Switzerland Travel Centre Switzerland

Our partner Switzerland Travel Centre Home Switzerland Bernese Oberland Wallis Graubünden Rail passes Accommodation Swiss Shop Sitemap About us Contact Guestbook Advertisement Partners Technology Disclaimer Help MySwissAlps Our partner Switzerland Travel Centre Switzerland Travel Centre (STC) is a collaboration of Switzerland Tourism, the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), the airline Swiss, Swiss Hotel Association, Gastro-Suisse and Europcar. Since 1998, the holidaymaker is offered a selection of over 2000 hotels, 4000 apartments and holiday homes and the most popular passes for unlimited use of the Swiss railways and other public transport. MySwissAlps.com is a partner of Switzerland Travel Centre since 2004. Switzerland Travel Centre processes orders of Swiss rail passes made through our website by Western European customers. Rail pass orders from customers not living in Western Europes are processed by our partner Rail Europe . Switzerland Travel Centre also processes bookings of accommodation made by customers world wide. For privacy reasons, we do not have access to detailed information about orders you place at Switzerland Travel Centre through our website. This also applies to personal particulars that you provide while placing your order. Switzerland Travel Centre takes care of a safe transaction and shipment of your rail passes or accommodation reservation. Do you have questions about your pending order ? Please contact Switzerland Travel Centre. Your questions will be answered quickly. For any other questions, you are welcome to contact MySwissAlps.com as well. Book a hotel room or apartment in Switzerland Order Swiss rail passes More about the partners of MySwissAlps.com Contact information Switzerland Travel Centre E-mail: Please enable JavaScript Grubenstrasse 12 8045 Zürich Switzerland Phone: ++41 43 266 2000 Fax: ++41 43 266 2001 Contact information for rail passes purchased in the UK, Ireland or Scandinavia E-mail: Please enable JavaScript 1st floor 30 Bedford Street London WC2E 9ED United Kingdom Phone: ++44 (0)207 420 4900 Fax: ++44 (0)207 420 4922 Questions about your pending order? Please contact Switzerland Travel Centre in English or German through Please enable JavaScript and include the following information in your e-mail: Your name, address (country included) and phone number; Where you placed your order (MySwissAlps.com); When you placed your order; What did you order (which rail pass, which hotel did you book); Your departure date. Please copy your message (cc) to Please enable JavaScript so that we are aware of your question and can help if necessary. If your inquiry is urgent, please call Switzerland Travel Centre and refer to your e-mail. © MySwissAlps.com 2005 MySwissAlps.com is a travel guide for your summer holidays in Switzerland HIKING TRAILS - PICTURES - TRANSPORTATION - DAY TRIPS - RAIL PASSES - ACCOMMODATION - RESORTS - LINKS

Cheap Travel

Cheap flights by Just the Flight UK discount air fares specialist Scheduled & Cheap Flight Search - Book Online Low fares, discounted flights and secure online booking Type of trip One Way Return Multi-Leg Departing Select UK departure airport Aberdeen Alderney Belfast City Airport Belfast Intl Birmingham Blackpool Bristol Cardiff East Midlands Airport Edinburgh Exeter Glasgow Guernsey Humberside Inverness Isle Of Man Jersey Leeds/Bradford Liverpool London (ALL) London City Airport London Gatwick London Heathrow London Luton London Stansted Manchester Newcastle Norwich Plymouth Southampton Teesside Adults 1 2 3 4 5 6 Departure airport not listed? Click Here Children 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Going To Infants 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Departing 0100 0200 0300 0400 0500 0600 0700 0800 0900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 Anytime Morning Midday Evening Night 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Dec 2005 Jan 2006 Feb 2006 Mar 2006 Apr 2006 May 2006 Jun 2006 Jul 2006 Aug 2006 Sep 2006 Oct 2006 Nov 2006 Returning 0100 0200 0300 0400 0500 0600 0700 0800 0900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 Anytime Morning Midday Evening Night 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Dec 2005 Jan 2006 Feb 2006 Mar 2006 Apr 2006 May 2006 Jun 2006 Jul 2006 Aug 2006 Sep 2006 Oct 2006 Nov 2006 Cabin Class Any Cabin Class Economy Premium Economy Business/Club First/Upper Cheapest Flights Top Flight Destinations Amsterdam -- Athens -- Atlanta -- Bangkok -- Barcelona -- Belfast -- Berlin -- Boston -- Brussels -- Budapest -- Cairo -- Cape Town -- Chicago -- Copenhagen -- Dubai -- Dublin -- Edinburgh -- Frankfurt -- Glasgow -- Guernsey -- Hamburg -- Hong Kong -- Istanbul -- Jersey -- Johannesburg -- Kuala Lumpur -- Las Vegas -- Lisbon -- Los Angeles -- Madrid -- Marseille -- Miami -- Milan -- Moscow -- Munich -- New Orleans -- New York -- Nice -- Orlando -- Oslo -- Paris -- Perth -- Rome -- San Francisco -- Singapore -- Stockholm -- Sydney -- Tampa -- Toronto -- Warsaw -- Top Flight Searches Turkey Resting between Europe and Asia, where East Meets West Cyprus Aphrodite's Island. Hot climate and great resorts Crete Island of passion, magic and mysteries. The Canary Islands Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, La Palma Florida Theme parks, beaches and great weather The Balearics Mediterranean islands Majorca, Menorca and Ibiza Flights to Dominican Republic Flights to Spain Flights to Greece Flights to Bulgaria Flights to The Caribbean Flights to The Channel Islands Flights to The Algarve Charter Flights from the UK Seasonal flight only deals Alicante £39 Antalya £99 Bodrum £145 Bourgas £149 Cancun £129 Corfu £119 Dalaman £135 Faro £49 Fuerteventura £49 Goa £209 Gran Canaria £49 Heraklion £99 Ibiza £99 Izmir £125 Kefalonia £139 Kos £139 Lanzarote £49 Larnaca £99 Majorca £48 Malaga £39 Malta £59 Menorca £89 Montego Bay £219 Orlando £119 Paphos £59 Reus £89 Rhodes £109 Sharm El Sheikh £79 Tenerife £39 Varna £144 Ski Flights from the UK Flight only deals to Ski resorts Berne £79 Calgary £244 Chambery £59 Geneva £49 Grenoble £59 Innsbruck £59 Lyons £49 Milan £76 Salzburg £49 Sofia £59 Toulouse £49 Turin £49 Verona £49 Flights from UK Airports Holiday & Charter Flights Aberdeen Belfast City Airport Belfast Intl Birmingham Blackpool Bournemouth Bristol Cardiff Cork Coventry Doncaster-Sheffield Dublin East Midlands Edinburgh Exeter Glasgow Glasgow Prestwick Humberside Inverness Knock Leeds-Bradford Liverpool London Gatwick London Heathrow London Luton Manchester Newcastle Newquay Norwich Shannon Southampton Teesside Worldwide Airport Finder Select Region Europe Middle East North America Far East South