"Oh, your phone can do that. It uses the same mechanism that it uses to make notification sounds. The sound on most phones is a little high-pitched and less accurate than a dedicated machine, so some people do prefer dedicated playback machines. I have a one that goes over my ears that I like well enough."

He mimes putting on earmuffs.

"There are shops in the city that have them, but which one you want probably depends on things like what shape you want it in and how loud you want it to get."

He was imagining a tabletop unit, something he could leave on the roof for the crows when he wasn't using it; he'll ask his guide about it if any sort will do.

"I'm sure you can find one like that," he agrees.

When the lesson is done, and contact details exchanged, he will wave and head off to catch the train back into the city.

Whoof, that was kind of exhausting. He spends the rest of the day relaxing and converting things to crafting material, after letting Vesherti know that he's going to want to go shopping for an audio player and recordings, and the next day he takes the dog for a run, following the edge of the city for a few miles.

The city is roughly blob-shaped, as so many are. Unlike Earthly cities, however, there's a fairly sharp gradient between the built-up city proper and the countryside around it; the lack of cars in the city proper makes suburbs less appealing.

Running along the edge, Traveler will come across such things as: long-term supplemental storage facilities, a few detached houses, and (eventually) the river.

...does the river look any good to swim in?

It looks perhaps a bit chilly, but the water is relatively clear. The river is high on the banks, and running with snowmelt from the mountains. He's upstream of the city's industry and shipping, here — a few miles further upstream is the reservoir from which the city's drinking water comes.

It may be a little chilly but he can put a warming net up upstream of where he wants to swim and a cooling net downstream and that won't disrupt the fish too too much. Whee! Any interesting wildlife in there?