Teas on the Strip... it must be Las Vegas

WE hit Las Vegas late in the evening, which is absolutely the only time to arrive.

The sky was pitch black as our tea wagon struggled over the crest of the final hill, so emphasising the spectacular wall of neon rising up in the distance from the dark Nevada desert.

The sight of Little Urn, our converted ice cream van which is leading this road trip across America, trundling along the famous Vegas Strip dwarfed by massive casinos on every side, will live long in the memory.

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It may be mid-winter – or what passes for winter around here, anyway – but the place is still alive with hoards of excited punters, falling over themselves to throw their hard-earned dollars away.

They call this place Sin City for a reason. It is the home of hard drinking, hard gambling, hard luck. It is surely no place for afternoon tea.

Yet here we are, the following afternoon, sitting in the warm January sunshine taking a cup of Yorkshire's finest by the outdoor pool at Caesar's Palace.

The pool is enclosed within a courtyard of vast white washed walls, huge mock-Grecian pillars and palm trees stretching up into the electric blue sky.

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Sitting in the midst of this decadence, cup of Yorkshire Tea held daintily in hand, is Matt Goss, the former 80s teen pop star from south London who has somehow reinvented himself as one of the biggest draws in Vegas.

Goss, now bereft of twin brother Luke – with whom he formed the wildly popular boy band Bros – sings classic crooner stuff these days, and has the crowds flocking to his three-nights-a-week show at the Palace.

He now spends half his week in Los Angeles and half his week in Vegas, and – glancing round at our truly opulent surroundings – I suggest that sometimes England must feel a long, long way away.

"I do miss England," he says, softly-spoken and with a cockney accent unchanged by his years in the States. "I'm a proud Brit. When you're away from the UK you realise what an impact it has had on the world."

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Goss looked genuinely delighted to have been made a proper cuppa at last by Taylors girls Heidi and Liz, and before long had launched into a heated debate with them about the relative measures of a decent Teasmaid.

"I think there's this ceremony about the things we Brits do –about drinking tea and everything else," he says. "I do take great pride in being an Englishman. I love the Queen, I love watching England play football.

"There's a huge community that has taken me under their wing, and I'm proud to be part of Las Vegas. This town means the world to me."

As we leave, however, he seems genuinely moved to have been offered this brief taste of home, even offering a delighted Liz his gold Ray Bans as a parting gift.

"Give my love to Blighty, will you?" he asks, raising his tea cup in salute to the nation he has left behind.

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