America Australasia Africa Merry Christmas Christmas Opening Times Special Offers Newsletter Great Deals by Email Enter your email address to receive our exclusive special offers newsletter Flights to the Canary Islands £39 View flight deals to ... Tenerife Gran Canaria Lanzarote Fuerteventura Flights to Majorca, Ibiza & Menorca View flight deals to ... Majorca Ibiza Menorca £48 Flights to Turkey £99 View flight deals to ... Antalya Bodrum Izmir Dalaman Flights to Orlando £119 Flights to Cyprus View flight deals to ... Larnaca Paphos £59 Just the Flight RSS Feeds NEW! Just the Flight have just introduced the quickest and easiest way of getting information about the cheapest flight deals we have. Receive details about the latest cheap flights; just choose where you want to fly from and where you want to go to. To learn more and to see our list of RSS Feeds, visit our RSS Information Page Click on the logos above for more information Our ATOL number is 5554. Our ABTA number is 44935 Our IATA number is 91223064 Scheduled Flights | Charter Flights | Airline Finder | Holiday Extras | Holiday Guides | Home | ATOL & ABTA info Cheap flights by Just the Flight UK discount air fares specialist info@justtheflight.co.uk ortelephone08707 589 589 or Guernsey 44 (0)1481 242200 and Jersey 01534 769769 Monday to Thursday 8:30-20:00, Friday 8:30-17:30 Saturday 9:00-16:00, Sunday 10:00-16:00 (UK time) (Calls may be recorded for quality control & training)

Ski Vacation

Winter Ski Vacations in Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada Mount Tremblant, Mt-Tremblant, Mt. Tremblant... lots of names, but still the #1 Ski Resort in Eastern North America according to Ski Magazine ! Skip Navigation Village Things To Do Accommodations Deals & Packages Mountain Golf Getting Here Rentals and Lessons Tickets & Passes Groups Home > Getting Here > What to Expect > Plan your Winter Vacation Getting Here Directions & Maps Ground Travel Air Travel & Flights What to Expect Plan your Winter Vacation Plan your Summer Vacation Family Vacation with Kids Tremblant Area History About the Laurentians About Canada Local Customs Tremblant Weather Stats Plan your Winter Vacation Tremblant is an excellent choice for your winter holidays . With over 610 acres of skiable terrain, including 92 groomed trails and 31 acres of glades, exceptional snowmaking facilities and 2 specially designed parks for riders, Tremblant boasts an incredible 7 months of snow sports per year. Tremblant not only offers the highest skiable terrain (3,001 ft.) in the spectacular Laurentian Mountains, breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains, and Qubecois joie de vivre, it's also home to a fabulous resort Village. With shops, restaurants, bars and plenty of activities and events to make your winter vacations unforgettable, it's no wonder that year after year, Tremblant resort has been rated #1 in Eastern North America by the readers of SKI Magazine. What to Expect Snow: Tremblant's average annual snowfall is 382 cm (12.53 feet). Our snowmaking facilities add to mother nature's blanket of snow, covering over 464 acres of skiable terrain. Tremblant's 790 state-of-the-art snow guns blow more white magic than you could ever wish for. Check out our web cams today to keep an eye on the live conditions at Tremblant. Weather: Make note that during your winter vacation, temperatures at Tremblant can vary greatly from the resort village to the summit. The average alpine temperature is -10 degrees Celcius (14 degrees Fahrenheit). To know what to expect, check out our daily snow report and forecasts before you head for the hills. How to Prepare for Your Trip Where to Stay: From exclusive five-star properties to reasonable family-oriented condominiums, Tremblant resort offers packages for all winter vacation budgets. To find the best accommodation to suit your needs, we recommend that you consult our online vacation planner . Our friendly and knowledgeable reservation agents will help you find what you're looking for. Tremblant has tens of hotels and thousands of rooms in the heart of the action or nestled away from it all. Pre-Book for Savings & Convenience: We suggest that you have a look at our online vacation planner to better plan your Tremblant vacation. It's jam packed with all kinds of important information. Check out travel directions, hotels, lift tickets, rentals, upcoming events and activities, ski/snowboard programs, and so much more. If you're lodging is already taken care of, then save a buck by pre-booking your rentals , lift tickets and ski/snowboard programs . It's a good idea to make reservations for children's ski and snowboard programs as well as for restaurants before you arrive at Tremblant, especially during peak and holiday periods. What to Wear: On the mountain: Winter weather at Tremblant can change in the blink of an eye. Visitors should come prepared for all conditions. To avoid frostbite when temperatures plummet with the wind chill factor, it is extremely important to cover any exposed skin. In the Village: Anything goes. Temperatures are much more moderate at the base of the mountain in the resort Village, but guests should be prepared for all weather conditions. Our shops , restaurants and bars are cosy and loaded with aprs-ski warmth. Good walking shoes and/or boots with rubber soles are highly recommended for strolling through the alpine Village. When in Tremblant Take a lesson: If your skiing skills are a little rusty or if you're a new skier or snowboarder, then do yourself a favour and take snowboard or ski lessons. Our renowned Snow School offers a wide range of programs to suit all tastes and needs, ranging from adult racing to women-only, discovery programs and much more! One-on-one or in a group, you'll sharpen your skills and get the most out of your winter vacations at Tremblant. Bring the kids: Tremblant is for families. And our Snow School offers ski and snowboard programs just for children from 1 to 17 years of age - and an awesome Kidz Club too! Our programs are first-rate and very popular, so make the most of your stay by pre-booking. Your kids will have loads of fun in a completely safe and secure environment. Take a mountain tour: Whether it's your first or tenth visit to Tremblant, we highly recommend taking a guided mountain tour. Info-Ski Tremblant offers FREE 1-hour guided tours so you get to know the ins and outs of our majestic Laurentian jewel. It's a great opportunity to learn where and when to ski, under the watchful guidance of our experienced hosts. Our Snow School also offers 2-hour group tours for strong novice to expert skiers. Know where to ski: Even though there's no risk of avalanches, Tremblant is still a big mountain