Step by step tube map

Have you ever though it might be quicker to walk than to take the tube. Health Company PruHealth has engaged some energetic walkers with pedometers to measure the number of steps between each station.

As you can imagine we here at Cities in Sound are ardent fans of anything which involves more walking to help you improve your health.

To find the map follow the following link

The Beatles in Saville Row

We try to make our walks as cosmopolitan as possible and in a new audio guide due to be released in the next few days we will pass the site of the Beatles last performance at the old Apple Corporation building at number 3 Saville Row.

On 30th January 2009 it will be the 40th aniversary of that famous last live outing for the 'Fab Four.

It had been planned to re enact the concert and broadcast it to the world but somehow Westminter Council have managed to bog the idea down in red tape and it had to be cancelled.

So to get a true flavour we suggest you head to You Tube for a replay. There are three sections of film available and it's a real time capsule, I love the guy on the other side of Saville Row in the Bowler hat, with the pipe. They don't make them like that any more. Oh and aren't the police polite!

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

So watch out for the release of our new walk. To be sure of getting details of new walks be sure to register for updates.

New Year Diet?

No trip to Paris would be complete without a visit to a traditional baker or boulangerie.

The Gastronomic Pleasures page of the Le Marais web site will allow you to review some of the wonderful spots on the Le Marais audio walk so that you can carefully plan your snacking as you go. A croissant here a pain-au-chocolat there.

Just remember that you are on an audio walk so you will probably be walking off those calories, now where can I get a wonderful rhum baba?

Paris home from home

As I mentioned in my last post the reason we selected Le Marais for one of our Paris Audio Guides is that it’s a wonderfully eccentric and eclectic area of Paris.

If you are thinking of heading to Paris for a little light shopping we recommend you look at the site of our good friends at http://www.parismarais.com/.

It’s a great site with lots of information including a wide range of apartments for rent for days or weeks. What better way to visit this great area than to live like a local behind your own front door, so much better than a hotel.

If you are not planning to head out for a while it’s well worth signing up for their monthly newsletter here to keep you up to date.

Sound Advice – added treasures to enhance your walking pleasure courtesy of: http://www.citiesinsound.com/

Where is everyone going?

I like to keep an eye on what people who are planning to travel think of the cities in which Cities in Sound have Audio Guides.

I was recently looking at the top cities being watched by the subscribers of Trip Advisor which today has 20 Million subscribers.

I see that Three of the Cities in Sounds locations are in the top 10 locations being watched by subscribers including:
· Paris at 3
· London at 6
· Rome at 7

Then I started to dig a little deeper on Paris, Le Marais comes up as the 18th most popular attraction/area which considering the competition in Paris is pretty amazing.

The comments by people who have been there include: “Finally, the real Paris”, others described it as a “charming, perfect location”.
What better way to get under the skin of this wonderful area than to tune in to the Cities in Sound Le Marais Audio Guide.

Our friends in Le Marais have a great web site which complements the walk perfectly. Don’t forget to check it out when you plan your visit: Le Marais – The Art of Living Guide

Sound Advice – added treasures to enhance your walking pleasure courtesy of: http://www.citiesinsound.com/

Saved ! House by the Thames

Cities in Sound’s ever popular Bankside Audio Guide ends between the Globe Theatre and the Tate Modern. As you gaze across at the spectacular Millennium Bridge, look back towards the Globe and you will see three small houses which look very isolated and incongruous.

These day’s old houses survive because they have preservation orders slapped on them by the authorities. Many years ago houses that we would love to see today were torn down in the name of progress.

In her book “The House by the Thames” Gillian Tindall tells the story of one of these three houses, 49 Bankside which was built in 1710.

It survived, escaping demolition thanks to a past residents who put up a plaque claiming that Wren lived here while building St Paul’s. This held off the developers, but now this claim is proven to be false.

Today we can just delight in seeing a bit of old London standing proud and tall on the South Bank of the Thames gazing across at a City skyline which has changed so much in it’s life time.

Mediatheque

No I had no idea what it was either!

But it’s worth finding out and it’s a great place to spend a rainy autumn morning or afternoon.
Mediatheque is an unique collection of film and video archive which you watch in your own little booth with a set of headphones on and it’s located at the BFI Southbank, you may know it as the NFT, beneath Waterloo Bridge.


So when you have finished your trip on the London Eye, with the wonderful Cities in Sound
Flightseeing commentary, or when you have completed our Bankside Audio Guide it’s a great spot to rest weary feet.

And as you know, here at Sound Advice we like nothing more than a free deal when we have completed our Audio Tour of London and this wonderful resource is completely free.
We took the kids and they sat spell bound by an old black and white episode of Dr Who, complete with Daleks, while we watched old news reel film.


Follow this link for a complete list of all the films available from an 1896 film of Blackfriars Bridge to WH Auden’s wonderfully evocative Night Mail via a 1967 documentary about swinging London.


So something for all the family there I think.