(this happened on)  Thursday 30th July, 2009, Las Vegas

The Gap Year Gang  Get Andy Warhol and The Cheesecake Factory

The Bellagio, It's the little things that make it shine

Sofia  could not sleep so she got up at 5:30am to watch the sun rise. She was watching a man on the Palms hotel opposite taking a plastic film off of the windows what she didn’t notice was the workmen standing on the roof just outside our window as she stood naked in the window!

The she started reading  a new book Dying Breath by Wendy Corsi Straub, finally she got back in bed and tried to get some more sleep.

We were all rather slow to get out of bed today, once  Sofia was up and about the whole family got the shuttle bus to Bill’s Casino and then walked to the Bellagio, we went into see the Conservatory, this is a must see in Vegas, it changes with the seasons and special holidays and on all the occasions we have visited it has been more than worth the effort. This display had Larakeets in a glass house, moss fountains and giant glass poppies. The whole hotel was decorated with hot air balloons and looked great.

Next we went to the an exhibition called Classic Contemporary Lichtenstein, Warhol and Friends, at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Arts. There were only sixteen items on display and at $15 a head it is pricy but we all enjoyed it and on balance I would say it was worth it, Warhols flowers was really something special.

Basty did not go in preferring to sit outside in the corridor and play his PSP.

Next we headed over to Caesars Palace for a bit of a wander around the Forum shops, this is such a massive shopping place, sadly most of the stuff is expensive brand name things but it’s still fun to look around, we finally ended up outside an old favorite The Cheesecake Factory looking at the giant fish tanks, as we were outside the Cheesecake Factory it would seem churlish not to go in there for what we know to always be very good food and huge proportions, the place is always packed and it’s easy to see why, quality through and through, and yet none of us have ever managed to get though to eat a cheesecake always being too stuffed to make it to pudding.

Today was no exception, Sofia only ordered a starter and still ended up taking most of it home in a doggy bag.

I struggled happily through my burger, Basty got half way through his, Stefan demolished his rib in a bun and Sasha managed half her pasta.

We all took advantage of the free drink refills, good food as always.

Next we headed out towards the Fashion Show Mall to get some toiletries at the Pharmacy there.

We then headed through to the Venetian, Bally’s, the Flamingo, Harrahs and back to Bill’s where we got the shuttle back to the Gold Coast at around 9:00pm.

The Cheesecake Factory

Sofia sent me out to play poker (no hardship) and I got on a table at around 10:45am and by around 12:15 I had lost my $40

I may be losing but I am enjoying myself and I feel I am making less mistakes, less silly calls, but I have a long way to go before I can call myself a poker player.