Day 1026 - New York, New York

Start spreading the news ....

Apparently NYC has the best American style pizza on the planet so last night we went to the other end of the strip to visit New York, New York so that I could get my pizza fix. From the moment we walked in the door my jaw hit the floor (in a good way).  Loved it!

The building itself is made up of 12 New York inspired skyscrapers with a huge roller coaster weaving in and around the city-scape. Once inside you feel an old New York energy in amongst the Vegas vibe.  Frank Sinatra could have come out belting out "start spreading the news" and it wouldn't have seemed the least bit odd.

A Deep Fried Walk through Vegas' New York, New York

The boys tapped into their inner Irishmen by drinking Guiness in the Nine Fine Irishmen bar while us girls went to learn how to play black jack on the poker machines*. After a hand full of drinks and a few too many excited squeals (we got a little rowdy with enthusiasm) we moved around to the dining area which may as well have been old-world Manhatten with authentic replicas of New York streets, restaurants and buildings.   Hot dog stands, bars, bakeries, apartment blocks (complete with NY style fire escapes) and the joint I was drooling over - Sirrico's Pizza place. And I wasn't disappointed.  We ate huge slices of pepperoni pizza (which takes two hands to hold) with cheese and pepperoni fat dribbling down our chins.  Warning: don't do what I did and chow down the moment this pizza comes out of the oven.  Patience is required to let it cool enough to eat (otherwise you'll end up burning the crap out of the roof of your mouth).

Deep Fried YUM - Sirrico's Pizza

As we sat outside Sirrico's on a "New York" street we chair danced to the dueling pianos playing over at "The Bar at Times Square". I'd heard of dueling banjos, but never dueling pianos so this was a first for me. Two grand pianos sit back to back with their very clever pianists facing each other as the crowd makes requests so that the two musicians can duel it out. I'm not talking Bach and Chopin here people ... this is full on Billy Joel or Elton John style rock n roll with hands flying across the keys slamming out popular hits (past and present) with singing to boot. There was a lot of energy coming from that bar so as soon as we demolished the pizza we were in like Flynn and waggling our butts with the rest of the revellers. 

A Deep Fried first - Duelling Pianos

Some Deep Fried "woot woot"

After far too much arse slapping and a few too many hip gyrations we removed our sweaty selves and headed back out onto the strip.  Staying in New York New York had the potential to get very messy and I really didn't want to wake up with a "The Hangover" tooth missing, new pet tiger or a face tattoo. I can definitely see how that might happen.

There's a lot to choose from in Vegas with plenty of work gone into so many of the establishments, but for a cruise-through-I-just-want-a-drink-small-gamble-and-dance point of view I would have to say that New York New York is my pick of the themed casinos.  Just like the original NYC you can really lose yourself in its vibe.

*I am not a gambler in any way shape or form. Lucky for me neither is Cathy so the two of us were in good company.  We tried a slot machine but that bored us senseless after the first minute so we moved to an actual poker machine where you can choose to play black jack.  We had a blast! We put in a whole $20 between us, played for ages, and walked away with $22. Win!! High rollers for sure.  Of course then we went back and put it all back in again and lost it. But hey, it gave us an hour of enjoyment and free drinks, so we're not complaining.