Los Angeles and Las Vegas travel diary

After an eight-and-a-half-hour flight over the Pacific, our American dream began.

Even looking at it from the airplane window, the city of Los Angeles seemed truly immense, and the airport proved no different. We're talking about the largest airport in the world and the second by traffic of people carried. As soon as we got off, our first concern was to check the outside temperature; actually, the captain, before we got off the aircraft, had already told us it was sixteen degrees Celsius, but we so rarely encounter such low temperatures that we wanted to feel on our own skin what that meant. Another concern of ours was the prices we would face in the land of stars and stripes; for this reason, as soon as we cleared the entry formalities, we rushed to find a hostel or something similar.

The search wasn't actually very difficult, as much as the wait for the shuttle that would pick us up for free from the airport and take us to our "lodging." The place was quite nice, it even had a pool and an attached little restaurant. Breakfast was included, cookies with coffee in the mid-afternoon, and even dinner was free. We couldn't believe it, we were already ready to bless America. So we spent the first day congratulating ourselves on our choice and taking a brief evening exploration of the neighborhood around us. Another advantage of the hostel was the free transport to one of the most famous beaches in Los Angeles: Venice Beach. And that's exactly how we decided to spend our second day on American soil.

The place had something familiar about it, it felt like we'd already seen it several times... in fact, it has several times been the setting where the adventures of Baywatch took place, with Mitch Bew Cannon (who knows how you spell that!!!), his son Obbye and the legendary SJ Parker, aka Pamela Anderson! There was the pounding ocean, the very long and very wide beach dotted with lifeguard towers and plenty of palm trees as a backdrop: nothing was missing. Venice Beach was teeming with people strolling along the boardwalk, among little shops and street artists busy with the most absurd performances. There was even no shortage of basketball courts and outdoor gyms, where heaps of sweaty muscles strained to buff up their biceps.

When it was time to go back to the hostel, the same mishap that had happened to us on arrival at the airport occurred: the shuttle was monstrously late and because of it we missed the mouth-watering and completely free mid-day cookies. Having begrudgingly gotten over the mishap, we went to wash up in a great hurry so as not to miss dinner too. We were the first to arrive at dinner and, to our surprise, we began to realize why that dinner was free: the dishes repeated every evening, like a photograph taken twice, without a shred of imagination: overcooked pasta, nachos, potato croquettes (or fish, we're not given to know!) and rice. But the star dish, which fortunately kept repeating itself, was a super mega cake that looked like it was made by our grandma... finger-licking good.

For the third day we had booked a tour that would take us to see the city's main points of interest: indeed L.A. really is an immense city and hard to visit, especially if you're without a car. This tour, however, promised the impossible: Marina del Ray, again Venice Beach, Beverly Hills 90210 (with Brendon, Brenda, Kelly and Dylan Mc Kane), Rodeo Drive, Fisherman Market, Hollywood, Hall of Fame, Chinese Theatre and the residences of some Hollywood celebrities. To tell the truth, the tour turned out to be a bit of a rip-off, or at least it didn't fully live up to our expectations. To recover a bit from the disappointment, we immersed ourselves in a Lucullan little dinner and we'll let you guess what it offered: overcooked pasta, nachos, potato croquettes and rice.

As usual, time is a tyrant, especially if you have to go around the world in a year; the moment had come to decide how to continue our journey in the States. The options at our disposal were essentially two: entrust ourselves to the classic bus, which had distinguished our rides up to now, or rent a car. The difference, as usual, was made by the price but above all by the fact that with a vehicle entirely at our disposal we could best manage the route we had in mind. After a brief consultation the decision was made: the time had come to continue our adventure aboard a car. So early in the morning we got to work contacting the various agencies and finding the solution that suited us. Once we'd packed our bags, we once again took advantage of the free transport provided by the hostel and off to the airport, where our new travel companion awaited us.

Once the rental paperwork was done and the due amount paid, we were about to hit the road for one last look at L.A. In fact, since the city tour hadn't fully lived up to our expectations, we decided to return to some of the places we had fleetingly glimpsed the day before. And so it was... initially the nose of our Ford Taurus headed toward the glamour and luxury of Rodeo Drive, where, once parked, we treated ourselves to a little walk among the shop windows of the most famous fashion houses, and then set course for the residential area of Beverly Hills, the one that houses the enormous villas of rich Americans. Amid all this, a little visit to another of Los Angeles' most famous beaches couldn't be missing: Santa Monica.

No sooner said than done, in about fifteen minutes we were there, a part of the city certainly more peaceful than Venice Beach, characterized by a pedestrian zone where you could stroll, perhaps stopping to sip a coffee in one of the countless bars scattered along the street. Just enough time for one last goodbye to L.A., and it was time once again to set off, this time toward the world capital of gambling: Las Vegas!

It took about five hours of driving through the desert, or nearly; we took the wrong road a couple of times, but in the end we made it. We arrived in Las Vegas late in the evening, welcomed by its sparkling colors, a world of make-believe that was at the very least exciting. We knew very well that the decision to take the car would inevitably involve some sacrifices: as usual our budget was limited and to save a bit of money we had decided to spend a few nights in the car. So the first night in Las Vegas we decided to spend it between the seats of our Ford Taurus, in a parking lot of a luxurious hotel. To make up for this sacrifice, before going to bed we headed off to have dinner in a typical American place: a "steak house," a place of worship for lovers of good steaks (big, thick and juicy!).

We woke up early in the morning, with the sun peeking through the fogged-up rear window of our little car... it was time to explore Las Vegas, to delve into the magical illusions of a city created specifically for entertainment. But first of all it was time to find a place to drop our backpacks and take a healthy shower. In fact, we had checked out a few hostels the previous evening and so we headed straight for the USA Hotel, which among other things also promised free breakfast.

In the very early afternoon we were already on Las Vegas Boulevard, the central street along which the city's main attractions wind. It's absolutely true, Las Vegas is a city that never sleeps: even in broad daylight the casinos were stormed by thousands of tourists, the lights of the venues shone even brighter than daylight, the most important hotels offered exciting shows that tourists could enjoy right from the street and absolutely for free! It's hard to remember how many things we saw: we passed through a lifelike reconstruction of Venice, with St. Mark's Square, the Rialto Bridge, the gondolas, the canals and all the rest; we even saw the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty along with thousands of other illusions created specifically for the tourist. But the city must above all be experienced at night; it's under cover of darkness that it offers its best.

And so, after yet another fleeting dinner at a fast food place, here we were once again treading the glittering and sparkling Las Vegas Boulevard. Well... at night it's a whole different story, the charm with which the city surrounds itself is hard to explain in just a few words. We went to visit the places made famous by countless films, such as Caeser Palace, the Mirage, the MGM and the legendary Bellagio, where the tangled events of Ocean Eleven unfolded. We lingered along the street to admire the spectacular water shows offered by the Bellagio, the volcanic eruptions of the Mirage and the pirate adventures told in the garden of the Treasure Palace. Decidedly an intense night which, added to the day just past, had literally worn us out.

We headed to our little beds in the hostel because after the glamour and lights of the gambling capital, the time had come to point the hood of our Ford Taurus toward the peace offered by the enchanting scenery of the Grand Canyon.