The sounds of a piper in Edinburgh is one part of a trip to Scotland that will stay with tourists long after they return home. Photo: Jamie McInall
The sounds of a piper in Edinburgh is one part of a trip to Scotland that will stay with tourists long after they return home. Photo: Jamie McInall
The sounds of a piper in Edinburgh is one part of a trip to Scotland that will stay with tourists long after they return home. Photo: Jamie McInall
The sounds of a piper in Edinburgh is one part of a trip to Scotland that will stay with tourists long after they return home. Photo: Jamie McInall

City soundscapes: how music and travel are intrinsically linked


Hayley Skirka
  • English
  • Arabic

Last week, as I wandered along Edinburgh's Princes Street, my ears picked up on the unmistakable screech of a set of bagpipes, loudly pushing out the notes to Scotland's unofficial national anthem.

As Flower of Scotland drifted above the ­country's capital city, it made me think about music and travel and how much the two are intertwined.

As much as Edinburgh's clifftop castle, cobbled alleyways and storied history are unmistakably a part of the city's culture, so are those bagpipes.

A bagpiper on Edinburgh's Princes Street. Photo: Jane Barlow
A bagpiper on Edinburgh's Princes Street. Photo: Jane Barlow

The skirl of the pipes — those long, slow, high-pitched notes — worked to instantly remind me that I was in Scotland.

A glance at the piper responsible suggested I wasn't the only one, as tourists lined up to take a picture with him, a fantastic souvenir of a trip overseas. And that association of music and nation is definitely not something that's unique to this country.

The link between music and memory

A busker plays to shoppers on Grafton Street in Dublin, Ireland. Picture date: Saturday January 22, 2022.
A busker plays to shoppers on Grafton Street in Dublin, Ireland. Picture date: Saturday January 22, 2022.

Think about it for a moment. Should you happen to hear a fluttering of flamenco notes, chances are, your mind would drift straight to thoughts of Spain. A few mellow notes of sax can instantly prompt memories of time spent in New Orleans. Music has an intrinsic power to transport us to a place.

Ponder if you will, a time you took a trip and repeatedly heard the same song while there. Whether you love it or hate it, when you hear it again, even many years later, your mind instantly transports you back to that place.

Case in point for me is the hugely irritating La Macarena. Despite having been a hit some 26 years ago, when one-track wonders Los Del Rio burst on to the scene with the tune, whenever I hear this piece of music. I'm back in the Balearics as a nine-year-old child, slurping on ice cream.

Lyrics can cross language barriers

Rappers perform inside the City of God favela of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. AP Photo / Silvia Izquierdo
Rappers perform inside the City of God favela of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. AP Photo / Silvia Izquierdo

The power of music also has the ability to create meaning in situations where a language barrier prevents the spoken word from doing so. That’s something I noticed on a recent trip to Brazil’s Campo Grande. One evening, some friends and I visited a very small local bar where a Brazilian rap band were playing in the courtyard.

This was a few months before the country's far-right president Jair Bolsonaro was sworn in and political tensions in the country were running high. My lack of Portuguese meant I couldn't appreciate the lyrics. However, as the night unfolded, despite not comprehending a word of what was being sung, the energy behind the musicians' and the audience's passionate responses made me realise that this performance was as much about evoking political emotion as it was about entertaining.

Music as a long-lasting souvenir

Music evokes emotion and can create ever-lasting memories and long-lasting souvenirs of travel. Photo: Unsplash
Music evokes emotion and can create ever-lasting memories and long-lasting souvenirs of travel. Photo: Unsplash

And that's something else that music does — it evokes emotion.

Which brings me back to the bagpipes which, as an instrument, is a bit of a contradiction. On one hand, it's rather irritating — even Scottish ceilidh bands limit its prominence in their sets. But on the other hand, it's profoundly moving and has the capacity to overwhelm like few other instruments can, something that comes down to its reed-like structure, the slow speed at which it's played and its presence at emotional events like funerals and weddings.

Scientists have already proven that musical memory is the last memory we lose in old age – something that now makes perfect sense to me.

Music touches people's hearts and helps create new memories. It can also be one of holidaymaker's longest lasting souvenirs.

Scientists have already proven that musical memory is the last memory we lose in old age — something that now makes perfect sense to me when I think about visiting my elderly grandpa in hospital many years ago.

Despite struggling to remember what he had eaten for lunch, certain songs on the radio had him recanting detailed accounts of his time in India while serving in the British Army. Another oft-played tune on a radio station had him sharing tales of his first date with my late grandmother.

By tapping into some of our purest emotions and urges, music has the power to transport us somewhere else entirely, often from their comfort of our own homes.

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

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Price, base / as tested Dh395,000 / Dh420,000

Engine 3.5L V6

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Power 410hp @ 7,000rpm

Torque 420Nm @ 3,500rpm

Fuel economy, combined 9.7L / 100km

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Omar Yabroudi's factfile

Born: October 20, 1989, Sharjah

Education: Bachelor of Science and Football, Liverpool John Moores University

2010: Accrington Stanley FC, internship

2010-2012: Crystal Palace, performance analyst with U-18 academy

2012-2015: Barnet FC, first-team performance analyst/head of recruitment

2015-2017: Nottingham Forest, head of recruitment

2018-present: Crystal Palace, player recruitment manager

 

 

 

 

Cinco in numbers

Dh3.7 million

The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown

46

The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.

1,000

The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]

50

How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday

3,000

The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

1.1 million

The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.

Winners

Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)

Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)

Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)

Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)

Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)

Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)

Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)

Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)

The President's Cake

Director: Hasan Hadi

Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem 

Rating: 4/5

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Tips for job-seekers
  • Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
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David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The biog

Favourite food: Tabbouleh, greek salad and sushi

Favourite TV show: That 70s Show

Favourite animal: Ferrets, they are smart, sensitive, playful and loving

Favourite holiday destination: Seychelles, my resolution for 2020 is to visit as many spiritual retreats and animal shelters across the world as I can

Name of first pet: Eddy, a Persian cat that showed up at our home

Favourite dog breed: I love them all - if I had to pick Yorkshire terrier for small dogs and St Bernard's for big

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Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

Director: Jesse Armstrong

Rating: 3.5/5

The alternatives

• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.

• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.

• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.

2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.

• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases -  but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica

Best Agent: Jorge Mendes

Best Club : Liverpool   

 Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)  

 Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker

 Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo

 Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP

 Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart

Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)

Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)

Best Women's Player:  Lucy Bronze

Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi

 Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)

 Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)

 Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs

Villains
Queens of the Stone Age
Matador

So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?

Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
 

The drill

Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.

Stick to the schedule, says Mike Addo: “We have an entire wall known as ‘The Lab,’ covered with colour-coded Post-it notes dedicated to our joint weekly planner, content board, marketing strategy, trends, ideas and upcoming meetings.”

Be a team, suggests Addo: “When training together, you have to trust in each other’s abilities. Otherwise working out together very quickly becomes one person training the other.”

Pull your weight, says Thuymi Do: “To do what we do, there definitely can be no lazy member of the team.” 

EA Sports FC 25