubt!!  I was so distracted by jalebis that I don't even remember what else was in the dinner :P...haha.  Anyways, after coming back from the temple, we made a quick stop at a gas station to fill up gas and then headed back to my aunt's place.

Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow was going to involve some good adventure as were were going to Universal Studios and DisneyLand.  Both the days will be fun!!

Note:  We did  not buy Universal tickets online, so we were planning to buy them at the gate anyways.  But my aunt told me that the local (California) costco have good deals sometimes for these kinds of tickets.  Upon inquiring, we found out that they were giving Universal tickets even cheaper than advertised online, so we got the annual passes of Universal Studios for $69/person instead of $80 (as advertised online).  So, if you know someone in LA who has the costco membership, plan to buy the passes from there to save some $$.

Anyways, stay tuned for the next post on Universal Studios Hollywood!!

Bally's Las Vegas Hotel

Accommodation was the first thing I started searching when I was looking into Las Vegas vacation.  It was hard to decide because there were so many options to start with and to decide which one would be good...it's not that easy.  For someone who has been to Vegas once has a pretty good idea on what to expect as opposed to someone who is going for the first time.  I had started looking into hotels from 2 and half months before since someone had told me that the prices go up from 2nd week of July, which was so true.  Couple of sites that I visited to check out the hotels and their prices was www.vegas.com and www.visitlasvegas.com.  Looking at overall hotels list, I shortlisted couple of hotels which were Flamingo, Imperial Palace, and Bally's.  After reading the reviews of all 3 of the hotels, I picked Bally's since that one had less negative reviews and plus the location of Bally's was excellent!!  Even though Bally's had negative reviews such as that their self-parking is too far, their check-in/check-out lines are too long and takes forever, their south tower rooms are horrible (from some ghost movies), etc. etc. I still went ahead and booked the hotel, because I had read some good reviews as well....and the bonus on top of that was that Bally's was right in front of the Bellagio!!

After I finalized I wanted to stay at Bally's, I went directly to Bally's hotel site www.ballyslasvegas.com to check out reservations and prices.  This was basically a Caesars site which contains about 6-7 hotels that don't charge any resort fee and are in the same network.  Anyways, I put in my dates and for 4 people in one room (2 queen beds), Bally's gave me price of $103/night which was not bad at all.  I immediately booked the hotel for 2 nights in the south tower classic room.  Once we got to the hotel, our stay was great and we had good time with no problems at all.  All the reviews about check-in/check-out time and room being terrible were not true at all.

Lobby, Check-in, & Check-out:
Once we got to the lobby, it was big and luckily not crowded at all.  We got to the hotel on Sunday evening at around 5:30 pm.  We got in the check-in line and there were probably 2 agents at the register.  As line started to grow, 3 more agents were added to help out.  We were probably done checking-in withing 15 minutes from the time we got in line to the time we were greeted.  Also the casino is on the same floor so you might feel little bit smoke in the atmosphere but that's because of the casino being right there.  Our check-out was pretty quick too maybe within 10 minutes.

Self/Valet Parking:
Bally's shares the parking with Paris hotel next door, and that is why self-parking is far and if you do end up with self parking, you would also have to walk much.  I was already warned by a lot of online reviews that there will be a lot of walking with self-park, so people suggested for Valet parking.   Valet Parking is free in Bally's (and as a matter of fact in a lot of hotels), so why not use it since it's available and quick.  We valet parked our car twice and both the times it was very convenient and fast.  Just remember to tip the driver who brings your car back.

Room:
I had booked a south tower classic room for 4 people (2 queens).  I knew that if I want a good view, south tower would be the best option even though there were a lot of reviews which said that the rooms are not that great, outdated, dirty, etc. etc.  First, when I checked in, I asked the receptionist if I could get a room facing Eiffel tower and bellagio fountains, and she said that's what we are getting.  And that's exactly what we got!!! The view was fabulous!!! I loved it!! Check it out!

