Heading out on the strip was a shock. The temperature had climbed another few degrees since arriving the day before, and was now showing the insane number of 105°F which is 40.5°C! When the wind would pick up, it felt like someone was blowing a fan on its hot setting, straight into your face...and it was still morning! Of course, that was exactly what we asked for, so we only complained the minimum swedish amount (we Swedes always seem to have to complain about something regarding the weather >_<). After sitting by the curb for 10min, waiting for the valet to pick up our car, we were soaked in sweat. It was wonderful to jump into a car with the AC cranked at its coolest setting, but considering the fact that all 4 swedes on this trip has had a cold at one point, we can all attest to how bad that extreme temperature-change really is.
The reason why we ventured out into the blistering heat was so that we could pick up the laundry we left at a "wash and fold service" the previous night. It was with high anticipation and worry that we entered the little laundry place in eastern Las Vegas (thank you google!) to grab our bags of supposedly clean laundry. I had the smallest amount of clothes (which happened to be _all_ the clothes I brought on the trip besides the nice dress pants and shirts I had), only 6 pounds, which set me back the total sum of $8. A little less than 3kg of dirty laundry for 52SEK. Fantastic! It all smelled wonderful and was neatly folded, and as far as I know, nothing was missing. Tomasz had the most, clocking in at 9.5 pounds, which amounted to around 12dollars. We all agreed with his statement, that if a similar service existed at a similar price back home in Sweden, none of us would ever do laundry on our own ever again!
With our suitcases filled with fresh clean clothes, we went down to Mandalay Bay's famous pool area. Since we couldn't enjoy the pool area and bring our cameras at the same time, we actually don't have a single photo of the pool. To compensate, I'm using 2 photos from the website http://mandalaybayphotos.blogspot.com. That site also has a short description of the hotel, which is better than what I'll be writing here anyway >_<.
Time flew and 4 hours later, the 4 swedes (now beet red) made their way back to the hotel room. A quick shower and we were ready to hit the town. Tomasz, Dan and I went to the very special restaurant called "Heart Attack Grill". It was an amazing experience, definitely something you'll never find in Sweden. Upon entering the premises, you're asked to put on a hospital gown and you actually get tagged, just like you would at a hospital. The customers are even referred to patients, and the waitresses, you guessed it, are nurses! It's a perfect showcase of what Vegas is, because they even had a huge sign that read "customers that weigh more than 350lbs (which is almost 160 kg!) eat for free !!! The restaurant is controversial because of its name, their policy toward the mordibly obese and their food. Everything is geared toward bad health. Obviously we had to try it out!
The menu itself caused plenty of laughter among us, since their hamburgers were called "double bypass burger" if you ordered two beef patties, "triple bypass burger" if you had 3 layers of beef, and so on up to the largest burger, that had 8 layers of fat-dripping meat mixed in with cheese and fresh onion, a piece of lettuce and a slice of tomato. Insane hamburgers, but definitely tasty! There was even an option to smother the lowest layer with chili (the best way to explain "chili" is to say that it's what we swedes would call "chili con carne without beans"). I had the single bypass with chili and loved my burger. I skipped on the fries though (which happened to be deepfried in pure lard!!!) since their rule on "finishing your plate" scared me. If you left food, they didn't offer you a doggybag like all the other places in the states...instead, they offer a paddle! They spank you on the ass and they sure use a lot of force when administering the punishment. Dan ordered the triple bypass (albeit without chili) and a large serving of fries. I was _sure_ that he wouldn't be able to finish it, but sadly, he came through and no Swedes were injured during that visit. The guy sitting next to us however...well, watch this:
https://vimeo.com/71000514 (it'll be available within the next 45min of writing this)
Pontus didn't come along to the Heart Attack Grill, instead he walked along the strip to see what Vegas looked like before dusk and had a good time. Las Vegas is just simply one large playground, with fantastic sights all over the place, like the fountain show outside of the Bellagio. I guess the only thing that he objected to were the bikini-clad girls selling hotdogs on the side of the street that went after him, toting waterguns high in the air. He got squirted good! He still has a good time though. I'll say it again and again, Vegas is a playground and can be enjoyed by everyone in my opinion.
I was planning on writing about our second full day in "Sin City", but once again, it's too late for me to keep writing. More tomorrow...
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