1 - Botanical gardens at Bellagio
2 - Eiffel Tower (go to the top) at Paris
3 - drink at Duelling Pianos in Paris
4 - get a chip from Planet Hollywood
5 - Take a picture of the 777 burger on a menu near Paris
6 - watch the fountains at Bellagio from outside and tell us what song played
7 - find the massive bell with the crack in the Bellagio
8 - find the toilets in Paris that have the French chat up lines
9 - find a picture of you in front of jubilee poster in Ballys
10 - a tacky French sovenier from Paris
Solution / How I did it (1hour 55min) - spoiler alert!
Straight to the entrance to the Eiffel Tower restaurant to ask how to get to the top, they directed me to the escalator directly across, the lady at the escalator told me I needed a ticket from the gift shop, so enter I do and purchase a $15.50 standard ticket, she tells me there will be a 30min wait, eek.
So a big hint is to get this out of the way early on; so I queued. Whilst waiting I thought I'd ask others in the queue if they knew when the duelling pianos was going to be on, they didn't know. So I asked the lift attendant and she said open from 9pm in Napolean's and gave me the general directions from the balcony.
Eventually, after 1/2 hour I got the lift up, took some shots up there, looking really worried, and headed for the lift back down.
But holy crap, if there's a queue to go up, then there's going to be a queue to go down, argh!! So I had to wait 25 minutes in the queue, holding on to the railing for dear life, whilst not looking down, and the horizon starting to bob up and down, whilst chanting in my head "it's safer than a helicopter, it's safer than a helicopter" :-) I also passed the time asking other queuees about the Bellagio fountain, and they told me the music is always different. I didn't appreciate the guy behind me's detailed description of the Tower of Terror ride at Disney Land!!! Then I rode the lift down, so number 2 DONE.
On reaching the bottom I needed a loo break, so could I get lucky with number 8? No. Off to the Bellagio, I couldn't tell where I was in Paris, or where the Ballagio bridge was, so I bolted to the nearest exit, and had to wait for 5 minutes for the traffic lights to let me cross (I was now running everywhere Challenge Anneker style!) Right perfect timing for Bellagio fountain to start, wow it looked spectacular, but what the hell was the song? Asking two other fellow foutain watchers the conclusion was that it was "some symthony", probably from Fantasia. I got a video of it, but would my friends be happy with that evidence, I was going to have to catch the next performace.
So I needed to be quick in order to find the botancial gardens and the bell before the next fountain performance in about 15 minutes.
Before the foutain show ended I realised there was an awful lot of people in the small walkway between me and the Bellagio!!! So run I did again, and I made it there just before it finished, phew. Into the Bellagio, where on earth is the botancial gardens and the bell? Well I got lucky again, a head of me was a wonderful fairytale inside garden feature surrounded by shops, with spectacular lighting, called the conservatory. But was this the botanical gardens? I needed proof, I found a shop with a unbusy shopkeeper and asked, she kindly pointed out when I asked if it was the botanical gardens that "Darlin' you're here", and I double checked there was definitely nowhere else in the Bellagio that could be called "the botanical" gardens. A few pictures and number 1 DONE!
And where the hell is the bell? Off I went to find one of the concierge staff to find out. " Sir, we rotate the displays in the Bellagio, that is no longer displayed". Okay, Dave had already foresaw this happening and told me the giant vase was sufficient proof. We'd walked past that in the morning, so I knew where that was! A few snaps and number 7 DONE!
Out the Bellagio, there's a bridge to Bally's, whoop - perfect! And a view of the Fountain display, and it's just starting. This time it's playing "Hey Big Spenda", no mistakes this time, number 6 DONE! You can see the video here; Bellagio Foutain Video on YouTube
Across the bridge there is a can-can dancer poster, but it doesn't say "Jubilee". Damn. Right time for more Anneka running along the escalator walkway, and a lot of "excuse me"s to the people in front. At the end of the escalator is a Jubilee poster, brilliant. But the front facing camera exposes me wrongly and doesn't get enough of the poster in, I managed to convince a fellow tourist to stop and take my picture. This involved coaching the fella how to take a picture on the iPhone, but number 9 DONE!
Now back to Paris ASAP! Run, run, run. Into Paris I know the duelling pianos started at 9, so I must find them, I don't know how long I've got! I know the general direction from earlier, run, run, run - are you allowed to run in a casino? Entering an arcade of shops, quick shop break to ask where the piano bar / Napoleans is. She didn't speak good english! But I managed to get directions. Run, run, run. Found it! The pianos are playing! I order a Budweiser, not cheap, take a photo...damn exposure is wrong, you can't see the bottle. I look for a lighter part of the bar and employ some flash. Time for a well deserved 10 minute break for a beer and to enjoy the pianos.
Number 3 DONE!
Now to get the chip from Planet Hollywood, am I nearby? Better ask. No I'm not near by. Run, run, run. Back to the strip, and onto Planet hollywood, avoiding the street dancers, tick-tick guys, nightclub promoters and large amount of crowds. Right there's a big 6 wheel; perfect. $5 dollars please; five $1s. "ID please". ID?! But I've got no passport!! Only my drivers license, and they didn't accept that in one place. Hmm she wasn't liking it, I asked her to ask her boss, so he came over and he was fine with it. Phew!! 4 $1s on a few bets, but sadly no dice :-( Number 4 DONE!
Right, back to Paris. Two left; 777 burger and chat up lines toilet. I'm heading to the Eiffel Tower restaurant lift in order to get my barings, then I realise I've actually got 3 left! I'd forgot about the tacky present and I've only got 15 minutes left!!! Okay, get the souvenir job 1. I ask the nearest dealer where is the nearest casino - "off by the escalator over there" entering the gift shop there's a massive queue, back out and there's another gift shop with no queue, phew. Omg none of the souvenirs are tacky!! Panicing now, then by the till, a tacky pink vegas paris eiffel tower pen, perfect!!
Number 10 DONE! 2 left.
Over to the Eiffel tower entrance, I'm sure I saw an ad here, but no ad... I ask the greeter and he is brilliant, he know's about the burger, doesn't think he's seen an ad, and gives me directions to the Burger Brasserie restaurant selling it - but it's back at Bally's, argh!! He's so helpful I ask about the toilet with the chat up lines, he gives me directions and says it might not be turned on, and that I should check with the toilet assistant. I get there. There are no chat up lines, but it's the right toilet - they're not turned on.
Then I take a picture outside the toilet, and get some questions from a couple asking why the hell I'm photographing a toilet, after explaining the challenge they still look a bit confused. Number 8 DONE. Now off to Bally's to find that burber... Last challenge!
I find the Burger Brasserie restaurant. No burger ads. I ask the greeter, she confirms no ads and no pictures on the menu. I ask to photograph the menu text, but she says it's not written on the menu, even though you can order it. Right, how am I going to get evidence? I ask her to write it on a napkin; details of the 777 burger - she's somewhat apprehensive, lucky a colleague come's over and she is much more accommodating, I explain the challenge, and she encourages the greeter to write the details on a beer matt. I also use my persuasive powers to get her to write that it is not available on the menu.
So number 5 DONE! No more challenges left, so with 5 minutes to spare I made it to the meeting point, with all the evidence. Damn I did it Dave thought, and he handed over the $100 bill. I placed it on black and it came in ;-)
A crazy, fun and stressful way to kill 2 hours in Vegas, and get a load of sightseeing done!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Vegas
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