On Wednesday 15th September Briony and Louisa were keen to have breakfast because Briony was flying back home to Indiana that afternoon. For once, I wasn’t hungry as I’d eaten so much yesterday, but I was happy to go along. I took my laptop as I had a customer getting on a train in Toronto at 8.30am, and I wanted to check all was going smoothly for their arrival into Quebec tonight, in readiness for a cruise tomorrow.
At Avenue Cafe in the MGM Grand, I just had tea and toast while the girls ordered a couple of egg based breakfast dishes to share. The breakfast classic dishes were priced at $25, the French toast was $17 and the portions were substantial. We had spent 6 nights at Excalibur Hotel & Casino and tonight there would just be Louisa and I left, as we were flying back to the UK tomorrow. It had been great to see Briony after such a long time and I was grateful that her and Louisa had got on so well and had a lot in common/liked the same sort of activities. I did feel a little bad that my priorities and money status were massively different to when I used to hang around with Briony and that I’d been in no position to even attempt to spend as much as they could. I was still fighting back tears that I’d spent over £100 on unnecessary taxis in less than 1 week – something I very rarely spend money on if I can help it!
We went back to the room and I watched with amusement at Briony’s packing of her various cases – the only thing she’d not got in there was the kitchen sink!
Louisa and I walked Briony to the valet area to get her taxi and said bye, not knowing when we might see each other again – perhaps back in England in 2027. It felt more emotional to say bye than it should’ve and I blamed the menopause.
Louisa and I spent the next 4+ hours sightseeing, wandering round the strip and me watching her shop for souvenirs. This time we took the monorail and it only cost £18.45 for 2 of us to do 2 journeys, all the way to the Venetian and back – a bargain compared to taxis and it had good views. I was surprised at how small the Venetian was for the gondola rides and we nipped in to the Tipsy Robot where Louisa bought us a cocktail, using the 2 for 1 discount card again.
The M&M shop was an eye-opener for me as M&Ms are pretty cheap in Dalyan and are one of the chocolates you can readily get. I don’t eat them as they aren’t good for my stomach but Louisa is a massive fan and got lots of souvenirs, so much so that she hoped it would all fit in her suitcase for the return journey.
Back at the Excalibur we still had loads of spiced rum left so we had a couple. The room looked half empty without Briony and all her tranklements.
For dinner, Louisa kindly treated us both to a Chinese meal at Chin Chin in the New York New York Hotel. We shared a prawn toast ($15) and an orange chicken with steamed rice ($28). I made the mistake of telling them of my allergies and it turned into a bit of over attentive service as I think they thought I’d sue them over a spoonful of oyster sauce if I collapsed. The food was good and I really enjoyed it. Louisa had a little flutter in the Excalibur casino on the way back to the room, just using up some $1 notes then it was off to bed for our last night. I got the whole bed to myself, the first time not sharing a bed since I left Dalyan 75 days ago and it felt lovely.
Gratitude List
1. Using the monorail
2. Sightseeing with Louisa
3. A good meal at Chin Chin with Louisa.
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