Eiffel tower in day time from our room

View of Bellagio fountains in day time

Eiffel tower at night from our room

Bellagio Fountains view at night from our room

 Isn't it gorgeous!!! We got a room on 11th floor and our room was 6129 which was no where close to the elevators, but it was worth it for the view!!  If you are ever staying in Bally's south tower then ask for a view facing Paris since you will get better view than the other side which has flamingo road and Caesar's palace hotel view.  South tower elevators are kind of away and in corner too where you go through the casino all the way to the side and then take the elevators up to your room.

Once we got in the room, it was BIG.....I mean it was very spacious!!!  The room was clean, and no dirty carpets or anything (as I had read in some other reviews).  The bathroom was fine too except few glitches such as the wallpaper in one corner was bit out but that's just a minor glitch that we didn't care for and the bathroom fan made a lot of noise but that was temporary too.  The furniture was outdated as I had read on some of the other reviews and there was an old style box tv instead of a flat screen.  I would have liked the beds to be little softer but it wasn't too bad either.  Overall, very happy with the room and the view!! No complains there.

Maintenance/Housekeeping:
We had to call the housekeeping in the morning once since there were only 2 towels and we needed 2 more.  I called and nobody came for about 15 minutes so I had to call again to request more towels.  The 2nd call was responded quickly when the housekeeping came within 5 minutes with extra set of towels.  That was the only time we needed anything.  The only other thing I can think of is when they cleaned our room, when we came back to the room after lunch, the room smelled like some sort of cleaning solution that must have been used in the bathroom.  To avoid the smell, we just kept the bathroom door shut and then it was fine for the rest of the day.


I would definitely recommend this hotel to anyone who is considering it.  I would stay here myself mainly because of my experience here, and the location of this hotel is great with Bellagio being right in front of it and Paris being right next to it!!  Hope this review helps you in making your decision for a hotel in Las Vegas!!

Las Vegas & California Trip - Part 4

........Continuing from my previous post (Las Vegas & California Trip - Part 3)

Day 2 continues....
After waking up everyone, we all got ready by 6 pm and then headed out again, this time south of bally’s on las vegas blvd.  We just walked on Las vegas blvd. from Bally’s down to Tropicana hotel checking out the hotels and other attractions in between.  Then we crossed the bridge over to Excalibur and went inside the hotel.  This hotel has quite few restaurants and also has a nice Pizza Hut Express place which is a quick grab and go bite kind of thing.  They have small portion size pizzas for $5 bucks (at least cheese pizza was $5) that can be good for one person.  I was kind of feeling hungry, so I grabbed one cheese pizza and it was delicious!!  Excalibur has a inside passage that takes you to the Luxor so you don’t have to go out, so we just followed that path.  We went to Luxor and went to the shopping floor where you can see the entire pyramid from inside.  This is one hotel which has a completely different architecture of how the rooms are situated.  Basically when you go inside, you see the room from anywhere ...it’s kind of hard to describe but it’s fun to see it yourself.  Anyways, from Luxor, we got out and headed back up north on Las vegas blvd.  On the way, we checked out Aria hotel which had a beautiful Chandelier hanging in one of the casinos.

Las Vegas Blvd.

Bellagio's Dancing Fountains!!

Remember that we had been on foot since 6 pm and by this time it was already 9 pm and wanted see the Volcano show by Mirage (which happens every hour on the hour) and Sirens of TI show by Treasure Island (which had fixed timings of 7, 8:30, 10, and 11:30 pm).  At this time, we knew we weren’t going to make it to either of the shows, and we had only reached to Bellagio.  So we just decided to stay at the fountains and enjoy the fountains show first and then head to TI to catch the 10 o’clock show.  Boy!! Am I glad that I stayed for the 9:15 pm fountains show!! It was magnificent!! No words to describe!! There is something in watching the bellagio fountains dance right in front of you :).  It was worth the wait!!  

Sirens of TI

After the show, my parents and I started heading to Treasure Island to catch the 10 o’clock show while my brother decided to just grab dinner and head back to the room.  We all were tired but we wanted to check out the show as well so my mom and I decided, what the hell, we might as well go and watch it.  My brother picked up dinner for all of us and took it to the room while we went for the show.  The sirens of TI is a musical pirate show which lasts for about 20 minutes or so and you want to get there at least half an hour early to get a good location to stand because otherwise it’s hard to see anything if you are in the middle.  That’s kind of what happened with us but we were still able to catch what was going on.  It’s a good one time watch show for those who haven’t seen it.

