An Alternative To iTunes

I've debated about advertising this little gem, but since I know I have so many readers, who depend on my opinion, I feel it is my duty to share.

For about two years I've been using the site: www.gomusicnow.com to download my music. It's completely legal and I do pay for the songs, but the best thing about this site is this: songs range from $o.15 to $0.09. Yep, you read that right. AND, if you buy the entire album they usually discount it by 10%. Now, I know what you are going to say, "Do they have current albums?" Um, they actually have albums that haven't even been released on iTunes yet. "Is the quality good?" The download quality is actually a little better than iTunes. "How do you pay for the songs?" I set up an account from my debit card and with my account it keeps a great catalog of my downloaded songs and the amount of money I have left to spend.

So, here's what I do. I go to iTunes because I like the structure of this site. I like that you can see what are the most popular songs, preview them and then even find bands that are similar to what you like. I then find the songs I want to buy and then head over to my site and download. I would say the only downside, and this is the only one, is that sometimes for whatever reason they don't have particular albums. For example, they have an awesome live recording of Adele in London, but they haven't posted her 21 album, which has won a thousand awards. So, I'll admit it's a little random, but in the end, if you are willing to wait, almost everything you want will be posted.

So, if you are willing to walk away from the grips of iTunes and stop paying $0.99 for a song come on over to gomusicnow.com.

Malibu Golf Club

A few months ago the husband bought off groupon.com a groupon for two rounds of golf at Malibu Golf Club. With the groupon we were able to save about fifty dollars and had no trouble getting a tee time.

Malibu Golf Club is located up in the mountains of Malibu off Encinal Canyon Road. We decided to take PCH from Santa Monica and then traveled about fifteen minutes in the canyon until we came to the club. Before I talk about the golf, let me just say this drive is gorgeous. Encinal Road winds through the mountains and opens up enough so you can see the ocean and the expansive coast. The husband and I have ridden this road a few times on our bikes and it is definitely one of my favorite roads to drive or ride.

Okay, the golf. The course is nestled right in the middle of the mountains in this beautiful valley of rolling hills and trees. I didn't find the course to be overly complicated and definitely found the distances to be manageable for someone at my level. I did find each hole to be quite narrow and deeply forested on each side. The starter let us know to just stay left each time and we would be fine. His advice proved to be correct and each time the left side seemed to be the safe bet. There was not much in the way of water. The only difficult water hazard you have to navigate is on the 9th hole and if you hit a good drive you should have the distance to pop one on the green. The water isn't very long but snakes across the entire hole.

Overall I really enjoyed the course for these reasons:

1. The carts have GPS and were about 99% correct in your distances.
2. A lot of the tees are set up high and give you a great look down the hole and into the beautiful course.
3. There weren't a lot of bunkers, which I sort of hate, so approach shots were a little more forgiving.
4. Distances of the holes are manageable but challenging.
5. The club is organized well and we didn't have to wait for the groups ahead of us.
6. The club house has great chili. Just saying.

The cons:
1. The greens seem like they are in pretty bad shape. I have seen municipal courses with better greens. There's a lot of bumps and patches.


If you are looking for a great drive and a great course check out Malibu Golf Club.

Jersey Boys

If you don't have a particular show in mind when you get to Vegas, but you know you want some form of entertainment for the night, I recommend getting up early in the morning and hitting one of the tix4tonight kiosks located around the strip. These are great because they offer shows and buffets, for that night, at almost half the price. We decided to try the one located in Fashion Show Mall, which was close to our hotel and wasn't too busy. While waiting in line they offer great assistants that can let you know what is available and what is worth seeing. We decided to see Jersey Boys, and ended up paying about 40% less had we bought the tickets ahead of time. We also we were able to get great seats up in the second level.

We decided on Jersey Boys because of the amazing reviews on yelp.com and because the employees at tix4tonight said it was a guaranteed good show. In my opinion, which is obviously incredibly important, I found the show to be incredibly entertaining. The changing sets were dynamic and easily took you through the different places Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons experienced throughout their career. Also, the music was awesome. I had no idea The Four Seasons had written so many songs I was familiar with and had grown up hearing. The man who played Frankie Vallie had a ridiculous voice and sounded almost exactly like the original guy.

I would say the only disappointments of the show were, and this really wasn't the fault of the show, but the theater was almost empty. Therefore, I felt bad for the performers because there was almost no energy in that place. (A guy in front of us actually slept through the entire thing.) And lastly, I definitely wouldn't recommend this show to families. The language and comments are pretty intense and definitely could be slightly uncomfortable for families to hear.

Outside of those riveting opinions if you are looking for a good time in Vegas, on the cheap, try tix4tonight and check out Jersey Boys.

Food In Vegas

Recently, the husband and I went to Vegas to celebrate our anniversary. While we were there we enjoyed some amazing meals and shows. The following are my recommendations for doing Vegas right (and which don't leave you with a strange wife or disease.)

