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Thursday 7 July 2016

Vacation Blog VII, Part Six: Another relaxing day followed by an evening of merriment

9:00 AM - Hmm so this is the first night I've had a good 8 hours of sleep. so why am I so damn groggy? Takes me a good half hour to shake it off and get moving.

10:00 AM - I hear rumblings from the Bear's Den. And here she is!! Pleasant Morning Bear! Slightly discombobulated still, but more alive and alert than normal.

Not too much excitement to report this morning; we feast on a breakfast of bacon and eggs (I am fairly certain I have consumed more bacon on this trip than in the rest of 2016 combined) and hit the pool. I go down early to grab a couple of primo lounge chairs while Tracey finishes getting into pool mode.

While I'm sitting on the chair waiting for Tracey to come down, a group of six women comes barging into the pool area and I hated them almost instantly. The leader of their little group was one of those people who thought she was much more important than she really is. It was obvious by the way she commanded the rest of them to follow her plan to commandeer any free lounge chairs and move them over to where they wanted to sit, and do it quickly before anyone else might have the nerve to want to sit on them. I was actually quite pleased when she was visibly frustrated that there weren't enough chairs to go around for her little coffee klatch. She started eyeing the chair that I was holding for Tracey and I was PRAYING that she would come over and try to take it so I could kick her fat ass into the pool. Alas, she did not. I never get a break.

When Tracey arrives, I head off to the gym for a little workout. "Little" being the operative word there, as the joint was packed! All the cardio machines were full, a guy was using the free weights and a girl was on a yoga mat in the middle of the room doing some serious core work. I spent 15 or so minutes using the weight machines that were free and then headed back to the pool. Earlier this week when I went to the gym there was not another soul around.

Into the pool which is pleasant but much cooler today than it was on Monday. There is a stiff breeze that seems to be cooling things down. Most of the coffee klatch is already in the shallow end of the pool so I spend some time in the deep end. Most of them are behaving themselves but Sergeant Annoying is loud and obnoxious. I'n my mind, I'm gouging her eyes out just for the fun of it. Dare to dream.

After my obligatory hour of pool time, I leave Contented Bear to enjoy her day at the pool while I head back up to the room to relax for a couple hours. After an hour or so I take her a sandwich and an apple for lunch. Certainly can't have Contented Bear turn into Hungry Bear!! Hungry Bear is a handful, let me tell you!

We have plans to hit Caesar's and do a little shopping, then dinner at Trevi. After dinner, over to the Wynn for some charcuterie and wine at La Cave, our favorite wine hangout in Vegas. Should be a fun night.

3:15 PM - Tracey comes back from the pool and The Process (TM) begins. Meanwhile I log onto our yoga studio website and sign us up for our classes for the next week, starting on Sunday. Wow, it's hard to believe that this trip is almost over and it's just about time to head back to reality! Not that our reality is lousy or anything - far from it - but it's not Vegas!!

5:00 PM - We are into the car and off to Caesar's, where we do a great deal of window shopping and a little actual shopping. The Forums Shoppes are terrific, every high-end designer you could possibly think of in one spot.

6:30 PM - Time for our reservations at Trevi. We've eaten here 3 or 4 times and always had a great meal. The ambiance is terrific too, sitting right next to the huge Trevi fountain. Tonight's meal is no exception. We both start off with appetizers, I have butternut squash ravioli and Tracey orders Mozza sticks....but these are nothing like your traditional Mozza sticks. They are the best I've ever tasted. My ravioli is also fantastic.

For dinner Tracey has "Pollo Tre Pomodori", described on the menu as such:

CRISPY PARMESAN CHICKEN BREAST WITH A ROMA, CHERRY AND SUN-DRIED TOMATO BIANCO SAUCE, PAPPARDELLE CACIO E PEPE

It's absolutely fantastic, some of the best breaded chicken either of us have ever tasted, and the bianco sauce that coats the pappardelle pasta is phenomenal.

 I am leaning towards ordering the same Chicken Carbonara dish I enjoyed on our last visit, but then something else caught my eye: A Meatzza Pizza, covered in meatballs, pepperoni, sausage and pancetta. First I confirm they have a defibrillator standing by, and once confirmed, I place my order.

It is one of the 5-6 best pizzas I have had in my life. It's as close to perfect as pizza comes, I think. And huge. This is what it looks like after I've eaten half of it:



It's too good to waste so we have it packed up to take back to the resort for lunch tomorrow. It's a bit of a pain to carry around with me all night but it's worth it.

Oh, and our bill, including one glass of wine and a generous tip (TERRIFIC service from Eddie), was $108. Superb value. This is a must-do restaurant for all of our Vegas trips.

One more point: Since we knew we were going to La Cave later tonight we didn't have a bottle of wine here, but they have a fantastic wine list. It's small, but they have a little something for everyone at every price point.

After dinner we finish off the shops in the mall and then start the walk to the Wynn, where we are planning to get our "fine wine drink on". First though, we come across this:


A carousel made of flowers!!

The Wynn has really outdone themselves this time, it's truly amazing. We'll see what the Bellagio has in store in their Atrium which we will see tomorrow.

8:50 PM - We arrive at La Cave, disappointed to realize that they close at 10....so we will probably only get one bottle of wine. And WHAT A BOTTLE WE FIND. Wow.


Those of you who are regular readers of my wine blog might recognize the winery and the vineyard here. We recently tasted the 2013 vintage of this wine and it was the best red wine we have ever had. If you'd like to read the review, here it is.

Is this vintage as spectacular as that one? No, but it's still pretty damn good, and we were so surprised and pleased to find it on their wine menu. I'll do a full review of it, and the other wine we've had on this trip, this weekend when we are back home.

We also ordered some charcuterie which we knew we weren't going to be able to do justice to after the huge dinner we just had, but even a little bit here and there improves the wine so we nibbled a bit and then took the rest back to the resort, which we will probably enjoy with the 2 bottles of wine we still have back at the resort.

A little more shopping after we left La Cave (yes, the shops in the Wynn mall are still open) and then back to Caesar's to get our car and head back. We had considered walking home if I was too drunk to drive, but that certainly isn't the case, especially after the 20-minute walk back to Caesar's.

Off to bed, tomorrow we are going to have another relaxing morning followed by a trip to Bellagio to see some art and enjoy a little buffet dinner tomorrow.

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