Las Vegas Diary

If someone had told me at the start of the year the journeys I would undertake because of my love for Leonard Cohen I would have laughed at them. Having never being previously out of Ireland I honestly thought Lissadell was the last time I was going to see Leonard perform live on this tour but then came Katowice and while I was home on a day after this concert I just knew I had to try and do my best to get to Las Vegas to the final shows of the tour.
My adventure began a day early thanks to our horrendous weather which made driving conditions dangerous so it was up to Bewleys Airport Hotel for the night. While I did know of other fans that would be on the flight it was a little daunting travelling technically alone to the USA.
On arrival on Thursday morning I was relieve to discover it was relatively quiet and I was able to secure window seats for both flights which I would be taking that day as I had a changeover in Philadelphia. On boarding the plane or “Big Bird” as I’m affectionately calling all planes, I discovered a woman sitting in my seat. I politely told her this to which she was very angry and refused to accept what I was saying. I showed her my ticket with the seat number and offered to help her find her seat if she would show me her ticket. To this she responded that she could read. I’d enough of being polite at this stage and told her if she could read she wouldn’t be in my seat! Eventually she found her ticket and moved to the row in front minus the good window view! Explained why she took my seat!
We had a short delay while Big Bird was being defrosted due to the sub zero temperatures. How I couldn’t wait to arrive in Las Vegas and get some warm sunshine into my bones! The journey across the Atlantic passed relatively quickly as I read magazines and a book. I discovered doing cross words made time fly by! The food while not spectacular was adequate and a lot better than what was to come on the flight from Philly to Vegas. On the first flight we got dinner, snacks and any amount of refreshments mostly free. However the second flight though almost as long only had a snack service and everything except drinks had to be paid for. Of course alcohol if one wanted it had always to be paid for!
On arrival at Philadelphia we were not amused at the long walk to the terminal to get our flight to Las Vegas. It was even worse than Ryanair flights in Dublin. We had the same to contend with on the way back. We wondered where the respect for people travelling long distance was! Although it was very funny to be greeted on entry to the airport to a huge bill board with the message “Senator Michael Nutter welcomes you to Philadelphia”. These sign were all over the airport and make one wonder why he doesn’t change his name!
It was great when we finally set off on the final leg of the journey to Las Vegas. I spent most of this flight talking to a gentleman named David who is a Jehovah’s Witness. We had an interesting debate and while our beliefs are poles apart it was a respectable conversation.
It was interesting walking through Las Vegas International Airport to see the poker machines. Though I had known they would be there it was still a funny sight though nothing to what I would see later. After collecting my suitcase I found a shuttle bus going to my hotel The Imperial Palace. Driving into The Strip I was awestruck at the sights before me. Arriving in the dark with bring lights everywhere is very impactful and even though I’d seen photos and videos nothing prepares the mind for this! One thing for sure I was in a place completely different to Ireland and being surrounded by the Nevada desert meant everything was completely different! Normally in this instance I’d reach for my camera but all I could do was stare!
On arrival at the hotel I opened the door to a huge casino right in the lobby! Ok, where do I check in? Spotting the desk I checked in and then proceeded to find my hotel room. This proved tricky as the hotel was a maze and although I was there four nights I didn’t ever completely know the way to get there and had to make sure to have landmarks. Although the hallways left a lot to be desired I was relieved to enter a clean room, basic but adequate.
After this it was time to go meet other fans at a pre-arranged meet-up at a different hotel. On exiting my hotel I very cagily started walking down the street having become used to having to do this at home in case I’d fall on the ice! It took a few steps to realise I didn’t need to this here as no snow and ice here!
Making my way to the Bellagio I was staring in awe at all the lights around me. Everywhere is brightly lit up in Las Vegas on The Strip. One of the first things I noticed was the replica half size Eiffel Tower. Even at half size it looked impressive. What were also impressive were huge screens advertising the concerts. It was lovely to hear Leonard singing Hallelujah as I made my way down The Strip. It was great to meet up with Mandy in the Bellagio as we had previously met at Lissadell. I also met Judy who is a Facebook friend and whom Mandy was staying with for the duration of the weekend.
