Las Vegas!

John decided he wanted to run the Rock N Roll Marathon in Las Vegas at the beginning of December. Vegas isn't a place I've been desperate to see, but but chose to in the end. Everyone says you should see it at least once. I wasn't a huge fan. It was disturbing to have that in the middle of a desert. All that water and power use - sheesh. It wasn't so bad at night because it was easy to be distracted by the noise and lights and people, but during the day it was really not good.

We did have great meals though. We decided to go to some places that we knew would have great food, even if it was expensive. Our meal on Friday night at l'Atelier by Joel Robuchon was especially amazing. John had the tasting menu. Wow, the dishes were incredible. I had a few different dishes, though not the tasting menu. So good.

On Saturday we did some shopping, although we didn't buy much. In the evening we walked to dinner, but stopped at the Bellagio to watch the fountains. I loved that. I'll get to the Bellagio later, but it was my favourite part of the trip. Our meal at Mon Ami Gabi was tasty, but the restaurant was very noisy and the service was terrible. Really terrible. Fortunately, the food almost made up for it.

We found a breakfast place we really liked as well, called MoZen Bistro. They had a gluten free menu, even for breakfast, so I had lots of choice. We liked it.

The Bellagio. We didn't stay there, but went to see the Art Gallery and the Conservatory. I really loved the gallery. The exhibit was: A Sense of Place: Landscapes from Monet to Hockney. There were many different artists included, covering a wide range of landscape styles. It was the highlight of the trip.

The Conservatory was decorated for Christmas and was gorgeous. It was packed and difficult to get good pictures at times, but it was worth seeing.

As for the race, yikes! There were 44,000 people registered, and 33,000 were heading to the race start AT THE SAME TIME! It was a nightmare for someone like me who doesn't like crowds, or people in general. I thought I was going to lose my mind. In the end John left to get to his corral and I went shopping and back to the hotel. I couldn't take it. John was smart and walked back to the hotel outside after the race. Fortunately he did well - 1:50:19 - and enjoyed the run. Not everyone did according to reports after, but he had a good time. Oh, the medal glows in the dark!!

After the run we went to miX at Mandalay Bay. It's right at the top of the hotel. The food was great, and the server was amazing. He made some fantastic recommendations for us. We enjoyed the restaurant a lot, but the highlight for me was the washroom! When you went into the stall it was all glass, so you peed looking out over Las Vegas! Fabulous! Unless you have a problem with heights, in which case you might not like it so much. I, on the other hand, loved it.

And finally, a picture from the plane.