After the show ended around 10:20/25 pm, we started heading straight to the room.  Believe it or not, it took us over half an hour to get from TI to Bally’s.  It’s a long walk!! And we were already super tired from all the exploring during the day.  We got back to the room, put my dad’s scooter to charge up and eat some chipotle that my brother had gotten for us.  Meanwhile, my brother was sleeping (well, napping) to get some energy back to stay up for gambling, of course!!  While he got some sleep, we had our dinner and then when my parents went to bed, my brother and I went downstairs in Bally’s casino to try our luck :P....again....that too around 11:45 pm when the night was just beginning :).  I was tired but I wasn’t sleepy at all, so I decided to go to casino as well and I didn’t have to walk much either.  Obviously the first $10 I put in the roulette, I lose.  My brother does the same and we both decide to give Bally’s a break and head to Paris casino.  One thing I like about Bally’s is that there is an inside walkway straight to Paris, so you don’t have to go out of the hotel at all to go to Paris.  Anyways, we go to Paris and my luck completely changes.  For the first time in history, I actually win some money!!! Yay!! I was soooooo happy :).  My brother’s luck wasn’t working so much but still he got back everything that he had lost which is not bad either :).  

We were having so much fun on roulette that we didn’t realize what time it was.  Well, it was 3 am that we decided to call it a night and head back to our room.  After all the great adventure today and fun at the casinos, it was a good night sleep!!

Tomorrow we leave Vegas to head to LA to see my aunt and hop on some adventurous rides at Universal and DisneyLand.  But more on that later!!  Before that, I am going to give a brief review on Bally’s Las Vegas Hotel experience!! So stay tuned!!

Las Vegas & California Trip - Part 3

First day in Las Vegas was fun but I was looking forward to the 2nd day since we were going to explore the Las vegas blvd., and a lot of other hotels.

Day 2:
The morning started around 7:30 am and freshening up followed by breakfast in the room.  We all got ready by 9:30 am and headed to the bell desk.  My dad has knee pain so I had reserved an electric scooter for him through Bally's so he could come with us everywhere as well.  We got the electric scooter in 15 minutes and the guy showed how to operate it...piece of cake!  We went out the front door of the Bally's instead of taking the escalator/moving walkway route....the front door option was much better.  We got to the las vegas blvd., and then went over the bridge to bellagio and from there to the bridge over to the Caesars palace.

At the entrance of Forums shops (from the casinos side)

We followed the signs to the forums shop where the Fall of Atlantis show was going to be played.  The show happens every hour on the hour and we missed the 10 o'clock show so we had to wait until 11 am to see it.  It's a show based on roman mythology and involves water and fire effects.  It lasts about 15-20 minutes and it's good to see it once if you haven't seen it before.  Anyways, before the show, we had a lot of time on hand, so we decided to explore the forums shop and I love how they have built the interior of Caesars palace keeping Greek and Roman mythology and architecture in mind.  Here is a snippet of one of the sculptures at the entrance of the Forums shop.

Canal shops at the Venetian

After the show, we headed out of the forums shop to go to Venetian.  Mirage is right next door to Caesars Palace and Harrah's is right across from Caesars.  We went to the Venetian straight to the Canal shops.  After bellagio fountains, I got to say that Venetian's canal shops is my second favorite place!!!  Venetian is basically the mini-Venice and it's beautiful!!  Don't miss this place...it's just magnificent!!  You will feel that you are in Venice...for sure!