After a quick bite to eat it was time to head across to Caesars Palace for another meet up and to set eyes on the Venue. The Colosseum can be seen from the outside but one enters it from inside Caesars Palace. Heading to collect my concert tickets I was very impressed to see a massive poster on the wall of The Colosseum of a smiling Leonard. I got many photos here over the duration of the weekend! I was relieved on collecting my tickets that I would be able to upgrade my ticket for the Saturday show as when I was booking I could only get the 3rd level and I didn’t want to be up there for Leonards last concert!
Walking around Caesars Palace I was very impressed with the decor even though upper class hotels are not usually places I feel comfortable in. While everything was copies they were made with the same material as the originals and it looked and felt fantastic! There was energy about the place which I needed as I had being awake 26 hours at this stage! As we made our way to meet the other fans there was a sea of casinos everywhere we looked. Las Vegas is a 24 hour city which never sleeps and at anytime one would see plenty of people gambling!
After collecting nametags and wrist bands for the concerts and meeting fellow fans I finally answered my body’s call and headed back to my hotel for sleep. However it was to evade me and now on home turf it is still evading me! After 3 hours I went back downstairs and the place was full of life! After managing another couple of hours lie down it was time to meet the women and start on the list of places I wanted to see in Las Vegas. However thanks to my desire to meet my master I didn’t actually get to see that much but I wouldn’t swop meeting Leonard for anything in the world!
We spent most of Friday trying to find him which I have already covered in my write up of meeting him so I won’t go over that again! First thing Friday I had to find Avi and collect photo books which I had pre-arranged to collect. After this we went for breakfast or should I say brunch at Caesars and let’s just say Mandy is a carnivore and leave it at that! We then went for a walk in The Forum shops at Caesars as it was there we were meeting Judy’s friend Doug to get inside info on where we might meet Leonard. Walking through The Forum we felt we were outside as the ceiling was made to look like we were. There were statues everywhere and it looked amazing though with the exception of postcards and the like we bought nothing else there. After this we went to book our helicopter tour of The Grand Canyon as we didn’t book it before we left in case we didn’t arrive due to the weather.
Basically as the rest of Friday is described in my Leonard meet-up report I’ll skip past that to Saturday. It felt great getting up after a massive four hours sleep but lots of adrenaline floating around the blood kept me sustained. After spending Friday looking for Leonard we decided to do something different Saturday and after breakfast we made our way down to see the volcano at The Mirage. We discovered it is only shown after 5pm so decided to come back the following night and instead made our way across to Madame Tussauds. It was great fun “meeting” the stars and having our picture taken with different people including Bono, Lady Gaga, George Clooney, Stevie Wonder and Barack Obama. Lady Gaga had only arrived 2 days previous. As we were exiting the merchandise shop and laughing at some hilarious fridge magnets we noticed we could get wax models of our hands for $12! Bargain, we had to get that.
As we left to head for lunch at The Flamingo we were asked where we are from. Replying Ireland and Scotland the guy said “Scirish” We looked at him in confusion and he claimed there was a race of people called Scirish who were a mix between Irish and Scots. We laughed and disappointed him by telling him this was not true.
Having lunch which came with a free shot of vodka at The Flamingo we could look out at flamingos, black swans and huge fish. We did plan to return on Sunday but didn’t have a chance as time was tight after meeting Leonard. We headed down to The Eiffel Tower expecting a queue but were pleasantly surprised to discover none! For $10 dollars we were also delighted to discover we could stay up there as long as we wished as we had planned on returning on the Sunday to see the night lights. Now we could do day light, dusk and night views all at once as it gets dark very early! To say the views were stunning are an understatement. It was fantastic up there and I was very snap happy and got photos of a gorgeous sky at sunset and also of a fountain display at The Bellagio across the road. After descending the tower we went to look at this from ground level. While the circle formations can be seen for the tower it was still an amazing sight from the ground.
