It is exactly one year since I’ve had probably my strongest travel experience in my life. I have made it to Nicaraguan city of León and joined local people on La Griteria night which is part of a La Purísima festivity (more about it here). Sky was full of fireworks on these days, people were superfriendly and it was quite fascinating to watch people from churches handing out small gifts to all the people who came there. It was without any exaggeration quite a miracle that I had a chance to experience it. I was supposed to be on Costa Rican coast on this very date but as the weather was quite unstable after hurricane Otto, I decided to catch a plane to Nicaragua and visit cities of León and Granada for some 5 or 6 days and then come back to “Pura Vida country”.
Just a small advice: Don’t stick to your plans at all costs. Don’t be afraid to improvise a bit - sometimes it can lead you to even something much better that you have planned yourself. I didn’t know anything about La Purísma until this very night. Now I will never get it out of my head. It has been 365 days since I’ve experienced it but it still feels like it happened just yesterday. Happy La Griteria Nicaragua!
Las Vegas is a city which is still evolving. Every year there are a plenty of new hotels, restaurants, clubs and casinos. For some it is part of a great success story but for some… dreams finish in debris. Some gamblers win and most of them lose. Some hotels are now shinier than ever before and other are being demolished. But Las Vegas Club isn’t just one of the hotels. It is THE hotel.
Las Vegas Club opened its doors in 1930. If you had seen my photos, you probably do realise that the neon sign is really huge. But what you probably don’t know is the fact that it was historically the very second neon casino sign in Las Vegas. Las Vegas Club moved to another part of Fremont Street in 1949 and stayed there ever since.
In April 2013 Las Vegas Club closed its hotel tower which left only the casino open. At midnight on 19th of August 2015, Las Vegas Club shut its doors completely. During this year is Las Vegas Club being demolished and during my visit in October there was not much left except the wall with the famous neon sign. I hope we will be able to see it in the Las Vegas Neon Museum in near future. And for those curious about my photos - images were taken from the room located in new tower of the Golden Nugget Hotel.
I wish every co-operation and communication with tourism boards was that professional like it was in San Francisco. They make it so easy for journalists to have their visit as effective as possible that even European countries like Switzerland, Austria and others are way behind with the work of their tourism boards. Really. They are so prepared with all the businesses ready to help visiting journalists that I can’t speak high enough about their system. Soon I will start publishing all the articles they’ve helped me to obtain with their prompt and kind help. If you always wanted to visit SF, make sure you have some five days to spend there so you can experience it from all the possible angles, including the gastronomic one. Hey and btw, do you know that Pier 39 will be 39 years old tomorrow? All the best from Czech Republic. It was a blast San Francisco!