experience. With four challenging faces to ski, plenty of wooded glades, exciting off-trail skiing, rocky outcrops and natural half-pipes, it pays to know where you're going. Make sure you pick up a trail map before you hit the slopes and take time to check out our trail conditions at the base of the mountain and at the summit. Better safe than sorryor lost. Time for lunch? Take a break for a bowl of soup or chilli. The view is simply spectacular from the Grand Manitou restaurant at the summit of Tremblant. Or perhaps you're meeting friends for lunch in one of the many restaurants in our resort. Click here to check out all our restaurant options . The early birds get the snow! One of the best ways to start your day at Tremblant is to take the heated Gondola to the top of the mountain at 7:15, enjoy a hearty breakfast buffet in the Grand Manitou and then lay down the first tracks of the day starting at 8am. First Tracks happens every weekend during the winter holidays and it's a must for powder hounds. Winter vacation activities: If you've skied and boarded to your heart's content and you still have energy to burn, check out Tremblant's wide range of other exciting winter activities . Choose from a trip to a Scandinavian Spa, snowshoeing, dogsledding, horseback riding, Aquaclub La Source, snowmobiling, ice climbing, airplane tours, tubing, cross-country skiing and so much more. The list goes on and on. Or stop by our Activity Centre in the Village for more info about our great outdoor adventures. Special events: There's always something happening at Tremblant. Day and night. Four seasons a year. Festivals. Concerts. Shows. Competitions. You won't want to miss a single event when you're visiting, so have a look at our calendar of events before you arrive. Memories last forever "Do we have to go home?" It's always hard to end unforgettable winter vacations. Here are a few tips to keep you connected to Tremblant all year 'round. How about preserving the memories on film? Le Photo Shoppe, Tremblant's on-mountain photographers, are easy to spot and will gladly capture your vacation on film or video. Visit www.tremblant.ca often for recent photos and movies. Sign-up for our Privilege e-newsletter to stay connected to what's happening at Eastern North America's #1 resort. Region & Resort Maps Hotels & Condominiums Winter Activities Making a Reservation Print Email to a Friend Home > Getting Here > What to Expect > Plan your Winter Vacation Galleries & Cams About Us Real Estate Privilege Newsletter Privacy Policy Site Map Jobs Free Brochures Media Version Française Restaurants Nightlife, Bars & Pubs Shopping Services Galleries & Webcams Winter Events Calendar Indoor Activities Kids & Daycare Summer Golf Region & Resort Map Pedestrian Village Hotels Resort Homes & Condos Chalets around the Resort Deals & Packages Winter Vacation Packages Other Deals & Promotions A La Carte Reservations Summer Vacation Packages Gift Certificates Contests Snow Report The Mountain in Winter The Mountain in Summer Galleries & Webcams Snow Parks FREE - With every round of golf Le Diable Golf Course Le Geant Golf Course Tremblant Golf Academy Golf Deals & Packages Summer 2005 Rates Groups & Tournament GPS Personnal Digital Caddie Directions & Maps Ground Travel Air Travel & Flights What to Expect Winter Equipment Rental Snow School Kids & Daycare Repair Shops & Tune-Up T-Max and T-Max BANG Ski Discount Cards Winter Season Passes Winter Ski Lift Tickets Corporate & VIP Lift Tickets Intrawest Tremblant - Group Services Homewood Suites - Group Services Marriott Tremblant - Group Services Fairmont Tremblant - Group Services

Travel Guide and much

Travel Community Online - Travellerspoint U sername: P assword: R emember Me Car Hire Travel Insurance Airport Parking UK Cheap Accommodation Hotel Bookings Travellerspoint Travel Community Forums Blogs Destinations Accommodation Travel Help Reunions Tools Links Travellerspoint Travel Community Nurturing travel addictions Ask the Travel Helpers for advice Keep a free travel diary or travel blog Book Youth Hostels Upload your Travel Photos Reunite with lost travel friends Explore our Online Travel Guide and much more .. First time visitors, click here to join our community. Membership is free! See our FAQ for more information. Travel Help The travel helpers have been where you want to go. Select the region you are travelling to: Oceania Asia Africa Middle East Europe North America South America Central America Featured Threads in the Travel Forums What constitutes actually being in a country?? A golden oldie question. When can you actually say you have visited a country? Should you have left the airport or do stop-overs count??? General Talk | Started by IlliniGrad [18th Dec] December newsletter & New features... Our December newsletter just went out highlighting new features, the 'Throw Elroy' game and details on how members can win some fantastic prizes, including two video iPods and more ... System Talk | Started by Sam I Am [15th Dec] The new merry christmas feature Some Christmas/Chanukah fun :) Play this game and see how far you can chuck 'Elroy', Santa's un-cooperative elf ... System Talk | Started by steffbo [15th Dec] Postup-Cave of Villa Antonio´s beach, Croatia - Adam Lauks Travel Photography Gallery New Members dasombre - USA LondonGirl - United Kingdom Sergiobern - Mexico bcinnz - USA UriTrips - Israel 75 new members in the last 24 hours. More Travellerspoint stats... Search If you are looking for someone you met on holidays, but have lost touch with, try our Travel Friends Reunited page to find them again. If you are looking for a Travellerspoint member's profile or diary, type their name in the search box below, or use our advanced search for more options. Our Accommodation Budget Accommodation Youth Hostels Budget Hotels Bed & Breakfasts Apartments Campings Hotel Reservations Last Minute Hotels In other Languages: Alojamiento Económico Sistemazione Economica Billige Unterkunften Logements Bon Marché Goedkope Accommodatie Our Travel Products Cheap Travel Insurance Around the World Tickets Eurail Passes Group Tours SIM Cards SPONSORED BY: International Prepaid SIM Cards Central London Hotels © 2002 - 2005 Travellerspoint Travel Community | Contact | FAQ | About | Terms | Site Map

vacation from the life

