Every six months or so, I slip into my ruby slippers, click my heels together, excitingly board a 23 hour flight with inappropriate footwear just so I can wake up in Las Vegas. No matter how much I love life in Mumbai, there is no place like home. There are so many amazing things about my old stomping ground (I am super biased if you cannot tell) that someone may need to delete a few lines of rambling before posting. 🙂
Where: Las Vegas, Nevada
Why: There’s No Place Like Home
Eat: Food is one of the great loves of my life and one of the reasons I truly adore my city. There is every type of food available from Ethiopian Wot to the perfect pulled pork tamale 24 hours a day. Cue the mouth watering. My must eat places during each visit include stuffed dates at Firefly, jalapeño fried rice at Ichiza, and pretty much the entire menu at Yellowtail. You are missing out on life if you have never tried Pop Rocks in your sushi. Delicious.
This trip also led to the discovery of the perfect dessert at Botero. S’mores Brioche. My taste buds were definitely having a party in my mouth after tasting this sinful concoction of chocolate, marshmallow and graham cracker. You can find the recipe here.
Don’t Miss: If you are around for the first Friday of a month, you would be out of your mind to miss First Friday in Downtown Las Vegas. Surround yourself with interesting people, awe inspiriting art and the magic of bars like Downtown Cocktail Lounge. No trip would be complete without a drink and game of chess at the Artisan Boutique Hotel. Do not miss this non-gaming, art-themed hotel.
See: If you can tear yourself away from the poker table, the Las Vegas Strip has many phenomenal shows for your viewing pleasure. Cirque du Soliel shows always take my breath away and I could not even begin to choose between Mystere, Love, O, Ka, or La Reve, so I chose musical productions instead. Phantom of the Opera was hauntingly beautiful while Disney’s The Lion King was visually spectacular and had me singing Hakuna Matata in my chair.
Do: Get your overindulgent bums away from the bar and take a hike in Red Rock or Mount Charleston. The fresh air and fully clothed women are a refreshing break from the neon black hole called the Strip. After finding your soul again, please feel free to head back to the club and slip on your dancing shoes once again. One of my favorite days on my trip involved the yellow leaf covered ground on The Discovery Trail in Mount Charleston then dancing the night away to the brilliant DJ skills of Avicci at XS. If you haven’t heard of him, do yourself a favor and click here.
See you soon, Las Vegas. xoxo