It was about 12:30 pm by this time and we were hungry so we decided to eat lunch at an Indian restaurant.  We started heading back to the hotel to get our car.  Believe it or not, it took us about 20 to 25 minutes to head back from Harrah's to Bally's.  Anyways, while my dad got the car from valet, I dropped off the electric scooter in the room to get it charged.  In fact, the scooter ran fine from 9:45 till 1 pm or so.  As for the lunch, we went to this Indian restaurant called Gandhi restaurant which was just a mile from Bally's.  They had very nice buffet with good variety of vegetarian food including naan, rice, aloo mutter, malai paneer, dal makhani, suji halwa, veg. pakoda, savaiya, idli & sambhar.....Yummy!!!  We headed back to hotel after lunch and quick stop at a gas station.  It was pretty heavy lunch and we all were terribly sleepy after getting back to hotel.  It was just matter of minutes before we fell asleep.  I woke up after an hour nap but everyone else had a nice 3 hours nap!! I had to wake them up so we could go out again in the evening.  Ohh...before I forget, let me tell you that the weather was perfect!! It was not hot at all and it was just pleasant to be walking around on the strip without sweating or anything....in fact there was nice cool breeze once in a while which was surprising!!

Anyways...there is a lot more to talk about when we went out in the evening and it'll be too long for this post...so you all will have to wait for the next post :)

Until then, enjoy!!

Las Vegas & California Trip - Part 2

.......Continuing from my previous post (Las Vegas & California Trip - Part 1)

We settled down in our room, freshened up by 6:30 pm and relaxed for a bit.  It was time for dinner and we were all hungry.  While my parents stayed back at the room to rest a little bit, my brother and I went to Chipotle (near Casino Royale hotel).  It shows half a mile on the map from bally's but it feels like a long walk, I don't know why but maybe because of the crowd you don't get to move faster than how you had expected.  We came back to the room, had dinner, and then went out to check out Bellagio which was right across the street.  Remember, that even though things seem close in Vegas, they are not!!! We had to get through 4 sets of walkways to get from Bally's front desk to the las vegas blvd.  First you take the escalator from front desk of bally's to the top, then there is a moving walkway that takes you over the valet parking area, then there is another escalator that brings you back down, and another moving walkway that finally gets you to the las vegas blvd. (this walkway was never working unfortunately).

Bellagio Conservatory

We went inside the bellagio to check out the conservatory which was beautiful and unique!!  It's an attraction which you should definitely check out if you are in Vegas.

We also saw the Bellagio fountains that night which was playing every 15 minutes.  I truly feel that bellagio fountains is the best attraction of Vegas and you have to see it up close to experience the feeling :).  It was great!!

Bellagio Fountains

We came back to the hotel hoping to go to Paris through Bally's since it has a inside passage to get to Paris, but of course before you get to the passage, you go through casino and then the rest is history because we never made it past the casino :)...we decided to sit and try our luck!!  Well, as luck had it otherwise, we didn't win and instead lost money which is supposed to be normal in Vegas...haha.  Anyways, we were tired and had a lot planned for the next day, I went to bed around 11:30 pm looking forward to check out Vegas a lot more the next day!!

Las Vegas & California Trip - Part 1

Hello Friends,

I am back with some more vacation updates and info!! I hope you enjoyed my earlier posts on New York and New Jersey vacation and hopefully you will enjoy my Las Vegas and California vacation posts as well.  Just to give you a quick run through of this vacation here is a snippet of what you can expect in the next upcoming posts.

This was again a family vacation and planned in the last week of September from Sept. 23 to 29.  We were going to Vegas by car so it was going to be an interesting drive since it was almost 12 hours drive!!  We stayed in Vegas for 2 nights and then headed to Los Angeles and spent 3 nights in LA and then headed back to Vegas for 1 day and finally headed back home the following day.  Confusing??  Don't worry, I will break it down for you in the next couple of posts.  These 7 days included so much fun and exploring and family time as well!!

