Eight Things To Hear Before You Die

Old Cairo is a symphony or a din of gas erupting buses, chaffering voices, and street sellers huckstering their commodities. But even as the spires of Cairo's innumerable minarets prick the dust-covered skyline, the muezzins' calls to prayer five times each day, pierce the worldly din with their outcries that go up to heaven.

When founded in 1957, the Santa Fe Opera has gained a repute for original programs. Its splendid setting, an indoor/outdoor coliseum chipped at into a hillside at the foot of the Sangre de Christo Mountains, distinctly supplies inspiration for a company that is venerated for showcasing famous international stars besides discovering hereafter's great voices.

The oldest church in Florence that is an 11th-century Romanesque structure with panoramic views from its resting place on highest hill in the city, is a contemplative placing. In the afternoon at nightfall Gregorian chants will channelise you back to the Middle Ages.

Only two boats operate in Doubtful Sound which is one of the world's most charming and outback places. When your captain stops the engine, you are encircled by nature that is primordial in its beauty and enveloped in a secrecy.

Feway is one of baseball's frumpish and uneasy old parks, but the Res Sox are baseball's comeback kids and the fans in the hometown are the loudest, most fervent gang in the world. Leave your Yankees cap at home and make merry in the earnest chaos of it all.

Awakening to the song of the more than 460 sorts of birds which live in the rain forest encircling this primeval plantation is like waking to your own personal symphony orchestra-an invigorating way to salute the day.

The Buddhist monks living at Boudhanath start the day with morning pujas at 5:30, but just when their chanting has finished, the thin mountain air is always alive with the sound of the prayer flags snapping.

It's not wonder they name Nashville "Music City"-an undiscovered talent can be heard on any corner. But the best acoustics are at the Ryman, known as "the Mother Church of Country Music," and when a hometown favorite enjoys Lucinda Williams takes the stage, you will imagine you have passed away and gone to heaven.