Food:

El Segundo Sol

This amazing Mexican restaurant is located across the street from the Wynn Hotel and in the middle of the Fashion Show Mall. You might miss it being tucked in the corner, but I promise you, you won't find a better Mexican restaurant in all of Vegas, or in the west for that matter.

First, you must start with their homemade guacamole and salsa. The guacamole is literally made to order and you can taste the ripe avocados, limes and cilantro. In addition to the guacamole is a salsa platter that comes with chips and offers awesome verde and regular salsa. Another amazing starter is the chicken taquitos. I'm not usually a huge fan of fried food, but this somehow comes off light and flavorful with the orange salsa.

Next, and I can't impress upon you enough, you must have the tacos. All of them are amazing. My husband loves the baja fish tacos, which again are fried, but come off just right, and I love the chicken tacos. The chicken has obviously been marinated over night and then grilled over a hot fire. It's so good that I could just eat without anything. However, as good as the meats are the tortillas make this meal. According to the manager, they literally have a woman designated as the tortilla maker and that's all she does. The tortillas are a perfect and made with a ground corn. In addition to the platter, you also get rice and black beans. Unlike other Mexican restaurants these sides are equal to their main courses.

Lastly, and again, you must somehow save room, you must order the tres leches cake. I'm not even a big dessert person, but this is insanely good. Again, somehow they manage to make a rich dessert so amazing and light.


Strip Burger
Next door to El Segundo Sol is a small outdoor eating area that serves awesome burgers, fries, sandwiches and shakes. It's the perfect place for curing a hangover and gaining some energy to go shopping. While we were there I had the California Chicken Sandwich and my husband had the Green Chili Burger. I love places that cook their burgers and chicken sandwiches on a grill and this was definitely the case. The portions were huge and warm as we sat outside. However, the winner of the meal were the sweet potato fries. They had some type of sugary taste to them and came with this amazing sauce. Every time we pass through Vegas I sort of crave those fries.



Mon Ami Gabi
First, this restaurant is amazing because of its location. It is located in the Paris Casino and faces the Bellagio Fountains. As you eat, you can perfectly see and hear the water show. We ate here once for my husband's birthday and it was so romantic to sit outside, enjoy a great meal and see those fountains.

As for eating, this place offers an amazing menu. To start I recommend trying either their French onion soup or the sea scallops. Both are cooked to perfection and show you from the very beginning what type of caliber this restaurant offers. I would however also mention for starters to stay away from their salads. I've had the house petite salad and the ceasar and found both to be very lackluster. They just don't seem to fit on the menu because of their lack of flavor and thought. Therefore, if you aren't a big starter hang with the delicious bread they provide and wait for the main course.

I've eaten at this restaurant four times and I've tried some of their specials. I've had a pot roast they advertised as being cooked for a few days, which was alright but I found to be very fatty, I've had a few fish dishes, that were amazing, but the real winners at this restaurant are their steak dishes. So, if you hear specials, close your ears and focus on the steaks. I recommend the classic filet mignon merlot. It is mouth watering good and the sauce...it's like butter. Also, what makes this meal are the frites that come on the side. They are the perfect compliment to add a little salt to the steak and soak up the juices and sauce. Another favorite is the bone-in ribeye. This is a monster dish, but again the ribeye is moist and juicy.

For dessert I'm not crazy about their selections. During the summer you get a lot of fresh fruit from California and the chef makes some amazing cakes and crepes with the fruit. During the winter months, they desserts aren't as amazing. We've ordered a few items, but were never overly impressed.

So, again remember come here for the steak and you will leave happy.

Lyon

From Chamonix we decided we didn't want to drive the entire distance back to Paris in order to fly home. Therefore, we decided to stop in Lyon, drop off our rental car, which was probably the hardest thing we had to maneuver since being in the country, spend one night there and then take a train directly to the airport the following day. We found this allowed us one more day to explore an additional city, and have a direct ride to the airport.

After finding the Budget Rental Car company, which was sandwiched between the train station and some side road, we took off to explore Lyon. According to Rick Steves' Europe travel book, he recommended walking through the Croix-Rousse district, which is the silk weavers district of Lyon. We absolutely loved walking these streets, which had secret passages, random off shoots and showcased gorgeous Italian architecture. It was slightly raining as we walked, but this little old part of Lyon offered many enclosed walkways and shops for us to stay dry.

Lyon, according to our research prior to traveling, was designated as the gastronomy capital of France, therefore we decided after exploring to treat ourselves to a very gourmet dinner. We decided on Le Winch, which was located on a quaint street lined with restaurants. My husband decided on an amazing dinner of duck and vegetables, and I finally, succumbed to steak and pom frites. (The first time I went Paris as a 13 year old girl I only order steak and pom frites, so this time around I promised myself I would try other things.)
After dinner we walked back to our hotel. We ended up staying at Hotel Central because of its location to the train station. Though this was a last minute decision, we were really impressed with this hotel. It has a very modern feel to it, the rooms are quite large and they offer a great breakfast in the morning.