Day 1:
So, we started our trip on Sept. 23 early morning.  You know how you plan to start your trip as early as possible (especially since if you are driving) but then it never works according to schedule :P...well, something like that happened.  We had planned to leave at 5 am but instead ended up leaving at 6 am!!! There, we were already hour delayed on our trip.  The drive was indeed beautiful with the passage through mountains and canyons and all but the driver would also have to be careful since there are a lot of turns and narrow paths so you have to watch your speed!  Unfortunately we had to make our first stop right after we drove 72 miles for a restroom stop at around 7:15 am, and then made the 2nd stop at around 9 am for breakfast and also to fill up gas in the car.  After about 30 minutes of stop we kept on going and the next stop was at around noon again for a restroom stop right before we hit the No Services Zone area.  We stopped at Green River at exit 164 which has a Phillips 66 gas station which is supposed to be the last exit where you can get gas/food before you can get it again after about 110 miles.  So all the people driving to Vegas, keep this exit in mind (or the Green River area) so you can get your car filled up and not worry about running out of it during one of those 110 miles!!  There were no services from Green River to Selina but the drive was gorgeous!!

These pictures don't really do justice to the view, but I was too lazy to get my camera out, so just took whatever pics I can with my phone.   Besides, I was too busy enjoying the view as well :).

IMP Note: One thing I would like to tell everyone who is planning to drive to Vegas is that make sure you don't drive behind a truck, and if you have to drive behind a truck stay very far from them.  We witnessed a lot of torn/burned tires on our way which clearly means that due to heat trucks (and maybe even cars) are having difficulty with tires and they are being torn while driving.  From my personal experience...we had a close call with one of the trucks that was in front of us.  My brother was driving behind a truck and he moved over to the next lane to over take the truck and the next thing we know is that one of the truck's tires blasted and flew right behind it!!! Thankfully we had shifted lanes by then but it was still scary and it could have caused an accident if we were right behind it.  So just be careful driving behind trucks.  If possible, stay away from them and overtake them when necessary.
 
We drove through the No Services Zone area and the first exit that came with gas station, we stopped there to have a nice lunch at around 1:30 pm.  After this stop there was one other stop but other than that, it was all the way to Vegas!!  We reached Vegas exactly as our GPS projected which was 5:30 pm PST (which means about 12 hours and 30 minutes drive).  I had booked Bally's hotel for our stay (much more on that later....) so we got off the Flamingo exit and then it was very close from there (maybe less than a mile) to get to the hotel.  Now, Bally's shares a parking lot with Paris hotel which is right next door, so the self parking was going to be really far.  Instead Bally's offers free valet parking, so that's what I had decided to use when we came to the hotel.  We drove up to their valet parking area, got a ticket from them, and that was it!! We got all of our luggage out of the car, handed the driver our car keys, and then headed inside for registration.  It was that quick!!

We went inside the hotel and the first person you get greeted by is the Timeshare agent who tries to get you free show tickets or gambling money in return to attend one of their new hotel presentations.  Well, we were there for only 2 days and didn't really have time for it, so we passed the offer.  It's funny that they have different agents during different hours of the day so every time you come to the hotel, the agent greets you and takes you to the same desk with offers even after you have denied initially :P.

View of Eiffel tower from our room in daytime

Anyways, moving on to the check-in, we got in line for the check-in and got our turn within 15 minutes.  We had booked a south tower classic room which is supposed to be an old tower with rooms not so renovated but the agent at the desk asked us if we would like to upgrade to newer rooms for $20/night.  I rejected!! Why?  Because I knew that if I want to get a nice view, it'll only be within south tower room...so that's why I passed on the upgraded room.

When she was entering our information, I requested if we could get a room with view facing Paris and of Eiffel tower and bellagio fountains, and she said that's what we're getting.   I was excited to see the room, so we got our keys and headed to the south tower.  Our room was on 11th floor (room 6129) which was not close to elevators at all, so we had to walk quite bit to get to the room at the end of the hallways.  When we got to the room at around 6 pm....wow!! What a surprise!! The room was spacious and we actually had really close view of Eiffel tower as well as partial view of the Bellagio fountains.  Take a look!

View of Bellagio fountains from our room at night

View of Eiffel tower at night from our room

Well, the room space and the view was amazing, but before we can settle down, we made a quick run through of everything to make sure it was all good and there were no surprises.  Luckily, there were no surprises and everything seemed fine.  I did read a lot of reviews of how the south tower rooms are old and outdated and all, and to some extent it is true because the furniture seemed old, the curtains weren't that impressive, and the room had an old style box tv instead of a flat screen, but we didn't really care for it.  But what it did have is 2 queen size beds, one dresser, mirror, tv, table, 2 chairs and one desk and lamp besides the beds.....just like any other room should have it.