quiet american one-minute vacation S urely you can spare a minute to clean your ears? Take a one-minute vacation from the life you are living. One-minute vacations are unedited recordings of somewhere, somewhen. Sixty seconds of something else. Sixty seconds to be someone else. A new one-minute vacation will be added each week on Monday if I can manage it. T he first year's worth of vacations are archived here , the second here , the third here . You can also purchase compilations of the first two years' worth of vacations on CD; all profits go to charity. You can read more about the project here . Y our participation is encouraged. If you have a recording that you would like to share, here are instructions on how to submit it. If it's your birthday, this is your present. podcast , write me if you have comments. ' Let's go away for awhile, you and I, to a strange and distant land, where they speak no word of truth...' (Weezer) december 19, 2005 950 KB A second week of song: of today's vacation contributor Bradley Iverson-Long writes, 'This was recorded during the Celebration of the Angels concert in Aristotelous Square in Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece. The group on stage in a children's choir; you can hear a lot of the crowd as sadly I wasn't that close to the stage. Most people were there to see Sakis Rouvas, a pop singer, but I think the combination of the crowd mulling and the high voices singing "Little Drummer Boy" in Greek encapsulates the Christmas spirit.' december 12, 2005 1.4 MB 'Driving through the highlands of Michoacan in central Mexico, I heard the soft sound of a band in a distant field, and I asked my driver to help me find the source. A few minutes and a steep ride down a dirt road later, we joined a procession of two hundred people going to a wealthy bus drivers house for St. Jude's festival. When we arrived the friendly owner invited us with a big smile into the courtyard, where local women (at least the ones who were not cooking!) gathered on one side of the house singing a prayer, while men and the village band assembled on the other side. My recording documents the call-and-response between the singers and band that went on for over an hour. For me the charm of this music is in the off-key way the makeshift band started its performance — and that as the day went they jelled, so that by the prayer session's end, they sounded well-practiced. Recorded with an Edirol R1 and a cheap set of binaural microphones from Microphone Madness.' So writes today's contributor, Siamack Sioshansi . december 5, 2005 1.6 MB For today's vacation we thank contributor Kirke Godfrey , who writes, 'Sitting at a local cafe on the Rue Montiguile in the 2eme arrondissement of Paris on October 5, 2005. It's my first morning after the flight in from Sydney. The street is paved and partially blocked to traffic, so its really nice to sit there and simply watch the world (and gorgeous women) walk by. I don' speak enough French to understand the conversation at the table next to me; I hope it wasn't too personal! Recorded on a Sony TVR30 DV camera.' november 28, 2005 1.4 MB Winter is here, and with it: 'Sled-dog sounds from the 2005 John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon, an annual race from Duluth, Minnesota, to near the Canadian border and back. It's cold and crisp under clear blue skies at a beautiful pine-shrouded checkpoint where many sled dogs and mushers are catching a few hours' rest. One by one, the teams gather their strength for yet another leg in this grueling 390-mile marathon. The dogs are specifically bred and trained for this, so getting ready to run fires them up even when they're tired. I'm positioned about fifty yards down the trail from the place where the teams leave this remote checkpoint. The dogs bark excitedly until the moment they start down the trail... Recorded early in 2005 on a Sony TCD-D7 DAT recorder with a pair of Shure WL-183 microphones in an experimental head-like array.' The words of today's contributor, accomplished field recordist Curt Olson . november 21, 2005 1.2 MB For today's vacation we thank contributor Travis Nobles , who writes, 'This was recorded September 17th at the 2005 Ocean Air Show in Virginia Beach, Virginia, right before the Blue Angels [military aircraft] demonstration. You can hear the crowd's reactions to the show so far and the "wooshing" of the Blue Angels' engines as they taxi to the runway; part way through the MC's voice comes over the PA system. My recording equipment was the internal mic on my iRiver compact flash MP3 player, all I had in the moment.' [As we Americans gather for Thanksgiving this Thursday, I feel myself stirred anew by those immortal words from Team America : "America! F--k yeah!" -Ed.] november 14, 2005 1.4 MB Today's contributor, the enviably multitalented Rick Moody , tells us, 'This recording is of the jetty on the harbor near my little country house (where I write). I made it for a friend's "Exquisite Corpse" game last summer. The location is Silver Eel Pond, Fishers Island, NY; the voices are the African-American guys who come over to the island by ferry boat to fish on weekends.' [My birthday is this week, so this is my present! -Ed.] november 7, 2005 1.4 MB 'It was January 2005, during the Russian Orthodox Christmas, which we celebrate on the 6th and 7th every year. We have a place in Moscow called Kolomenskoe, it's a little nature reserve plus museum of architecture in the open air. That day there was a bell-ringer there dressed in old clothes: he looked like a monk really. Three rows of many different size bells he played on; it was a great sight and I think the sounds are amazing. I think they are worth your listening.' I think so too. For today's lovely vacation we thank contributor Elena M , who recorded this with her Samsung X600 phone. Elena adds that the sounds at the end are fireworks. october 31, 2005 715 KB Today's vacation comes to us from Laura Vitale , who writes, 'When I recorded this I was in Nanegal, a tiny village in the cloud forests northwest of Quito, Ecuador. There was a party in town that night and while walking home I could hear the band playing with the birds and the night bugs. Everything in the air felt festive... Recorded with an AKG cardiod mic and a Marantz PMD660 compact flash recorder.' october 24, 2005 950 KB 'Three in the morning in Bloomington, Indiana. The rain is pouring down onto my roof as I lay still in my bed. I can't ask for better sleeping conditions! Wait, I really want to record this before turning in for the night... but by the time I get out of bed, gather my equipment, and stumble onto the porch, the rain had ceased and all I have left to record is the fallen water running through my gutters. Recorded with a Sony MD (MZ-NH700) and Panasonic 61 Series Miniature Stereo Binaural Mics.' With that, today's contributor, Zak Rosen , who I had the pleasure of meeting in person this weekend, bids us goodnight. october 17, 2005 1.4 MB I learned my own love of field recording in Vietnam almost exactkly seven years ago, so it's with special pleasure that I share Tim Cabassi 's