Chamonix

From Annecy we traveled to Chamonix, which is located a little over an hour down the road. Chamonix shares the summit Mont Blanc, which is the highest mountain in the Alps, with its neighboring commune of Courmayeur in Italy, and has the appearance of a beautiful ski town like Aspen or Park City, Utah.

As we drove into the valley of Chamonix we were able to see several waterfalls coming down the mountains. Unlike Annecy, Chamonix was very easy to navigate and we were able to easily find our hotel. We ended up staying at the Hotel La Vallee Blanche. We decided on this hotel for its location, which was within walking distance of the Tourist's Welcome Center and the main streets of Chamonix for food. As for all our trips, we find Trip Advisor to be the best website to refer to for rates, reviews and recommendations. I have yet to find a hostel or hotel off this website we weren't completely satisfied with. As promised on Trip Advisor, the rooms weren't amazing, but the hotel is located next to a river, and while we slept, we were able to hear the river rustle by.

After quickly dropping our bags down, we headed over to the Tourist Welcome Center. I really enjoy starting a city this way because we find the best maps there and always get great recommendations on how best to see the city. (That's how we found out about hikes and bike rentals in Annecy.) After, learning a little about the city, we decided the best attraction in Chamonix, when there's no snow of course, is to take a cable car up to the top of Mont Blanc.

So, the following day we took the Aiguille du Midi cable car and traveled 12604 ft up into the clouds. It cost about 12,70 € per person, and it was completely worth the money. At the summit, are man made terraces that allow you a 360° view of the French, Swiss and Italian Alps. While we were traveling up the cable car a cloud cover began to hide our view, but once we made it to the top the skies opened up and we were able to see everything.

At the top.
The terraces built on top of the mountain.
Separating each terrace and level were man made ice tunnels.
At the top an additional gondola ride can take you over Glacier du Géant to the Pointe Helbronner in Italy. We decided not to take this additional trip because of the cost, and we felt we had seen everything.
From the top people were taking off to hike down. They were equipped with ice cleats, tents and skis.

The cable car ride between Chamonix and Aiguille du Midi is broken into two stages. At the intermediate stop, at a height of 7, 578 feet, the Plan de l'Aiguille offers a departure point for individuals, who aren't equipped with ice gear, to hike the rest of the way down. We decided to get off at this point and walk the rest of the way down. The hike was long, but offered some amazing pockets of water left from glaciers, great views of Chamonix and different types of scenery from large boulders to forests.

Annecy

After six hours of driving we pulled off the highway into Annecy, which is located in the southeastern part of the country. (I should mention that we were not warned ahead of time, but Annecy is slightly confusing to navigate in a car. There didn't seem to be one main street, but a criss-crossing of one way streets. Eventually, we found our hostel, but I'll admit we drove around for awhile - and most likely drove by it a few times.)

Anyway, we ended up staying at the Alexandra Hotel. This place was perfectly located in the middle of town, close to restaurants and provided free parking underground nearby. We also really enjoyed this hotel because of the amazing service and the very filling breakfast they provided each morning.

Now, the reason we chose to stay in Annecy was strictly because of the beautiful Lake Annecy. Lake Annecy is the second largest lake in France and deemed as the cleanest lake in Europe. I can't describe how beautiful and blue this lake was. In order to truly enjoy the the lake and the surrounded trees and hills, we decided to go hiking our first day. According to Rick Steves' France guidebook we were able to find a trail and followed as it winded along the lake.
After hiking for a few hours, we decided to try one of Annecy's favorite meals: Raclette. I'm not sure how to describe this meal, other than I sort of want it to be my last meal if I'm ever on death row. It was amazing. Raclette consists of Raclette cheese being heated, either in front of a fire or by a special machine, then scraped onto your plate with small potatoes, ham and a small salad. In addition, to this delicious meal is always bread that is by far the best in the world. We enjoyed not only eating this meal, but preparing it at our table and taking our time enjoying the experience. If you travel to Annecy find Chez Mamie Lise Restaurant, which is right next to a beautiful canal and try Raclette. You won't be disappointed.

Here you can see the stove you are given to cook the cheese. On top you cook the potatoes.

Our last day in Annecy we decided to rent some bikes and ride around the lake. I can't remember the exact company we rented from, but I do remember it was near Chez Mamie Lise Restaurant, and it wasn't expensive.

Again, I can't emphasize enough how beautiful Lake Annecy was, and how fun it was to explore the surrounded towns and farms along the way. If you decide to rent bikes, don't feel like you have to be an expert rider. There's a very smooth bike path that travels almost half around the lake. It provides about an hour ride, and there are restaurants and picnic tables along the way.
If you are looking for a change from museums and large cities, Annecy is the perfect stop.