I think this post is becoming long enough that I better start a new post before it becomes super long and people don't even read the rest of it :P...so see ya in the next post!!

New Jersey/New York Trip - Part 7

After 2 days of non-stop adventure and fun in NY, it was time for some relaxing and that's exactly what we got on Day 9.

Day 9:
The day started by getting up late.  It was very relaxing since there weren't many things planned for today.  First we went to a Jain temple in Queens which is made in an apartment complex building.  The temple has about 4 stories where 1st floor has registration desk, 2nd floor has Shwetambar temple, 3rd floor has Digambar temple, and 4th floor has dadawadi and Ashtapad tirth along with kitchen.  The temple also had another puja going on simultaneously so we got to see that as well.  This temple is also built very beautifully but it's not as big as the other one we saw in NJ.  After temple visit, we went to have lunch outside in an Indian restaurant called copper wok which had mix of indo-chinese cuisine which was delicious and spicy!!  We got home, I took a short nap and then in the evening my brother-in-law took my dad and I out to manhattan again.  My dad couldn't come with us on the tour so he had not seen the Manhattan but thanks to my brother-in-law, he was able to see the Times Square and the Empire state building at night which is really worth watching at night since it's got a different feeling :).  We got back around 10 pm and then had quick dinner and then packed our bags.  It was already time for us to leave next day...can't believe it's already been 10 days!!

Day 10:
Time to go home!!  We got ready and had nice lunch at around 9:45 am since we had to leave by 10:15.  Our flight was at 1 pm but since we didn't know how bad the traffic was going to be, we didn't want to take chances.  We left around 10:20 am to head to Laguardia airport and got there within half an hour.  We went to check in our bags (very short line) and got done in about 10-15 minutes and then headed to our gate in concourse B.  The walk was short and we got to the gate very quickly.  It's very confusing to get to the terminals at laguardia so you have to pay attention to the signs when you enter the airport.  The gate we got to was so crowded since there weren't enough seats to sit down and there were 2 gates in the same area so you can imagine the crowd.  The plane was late and we took off 1 hour late at 2 pm.  Even though we took off late, we landed around the same time around 3:40 pm....Yay!  We got out by 4:10 pm after getting our bags and then my friend came to pick us up and we were at home by 5 pm :).  Home sweet home!!

Overall, this was a great vacation where we got to see a lot of families, my mom got to meet her college friend after such a long time, we got to visit bunch of temples and also try our luck in Atlantic city :).  Thanks to all the families for having us and showing us around New Jersey and New York!!

New Jersey/New York Trip - Part 6

Day 8: NY Adventure continues....
After a really tiring day yesterday, the main attraction that was left to cover was Statue of Liberty and that was the plan for the 2nd day of NY!!  We started the day bit late by catching a the train for 9:45 am to go to Penn station and reached there by 10:30 am.  Since we already had the Gray Line tickets, we didn't have to go all the way to the visitor center and instead we could catch any of the Gray Line buses from one of its stops.  The closest stop to the Penn station was the Macy's stop, so we just had to cross the street to get to the stop.  The bus came within 5-10 minutes. Since the top floor was crowded, we had to sit in the bottom floor which didn't have any Air conditioning.  Unlike yesterday when it was cloudy and bit cooler temperature, today's temperature was completely opposite with sunny and hot weather, so it was bit hard to sit without air conditioning.  But I am glad we didn't sit on the top floor either because it was too hot to sit outside in the sun!!  We just opened all the windows on the main floor so it was alright and anyways we had already seen all the attractions, so there was no point in sitting on the top floor again.We got to the Battery park within 45 minutes and headed inside to catch the Statue of Liberty ferry.  You don't need to stand in regular line to get the tickets, instead you need to find one of the Gray Line agents and they would exchange the vouchers for tickets to the ferry.  The view from Battery park was also nice!