contribution today. About his recording Tim writes, 'This was recorded on a recent trip to Hoi An in Vietnam. I was riding my bicycle along one of the main streets of the town and heard a street vendor. Not sure what he was selling or advertising. If you listen closely you can hear the freewheel of the bike; and also near the end the attempts of a cyclo driver trying to drum up some business. Why he would choose someone already on a bicycle you would have to ask him! Recorded using a Sharp MD831 and an Audio Technica AT822 stereo microphone.' october 10, 2005 1.4 MB Autumn is in the air, so how about a new coat? You can get one in today's vacation, which comes to us courtesy of Waco Moore , who writes, 'August 6, 2004, on the sidewalk in SoHo: it is sunset and a whole family of hustlers has rolled a couple of garment racks of coats out onto the sidewalk on the corner of Broadway and Price or Spring (I can't remember now). They are barking in true carnival/street vandor fashion and people are swarming and taking the bait — it is a classic New York moment. Enjoy! Recorded with a Sony ECM-MS907 mic and an iRiver IHP-120 MP3 player.' october 3, 2005 1.4 MB Contributor Scott Langstaff writes of today's vacation, 'This recording was made in May, 2005, during my holiday to St Kilda in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Sitting on the ground near the summit of Ruival on Hirta, it captures the sounds of the birds, the indistinct voices of other members of my walking group, the wind, and the noise of the sea below. It was recorded with a Sharp MT80 MD recorder and Soundman OKM II binaural mics.' september 26, 2005 1.4 MB For today's vacation we thank Ambrose Pottie who writes, 'I recorded this from my dining room table in Tepoztlan, Mexico, in March of 2003; the soundscape includes a banda playing outside at a barrio fiesta probably a mile away, as well as a solo female singer who is probably amplified and situated half a mile away herself — there was a Buddhist retreat center in the area and the woman is probably related to that. There are also a couple of loud firecracker explosions which occur regularly in Tepoztlan — every fiesta features them prominantly and as there is usually a fiesta in at least one of the many barrios every day, the fireworks are more or less constant! Geographically, Tepoztlan is situated in a canyon with craggy cliffs on all sides, so any sound is uniquly amplified...' september 19, 2005 1.6 MB Film photographer Arnaud Lemorillon writes of today's vacation, 'Last night, the 14th of July, it was Bastille Day in France, so there were fireworks in Paris. I made this recording at the end of the fireworks in the Champs de Mars, behind the Eiffel Tower; I hope the quality is not too bad; I just bought a Nagra V recorder and a couple of Schoeps MS microphones to make stereo recording three months ago since I'm interested by sound and field recording...' september 12, 2005 1.4 MB Of today's vacation contributor Greenmachine writes, 'I recorded this piece in Bavaria, Germany, directly after the performance of a symphonic orchestra in a huge old church. People were sharing their opinions all around — it created an interesting ambient noise, which I couldn't resist recording. Imagine yourself a part of this crowd for a minute... Recorded with miniature omnidirectional stereo microphones mounted to glasses and a Sony Hi-MD machine.' september 5, 2005 1.4 MB Labor Day in the US, and like many I celebrated it without a hint of labor. So for today's vacation, the sounds of revelry, for which we thank Kurt Tidmore , who writes, 'A regular Sunday evening sesson in traditional local pub on the north bank of the River Lee, in Cork, Ireland, where I live. The pub's called Siné, which in Irish means "there you have it" or "that's all there is." The musicians are mostly amateurs who gather here every weekend to drink and play together; the crowd is lively and the beer flows freely and the music can sometimes go on for five or six hours.' august 29, 2005 1.4 MB Today's vacation like the ANWR recording earlier this month features wildlife. It was contributed by gear-blessed Greg Weddig , who writes, 'This recording was made at a Brant's Cormorant "blind" in the abandoned Model Industry building on the west side of the Alcatraz. I made it the evening San Francisco's KFOG radio station presented their Kaboom fireworks. As the shells started bursting in air, Western Gulls were silhouetted against the sky fleeing from their nesting area on the east side of Alcatraz at the Parade ground. Strangely the many nesting pairs of cormorants just below the mics seemed more upset at the fleeing seagulls than the fireworks themselves. After the final shots rang out the cormorants continued their grunting, gracking, and growling, as if nothing had happened. Recorded with a Schoeps MK-21 ORTF pair, via a Grace Lunatec V3, into a MDP500 MD recorder.' august 22, 2005 700 KB For today's vacation we thank incoming Grinnell College (Iowa) student Chris Farstad who writes of his contribution, 'This is a recording of the organ inside St. Paul's Cathedral in London. It was visiting the city for the first time with my high school in October of 2004 and I was lucky to capture this unique sound environment during an organist's practice session; a fitting sound event for the space. Made on a Sharp 1-bit portable MD recorder with Sony binaural microphones. Enjoy!' august 15, 2005 1.5 MB Today's vacation excerpts a twenty-five minute soundscape made by Nature Recordists mailing list moderator Martyn Stewart , who wrote of his recording, 'I was in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in June and I recorded these magnificent ambient sounds there. Millions of songbirds, waterfowl and shorebirds inhabit the tundra and costal plains; the ANWR is a vital breeding ground for many of our birds and is in danger of being destroyed: Congress opens this month and maybe in September they will vote to drill in the area. I intend to go to the various rallies that will be held in Washington DC on the 20th of September; I made this recording to make people aware of the beauty of this place. Please oppose drilling in the Refuge and lobby your congressional rep; I believe ANWR is not just for us but for our children and our children's children.' [Just so. -Aaron] august 8, 2005 1.2 MB For once, how about a really virtual destination for a virtual vacation? Of today's recording, contributor fluffy Pennyfeather writes, 'These are some virtual wind chimes — that is, they don't physically exist. In Second Life (an MMO -like virtual environment ), someone built physically-modeled wind chimes which behave like real-life ones, responding to the wind (also modeled