This week I got an email about a project exploring the idea of sound tourism, and the idea of a map detailing the world’s sound wonders. This is very interesting, both because I wonder what defines a sound wonder, and because I like very much the idea of selecting holiday destinations in the future based on what I might hear when I go to places, as well as what I might see. To explore the first question; at knitting each week in the Royal Oak pub, the sound of the electric hand-drier in the ladies’ toilet comes through the wall, adding infrequent bass drones to our knitting sessions. Is this technically a sound wonder and can I put it on the sound wonders map or does the creator of the project mean the term ‘wonder’ to apply specifically to epic sonic events? To explore the second idea, a fellow sound-enthusiast on the same mailing list as myself pointed out that the Ear of Dionysius and the Colossi of Memnon have been around for an awfully long time. Sadly it seems the singing statues of the Colossi of Memnon are no longer around, but the Ear of Dionysius sounds like an amazing holiday destination! How lovely to visit a giant cave shaped like an ear, and to hear sounds passing through it.

Possibly as good as listening to the hand-drier through the wall at knitting.