View from Battery Park

We got through the ferry line and security (again, airport-like security) within 15-20 minutes and caught the ferry around 12:10 and reached the liberty island at 12:30 pm.  As you enter the island, there is a very nice sitting area with lots of benches and chairs next to the restaurant, so the first thing we did was to eat lunch there.  After lunch, we went around the liberty island making various stops to take zillion pictures with the downtown view, and the lady liberty :)

We roamed around and after taking zillion pictures headed back to catch the ferry to Ellis island.  Again we had a wait of about 10-15 minutes and then got to the Ellis island. For those who don't want to get off here at Ellis island can head straight back to battery park, because you will not miss much at all.  It wasn't really at all of what I was expecting but it's ok, we visited it and then got out in about 15 minutes to catch the ferry back to the battery park.  Good thing we didn't have to wait for the ferry since it was already parked and taking passengers.  We got back to battery park and the whole statue of liberty and Ellis island trip took about 3 hours which was expected.  I knew it was going to take long time, so that's why I kept it for 2nd day since it took half of our day and it was around 3 or so when we got done with it.  We were really tired at that point and mainly because of the heat and the sun in the afternoon, we caught the downtown tour bus from battery park to go to Central park and again we sat on the bottom floor since it was super hot outside to sit on the top open floor.  It was so crazy traffic that day that it took more than an hour to get to Rockefeller center and the tour guide said that it would take another half an hour to get to central park.  So we got off at Rockefeller center and decided to skip central park.  Instead we went to see this famous "LOVE" sign on 55th st. and 6th ave.

We clicked few pics and then started walking towards 53rd and 7th ave. hoping to catch one of gray line tour buses.  Luckily we caught one and this time it was an air conditioning bus so we sat on the bottom floor and got off at times square.  We then walked to the Toys'R'Us store that has a Ferris wheel inside the store.  It's pretty cool.  Apparently, this is the biggest Toys'R'Us store in US.  After that we just headed straight to Penn station and caught the next available train to Hicksville.  We got home by 7 pm and it was nice to be back early so we could relax and hang out with the family.  We had delicious dinner that day with Paratha, Chili paneer, dal fry, and rice!! Yummmy!!  We finally slept around midnight after chitchatting!!

This marks the end of our NY exploration!  We had great time but it was just very tiring due to all the walking and sight seeing, but worth it one time!  Not to worry though, the next day was going to be relaxing and not doing much so was looking forward to it :).  Until my next post, see ya :)

New Jersey/New York Trip - Part 5

What do you think about when someone says New York!!! Hold that thought and read on my post to see if you witness all the phrases you had thought about :).

Day 7: New York Adventure!!!
We started our New York adventure from Hicksville around 9 am and caught a 9:15 am LIRR train to Penn station.  We reached there by 10:05 and got out of station around 10:30 am (w/ restroom break in between).  Btw, don't underestimate Penn station by any means because it's huge!! And it stretches from 7th ave. to 8th ave. and to at least 3 or 4 streets!!  We got out of the station towards 7th ave. and started walking towards the Gray Line visitor center to pick up our tickets.  It was about 15-20 minutes walk but the best thing you encounter on the way is Times Square.  So lively, so crowded, and of course, so yellow...:P...haha.  You don't believe me....here is a proof!

See what I mean by ..."So yellow"...Over 90% of Manhattan is covered in Yellow :P

We reached the Gray Line center and got our tickets within few minutes (maybe 5 minutes) and first tour we wanted to take was downtown tour.  The downtown tour was going to leave from just across the street from the center at the corner of 8th ave. and 47th street.  The bus came in about 10-15 minutes and it was empty so we got good seats on the top.  Actually, you have to sit on the top to see otherwise there is no point in taking double-decker bus. Note that the downtown tour has about 20-22 stops that you can get off or hop on from. 