with a simple weather simulation) and to other objects and players passing through them. Although the recording is technically artificial in nature, I did record it with my trusty Kenwood MD recorder (which I use for other field recordings); and it blurs the line between the natural and the artificial, as the sound you here was generated by random processes similar to those of nature... just not in the physical world. I realize this may not fit into the One-Minute Vacation project, but I feel that it's an interesting thought experiment nonetheless.' [Interesting enough to share today, while I'm on an electronica bender... and the date cries out for it! -Aaron] august 1, 2005 1.4 MB Today's vacation comes to us from Andreas Jonsson , who writes, 'I recorded this in a city centre slot machine and games arcade here in Glasgow, Scotland, in September, 2004. I happened to be walking past it recording sounds in the street and got drawn in by the sheer cacophony of bleeps, chirps and noise a place like this produces. The rather robotic calling out of bingo numbers only adds to the sterility and overload of such a place. Amusingly, with repeated listening the chaos becomes suprisingly similar in places to some contemporary electronica! Moments after this recording, a security guard forced me to leave the premises, as I apparently needed permission from the manager to record there. The relative quietness outside seemed deafening. Recorded with a Sony ECM-MS907 microphone and a Sony minidisc recorder.' july 25, 2005 1.4 MB Today's contributor, composer-with-sound Joseph Young , takes us into 'a thunderstorm in northern Italy captured on a recent family holiday. The environment around Lake Como is surprisingly lush and green given that temperatures are regularly up in the mid 30's [that's upper-90's for you ametrical Americans -Ed.] during the summer months. The greenery is comes from the heavy thunderstorms that occur on a regular (weekly?) basis. I recorded this one from the window of our flat in a small town called Lambrugo, when the storm was at its height, using Soundman OKM binaural microphones and a Sony MZ-N707 minidisc recorder.' july 18, 2005 1.7 MB Contributor Ari Noguchi writes of today's vacation, 'I caught this moment at a temple in Nara, a very old city in Japan, two years ago. It was very early morning, sunny but very chilly; the temple and environment were just about to wake up for the long day. I was trying to record the sounds of birds, but through the microphone I heard an old lady striking a bell and chanting in front of an offertory box. I could tell that she had been coming every morning for a long time and that this activity was a part of her life... While I was recording kids came to the temple on a school field trip, and a man who works for temple also tried to clean up the street with a broom; but the lady never stopped chanting. It was a very intense moment.' july 11, 2005 525 KB For today's vacation we thank Angela Femia , who writes: 'I caught this using my Fuji digital camera while travelling in France in September, 2003. We had just arrived in Reims and found a lovely place to eat outside in the main square. As we were enjoying our first real "French" experience a large group of young people walked together through the area singing and shouting at one another; they sounded like they were having a fun kind of argument, trying to out-sing and out-shout each other with their song... what a lovely way to argue! (Unfortunately I have no idea what they are saying!)' july 4, 2005 2.2 MB Today's vacation, a bit of Americana for the American Independence Day, comes to us from contributor Jerry Berrier , who writes, 'As my wife and my guide dog and I approached the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle in a late morning in April, 2005, I could hear the sound of a lone singer and his guitar. My wife told me later that he also had a harmonica in a holder on his neck and a tambourine placed where he could tap it with his foot. He could still be heard once we entered the store, in spite of the high noise level from customers, workers arranging and selling seafood, and what sounded like a fork lift. I had been told in advance that workers throw fairly large fish back and forth between them to entertain visitors; at the very end of this recording you can hear their banter as they toss a fresh specimen back and forth! Recorded with a Sony MZ-R70 MD recorder and a small Sony ECM-DS70P clip-on plug-in powered stereo microphone.' june 27, 2005 1.4 MB Today's vacation comes to us courtesy of Chris Owens , who writes: 'I recorded this on a Saturday afternoon in April just outside the local Town Hall in Reading, UK; as you will hear the recording was started just before three in the afternoon (British Summer Time for the purists out there). The focus of this piece, and the intention of my being there with a recorder, was the chimes of the town clock; it is getting increasingly rare to hear chimes like this as many have been silenced to avoid causing a nuisance. A couple of minutes before this snippet a large lorry thundered by the Town Hall — in my opinion that's a more serious annoyance!' june 20, 2005 1.4 MB Summertime, and the living is easy this week courtesy of contributor Robert Dodson , who writes, 'I recorded this in Fairfield, Connecticut. I was sitting on my front porch after dinner. You can hear a plane overhead, a car go by, some very peaceful birds, and my son practicing his saxophone. This is one of my first recordings on my new Edirol R1 compact flash recorder, using the built-in mics. Enjoy.' june 13, 2005 1.3 MB Multi-modal Swedish artist Wolgang Peter Menzel sets the scene for today's vacation: 'You are running in the streets — looking around and listening to the traffic, staring at people, you wonder where you are, all your senses are touched by new things, smells and impressions of a complete "differentness" compared to what you are used to; it overwhelms your person, this slowly getting into this condition of phenomenological basic behaviour. That is what happened to me there, at a street corner in the Chinese part of the former Portuguese colony Macau, at least — even the traffic light sound became something else. Recorded as usual with my Sharp MD recorder and a Sony stereo mic.' june 6, 2005 1.2 MB Today's vacation comes to us courtesy of Kevin T. Allen , who writes, 'The recording was done in downtown Calcutta in July 2004. I was looking for a film library in the center of town and got terribly lost. I passed a row of government buildings where I saw hundreds of people queued up outside; on the street were makeshift carts and stands, where people dictated to men using manual typewriters for their