It was then time to head across to Caesars for the second concert. This was a bittersweet moment as while it felt great going to see Leonard for a second night running it was also going be our last chance to see him in concert for the foreseeable future. As with Friday the remainder of Saturday is contained in the other reviews.
Well I couldn’t have imagined for a better start to Sunday and I will be forever grateful I met Leonard. I will treasure our time together in my heart and of course treasure my photos and signed memorabilia as well. After meeting Leonard we had to find a place to check for confirmation email for our Grand Canyon trip and I needed a new memory card for my camera as I had used my last one for my Leonard photos. After having memory card issues in the past I wasn’t going to risk anything happening to these!
We didn’t even have time for lunch which was just as well as even though we hadn’t eaten much in the past 24 hours I wasn’t hungry. Meeting Leonard was sustenance enough! So it was straight back to my hotel for a snack and wait for our limousine to take us from the hotel. As my first time in a limo I wasn’t amused that we were being collected at a back car park! Not very luxurious but maybe it was better that way as I when I was getting in I was less than elegant. On asking how one could be elegant I was told it isn’t easy!
We were driven from the hotel to the airport where we checked in and watched a helicopter safety video. It was then for the 2nd most exciting part of our adventure as we made our way to the helicopter. To say flying to the Grand Canyon was a breathtaking is almost an understatement! It was an absolutely stunning view as we flew over Lake Mead and The Hoover Dam. On the journey there and back we had headphones with commentary and it was explained that there is only approximately enough water to last 25 more years in Vegas! Apparently they use it for energy and are looking at changing that to using the sun. That is a no brainer as plenty of sunshine in Nevada!
As we flew over the Grand Canyon I remembered when someone told me that every time one goes there it looks completely different and I have to agree with that because even though I’ve seen photos and videos this looked like nothing like I’d seen before! We landed at a designated spot for the tours where there were benches and were now incidentally in Arizona. We had a few minutes to walk around and take photos before having a champagne lunch. I was surprised how rocky it was. While I expected rocks I had expected sand too but saw none. It was great seeing cactus in their original landscape.
After taking some photos and having our lunch where I forced myself to eat a small roll as I was didn’t fancy getting dizzy up in the air from the lack of eating even though I wasn’t hungry! Had no such problems with the champagne though! It went down a treat! The journey back to Las Vegas gave us the most stunning sunset I have even seem and ironically it was the eastern skyline that looked the most beautiful as it was a beautiful mix of blue and purple colours. While flying down The Strip was great to do I was on the wrong side of the helicopter to see it properly but I did have my memories of seeing it from The Eiffel Tower. When we arrived at the airport we couldn’t land when planes were taking off so we had to hover over the planes and I enjoyed that! While I dislike travelling on land I can’t say the same for the air and I now have a dream to fly for just one day. It wouldn’t be a good job for me though as I do be raging when I can’t take photos when I’m out with nature!
When we landed we thanked and tipped the captain for a truly memorable evening and headed to get our limousine back to my hotel. I decided to be cheeky and asked the driver to take the long way around so I could see some of the Vegas I missed through trying to find Leonard! He kindly obliged as he had to drop another guy off anyway. I wanted to go to the lobby in Caesars to check email using their wifi so I asked to go there instead. It is across the road for the driver so it wasn’t putting him out but saved our already sore limbs a 30 minute walk as he couldn’t stop outside the front of The Imperial Palace as it hasn’t got a nice driveway like Caesers. That turned out to be a good move as he stopped right outside one of the main entrances which were a much better location than where we were collected!