The tour started around 11:15 am and reached the ground zero site in an hour and 5-10 minutes.  We got off at the ground zero/world trade center stop which was about 10th stop on the way.  Before world trade center, there were stops like Madison square garden, China town, SOHO (South of "Houseton"...trust me..that's how they pronounce it), etc. but we didn't really want to go to any of those places, so that's why we made our first stop to be ground zero site.  We started walking towards the new freedom center that's currently being built.  On the way we stopped at the 9/11 memorial service center where we realized that we need passes to actually visit the ground zero site.  They are free, and the passes are timed, so you have to go at/after the time listed on your pass.  After getting the passes, we had to walk down 5 blocks and across 2 blocks to actually get to the site where the line began to visit the ground zero.  Even though you could see the freedom center straight from the 9/11 service center, you had go all around to get to the entrance due to all the construction that was going on and of course due to tight security they had at the entrance.  There was still some time before we could visit the ground zero, so we decided to have lunch in between at one of the places around 12:35 pm and then head to the location.
We come to the entrance where they have airport-like security where you have to put your stuff through scanner (except shoes), walk through the scanner and get your pass checked at like 3 different places on the way.  All this security must have taken about 15-20 minutes and to get to site.  Once we get to the site, we see these 2 beautiful fountains where the twin towers used to stand. 

We walked around and spent about 15-20 minutes there.  After that we started walking to go towards Wall street where the famous "Bull" is located (after exchange street).  That Bull was crowded with people, so if you want to get a picture with it, be quick and sharp because no one is going to invite you to take the picture!! People just come to the bull one after another so you have to know when you just get in and get your pic clicked.  We took pictures of the bull, with the bull, and then headed towards the Battery park where the Brooklyn tour was taking off.

The Brooklyn tour bus was standing at a place which wasn't a regular stop, so it was hard to spot it at first but we caught it just in time before it left around 2:10 pm.  This was a non-stop 2 hour tour so you just sit in the bus and enjoy the tour.  This tour was fine but our tour guide was terrible!! He was loud and I mean really loud which would explode your ears out if you were wearing headphones sitting on the first floor of the bus!! And strangely for one of the other reason, he would either bring up his wife or his mother-in-law in whatever attraction he was talking about!!  We came back from the tour around 4:10 pm and got on another downtown tour bus to continue on the remaining stops of the downtown tour.  There were a lot of people in front of us waiting for the downtown bus but since there wasn't another bus coming and the brooklyn bus that we were just on was all empty decided to take us on to the downtown tour....lucky us that we get the same tour guide as the brooklyn tour and we get to hear his loud and clear voice all over again!!!! Not Fair!!  Ok, now I was starting to get a headache from his high pitch and screaming volume that I wish someone would have just told him to calm down!!  The guide was from Brooklyn, so he kept bringing up brooklyn in  the downtown tour...seriously!!! Why??? It was unbearable!  We finally got off at Rockefeller center which is stop #18 on the downtown tour and went to the Top of the Rock.

We got there around 5:30/35 pm and exchanged our Gray Line tickets for top of the rock.  we got to the top and it was beautiful!!! They have 3 decks that you can go through and they have all glass walls so that you get 360 degree view of the downtown.  Very pretty!! 

View from Top of the Rock

We got down and started heading towards 7th ave. and 47th street to catch the night tour bus.  Before that we stopped by M&M store and checked out few flavors and then headed for night tour.  The night tour is also a non-stop 2 hour tour which basically shows you the night life of New York, so you can just sit back and enjoy.  Unfortunately night tour covers some of the Brooklyn tour places so we had to go back to Brooklyn on the same route that we had gone on earlier in the afternoon which was boring and waste of time!  The main night tour should be within the Times Square area and around it because the rest of the stuff was not worth watching and nothing important, so I was kind of disappointed with it!!  Nevertheless, We had started night tour at 7:30 pm and got done around 9:15 pm.  Once we got off the bus, we made a run to the Penn station to catch our 9:42 pm train so we had to walk from 47th street to 34th street on 7th ave. (it feels like long walk after you had such a tiring day).  We got to the Penn station in time to catch the train and took about 50 minutes to get to Hicksville, and by the time we got home, we were really tired, really sleepy, no energy at all!!  But we freshened up and ate some homemade indian food and finally headed to bed around midnight hoping to finish the rest of the adventure the next day :)

Phew!!! I just revisited the entire route with you again while writing this post :) and it was tiring!!!  So I am going to take a break and write the Day 8 adventure in the next post!!