official paperwork. The sound of the manual typewriters tapping away outside in the context of the bustling city sidewalk struck me as beautifully surreal and Kafkaesque, so I pulled the mic out of my bag so only the tip showed and walked down the street. It was a real acoustic treat, especially on such a frustrating day! Recorded with a minidisc recorder and a top of the bottom of the line microphone.' may 30, 2005 1.4 MB This past Saturday some friends I met on a tour of Tibet were married in Vermont; I had the honor of composing their processional using sounds I recorded on that trip. Today I share one of the recordings I used: nuns chanting with one-handed self-beating drums at the annual single-day unveiling of a building-sized thanka down a cliff side in Gyantse, Tibet. For Kate and Zack, luminous travelers, who so patiently waited for me to record this and many other things... Recorded with Sonic Studios DSM-6/EH microphones and a Sony MD recorder. (Aaron) may 23, 2005 960 KB Of today's vacation, second-time contributing phonographer Mark Ragsdale writes, 'This recording was made on an outcropping of rock at Haeundae Beach in Busan, Korea, right outside the Westin Chosun Hotel. The recording was made on a moonlit night as I lay prone on a rock with my head in a giant crevasse, trying to capture the gurgling of the sea plunging rhythmically. Recorded with Sonic Studios DSM-6S/EH mics with WHB headband windscreen, running into MD. [The same gear I used to record most everything on this site! -Ed]' may 16, 2005 1.4 MB 'This track captures a war protest parade when it reached its end point at the Boston Commons on March 20th, 2005. The police helicopter hovering overhead set a tone of tension as the protesters were surrounded by police motor cops, paddywagons, and anti-riot police armed with clubs. A drum circle formed right next to the bench where I had been sitting and recording, and the sounds of drums, didgeridoos, and chants began to drown out the sounds of the helicopter... Recorded on a Sony MZ-R700 minidisc recorder with homemade binaural microphones.' So writes today's contributor, Boston-area experimental DJ, sound artist, phonographer, and theremin player Fred Yarm . may 9, 2005 1.2 MB Today's vacation (or rather, a vacation from a vacation, now our vacation...) comes to us from traveler Damon Nomad , who explains, 'This is a recording we made on our honeymoon: these are night sounds outside our window in the mountain village of Anogia, Greece. You can hear the bells of sheep and goats on the slopes below the village, as well as other sounds. Strangely enough, the lady at the car rental place in Iraklion vainly tried to talk us out of going there, asking, "why you want to go there? It is not much... just a traditional village." It ended up being just what we needed, a peaceful escape from the more touristy sections of Greece we'd already visited: a vacation from our vacation. Recorded on Sony MZ-R37 MD recorder with a Sony ECM MS907 microphone.' may 2, 2005 1.4 MB Nata Lukas writes of today's vacation, 'During the summer of 1997 my good friend James Adrian Stewart came to visit, so we did some camping on the Puget Sound. To entertain our selves Jim played his bag pipes and I played with my camcorder. In this moment recorded at Deception Pass, Jim was around a corner practicing his chops and I snuck up on him; I really dig how the sound of the waves gives way to his improvised chops! Recorded with my Sony CCD-TR3000 video camera (great zoom mics!). By the way, I ended up using this recording as part of an installation I did a couple years ago called If Only I Had a Seaworthy Vessel .' april 25, 2005 970 KB Of today's vacation, Argentine sound artist Anla Coutis writes, 'I was walking this afternoon in a street of Buenos Aires downtown and I heard some great birds; fortunately I had my minidisc with me and I decided to record them. So here is one minute of Buenos Aires Street Birds in Action, I hope you'll enjoy them! Recorded with an Aiwa AM-F5 MD recorder with an Aiwa stereo microphone.' april 18, 2005 595 KB Field recordist Rod Stasick writes of his contribution, 'I have an owl friend who lives in a magnolia tree just outside my studio here in Dallas, Texas. Owls have been in the neighborhood for the past few years and during various stretches of time will make their presence known. At close to the same time each day my friend calls to another owl nearby; if you listen closely, you can hear the other owl responding... This minute was recorded on March 3, 2005 at about 4:30 p.m., with an iAudio M3 digital audio recorder that I use for field recordings.' april 11, 2005 1.4 MB Contributor Marco Landn writes of today's vacation, 'I recorded this when I passed by a children's playground in a kindergarten in a back street in Cancun, Mexico. The kids, all Spanish-speaking and approximately 5 years of age, were playing on a big contraption toy with swings and slides and monkeybars. What truly captivated me was the unrestrained voices, the pitches of which differ greatly from children in Angloamerica; there is a very stacatto nature to the language, especially from the girls in the playground. Recorded using the built-in mic on my Apple iBook G3.' april 4, 2005 1.4 MB Of today's vacation, contributor Takahiro Kawaguchi writes, 'This minute was recorded in a Japanese temple at the moment 2004 became 2005 and was rung in with a gong: a happy New Year Japanese sound. The specific location was Shitennouji Temple, in Osaka, which you can learn more about here . My recording system is a Sony TCD-D8 DAT recorder and a Sony condenser mic. I hope you enjoy listening!' [Time of transition for time in transition: here in California we lost an hour to Daylight Savings this weekend! -Aaron] march 28, 2005 1.4 MB 'Here's a vacation, from my vacation: a recording I made last year while skiing here in Australia, as I went up the mountain on a chairlift. The mic was resting directly on the metal of the chair to capture the deep thrumming that I could hear when I pressed my ear to the chair. Occasionally other skiers can be heard in the background. Made on a Sony MZR-909 with an ECM-MS907 mic, at Thredbo, in the aptly named Snowy Mountains.' Fall arrives in the south, but with this recording from Ben Dixon we in the northern hemisphere bid farewell to winter. march 21, 2005 1.4 MB Biking to work today under silver clouds and through a heavy cool rain, I looked forward to posting today's vacation, which comes from enigmatic sound artist Ben Owen , who comments, 'One of the few moments that is taken to pause in the day is the onset of rain. It is when I stand by the back door of my apartment [in New York City] looking out over the yards and