After checking my email and taking one final walk around Caesars and to the entrance of The Colosseum to once more take in the view of the massive Leonard poster (still in total shock we had seen him in person) we headed down to watch the volcano at The Mirage all the while taking some photos of the night lights of Vegas. While we watched I of course took many photos. If there is one thing Vegas is expert at it is to constantly surprise and this did surprise and it was so stunning we decided to come back for it again so I could record it! We thought it would be a good idea to finally eat and headed across the road to a place called The Steak House. Only this place isn’t a steak house it was another darn casino and the biggest one we had seen at that! I literally couldn’t see the end of it and with Christmas lights added in I had seen enough so we got an ice cream and went back outside to await the volcano. After eating ice cream I realised I still wasn’t hungry and Mandy said she felt the same so we decided to skip dinner and head back to my hotel for a drink and to have a flutter on the slot machines. We had the biggest Strawberry Daiquiri I’d ever seen but one with the least amount of alcohol!
All too soon it was time to say our goodbyes. It was a sad moment as we had shared a brilliant weekend together and will treasure our time with Leonard together forever. I was and am truly grateful for the time I spent with Mandy and Judy and hope our paths cross again.
After packing I headed to bed for what I hoped would be a decent night sleep not needing to be up until after 6am. However being me I woke at 5am. After laying there for a moment I decided to get up and have a final look at The Colosseum which although was across from my hotel I wouldn’t see as I was leaving. I enjoyed those few minutes just before dawn where for once Vegas was peaceful. I then decided to head back upstairs and write my report of the meeting so I’d have it on paper when it was fresh in my mind.
Although the airport was busy it was easy to check in and go through security. I made sure to secure my window seats as I’d being told I’d see the Rocky Mountains. I’d missed this on the way in as it was dark that journey. It was lovely meeting up with Mick Purcell and sharing with him my story of meeting Leonard. He had being my companion on the trip to Lissadell for Leonard’s birthday so to be able to tell him I’d told Leonard this was special. On boarding the plane I was pleased to notice I could see Caesars in the distance and made sure to capture one last image. It is a place I wouldn’t normally like no matter how much I like the statues and decor but as the location where I met Leonard it now has a special place in my heart.
We had almost an hour of a delay here due to some mechanical fault on Big Bird but finally we were given the all clear for takeoff. I was lucky to have a lovely lady beside me for the flight called Melba where she generously listened to story of my adventure. It was great to have wifi for that flight and I showed Melba my review of Leonard’s concert in Lissadell to which she was very complementary. Wifi came in handy to share photos of the stunning views we were lucky to have. For most of the journey we had the most amazing scenery I’d ever seen including Lake Mead, The Grand Canyon and The Rocky mountains. I especially loved passing over The Rocky’s as it reminded me of the wonderful song by John Denver, Colorado Rocky Mountain High! Someone passed a comment at one stage of the journey as to what part of America we might be and as my phone has Google maps I turned it on to discover we were somewhere over South Carolina. Unfortunately my battery was just about dead so I was unable to do this again at a later time again!
On arriving late in Philadelphia we had to rush to get to our connection in time. I was glad to leave for Dublin as I was looking forward to getting home and finally getting a chance to look at my photos! My companion for this journey turned out to be Mick’s niece Jean and we spent a while chatting before dinner arrived. I ate some to keep my strength up and then while Jean decided to sleep I listened to Leonard on my mp3 player while I wrote my concert reviews. Being the first time I listened to his music since meeting him it was very special and I thought I was doing a good job keeping my emotions in check that is a good job until Hallelujah came on. Hearing my favourite song for the 1st time after meeting its creator was overwhelming and I’m glad I had a travel pillow because I couldn’t stop the tears flowing throughout the whole song.
After this I managed to compose myself and was relieved no one had seen this moment. It was a strange feeling a while later when the sun rose as we had left Vegas in daylight and approached and left Philadelphia in darkness and now as we approached Ireland it was getting bright. Of course I knew this would be happening as we would be arriving in Dublin around 9am. While I did wish I could have stayed away longer it was nice to see the Irish coastline as even though we had cloud under us it seemed to clear at just the right time! It was now the end of my wonderful journey which was even better than I could ever have imagined. Now I know meeting Leonard was a big part of this but I have to say while there are some things I don’t like about Las Vegas on the whole I did as it is a photographers paradise and it will always have a special place in my heart as the place I met my master.