obstructed sky to watch and listen.' march 14, 2005 1.4 MB Repeat contributor John Tenney writes of this week's vacation, 'Saturday night at the Lucky Ju Ju in Alameda, California. Two dozen-plus vintage pinball machines — bright lights flashing, flippers whacking the balls madly, spinners spinning — and every one of them set to free play! Make a reasonable donation on entry and you can play as long as you want to — talk about bringing out the inner kid! Plus there's a good jukebox, though the 70's and 80's songs are decades younger than most of the machines. The place is a labor of love taken on by an obsessed collector looking to share his mania; alot of folks are more than willing. Recorded July 17, 2004, with a Sony MZR-50 MD recorded and RadioShack's late lamented 33-3028 stereo mics.' march 7, 2005 1.4 MB Of today's vacation, contributor Anders Östberg writes, 'A demonstration of steam engines in Eskilstuna, Sweden. Here on an islet the Faktoriet motor museum is situated: a museum of industry and the history of technology, including the first fire engine used in Sweden. On the first Sunday of every month (except in December and January) the air gets hot and humid when the steam engine demonstrations are running! Recorded to compact flash on February 6, 2005, with an Edirol R-1 24-bit WAV/MP3 recorder, using the internal stereo mic.' february 28, 2005 950 KB 'Recorded in Yerevan, Armenia, the night of November 13, 2003, with a video camera, in the well-kept standard-issue apartment of Rafik and Gohar, an elderly couple I stayed with for five days. Although they spoke no English, they welcomed occasional international visitors as a way to supplement their meager pensions. During this short clip from the eve of my departure from the country, they entertain my basic Russian phrases, all the while encouraging me to pick up bits of Armenian — a language of which they are fiercely proud and protective.' For this week's vacation, we thank contributor Peter Thiede . february 21, 2005 1.1 MB Today's vacation comes from Tim Cabassi , who writes: 'This particular snippet was recorded in January, 2004, from my third floor balcony in Momodani, an innercity suburb of Osaka, Japan. I am from Australia but I am currently living and working here with my girlfriend. Thanks to Justin Brown for clarifying that the sound is from a hot sweet potato (o-imo) van; o-imo and other vendors (such as yakitori, skewered grilled chicken usually sold in restaurants) randomly roam the streets around 10 p.m., which is the time most drunken salarymen are stumbling home and most in need of a quick bite... Recorded on a Sharp MD831 with an Audio Technica AT822 stereo microphone. Hope you like it.' february 14, 2005 1.4 MB I'm in New York this week, so how about a bit of local love for Valentine's, as recorded by today's contributor, Robert Van Heuman : 'The A Train in New York City, around Christmas 2004. I usually find it very hard to make recordings in subways as the low frequencies tend to distort the recording. This time, I experimented with the "Low Sensitivity" setting on the microphone input of my minidisc recorder and a really low recording volume. And it worked: I like the rhytmic quality of the announcer, the fact that he mentions Jersey City (where I used to live), the baby and the sounds of little childrens toys a Chinese women is demonstrating while walking through the carriage... Recorded with a Sony NH900 HiMD recorder (in uncompressed mode) with OKM II binaural in-ear microphones.' [Regular listeners will know that binaural means, use those headphones! -aaron] february 7, 2005 1.4 MB Of today's vacation, contributor Lonesomehank from Montreal, Quebec, writes: 'Recorded February 2nd, 2002, in Barcelona on a Sharp MT877 MD with Core Sound binaural mics....... around 8:30 at night...... heard the drone far off and came across four old men in some sort of burnt-out social centre....... watched them play through a little window...... they were drunk and lost in the sound of it all....... heartbreaking / beautiful......... was recorded outside from the street ...... didn't want to intrude...... the right channel craps out in a beautiful way when I walk off...... crappy mini-plug connector.......' january 31, 2005 1.6 MB 'Recorded in 2002: Banger racing season in Smeatharp in the county of Somerset, England, as gutted old saloon cars painted in lively colours roar round an oval dirt track, attempting to knock each other out of the race. Exhilarating stuff but the only means of recording it I have on hand is my mobile phone: so I send myself a race as an answering machine message.' For today's banger contribution we thank quick-thinkig Darren Giddings of colander.org . january 24, 2005 1.7 MB Today's vacation comes from sound artist Bill Thompson , who originally shared with the phonography mailing list on Yahoo! groups with these comments: 'Thought you'd like to hear this: it's a recording of 'hogmanay,' what the Scotish call New Year's. It's a bigger deal then any other holiday here, bigger then Christmas; that day everything closed at 4 p.m. and has been closed all weekend. The recording is of the boats out on the North Sea blowing their horns at midnight. Each horn is a different pitch and each boat is at a slightly different distance and location from the Aberdeen shore, where I was huddled in the drizzle trying not to move. I drove all the way back from Manchester (seven hours) just for that 5 minutes :) — and about 10 minutes into the recording I realized that I had just experienced the turning ot the new year alone, huddled by a rock in the rain. Ahhh, the romantic life of an artist... :)' The vacation is an excerpt from a five-minute MP3 can hear here ; if you like this, you might also like the vacation posted last year for September 22 archived here ... january 17, 2005 1.4 MB 'Recorded late summer 2001 up north in Quebec, at St-Michel des Saints: north enough, we saw aurorae borealis that summer! This is part of my first recordings, using an MZ-R90 [MD recorder] from Sony and binaural mics from sound professionals. It was maybe four or five in the morning, we had to kill that fire because the summer was really dry, dangerous for forest fires.. So this is it, water in fire, fire on logs, earth and life...' For this elemental recording, which ushers in the fourth year of the one-minute vacations project, we thank field recordist and sound artist Nicolas Kuzyk , who Montreal residents might know from his soundscape radio program Biophone. There are more: archives of the first , second , and third year. You can also purchase compilations on CD; all profits go to charity! podcast beta, write me if you have comments. Thanks to Annabelle Port for this LP