全球十大“气味之城”

10. Dallas 达拉斯

Cities, like people, have their own smell, their own body odors and perfumes that take on personalities. Dallas is one of the strangest scents I have ever encountered. Highways of strip malls and gas stations and exit signs. Insanely wide streets. It's very New World-smelling. It almost has a non-scent scent. Like many cities, you get concrete, car exhaust, and dust. If you really focus, you can pick up on the nearly undetectable Texas live oak. It's best during thunderstorms, though. The crisp smell of lightning and rain and vast flat space pervades and takes on a three-dimensional quality.

城市和人一样，有着它们自己独特的气味和特点。达拉斯的气味是我遇到的最奇特气味之一。大商场和加油站和高速公路的出口标志，异常宽阔的街道，都带着新世界的气息。它几乎有一种没有气味的气味。和很多城市一样，你闻得到混凝土、汽车尾气和粉尘。如果认真感受，你能嗅到微不可闻的德克萨斯橡树，但在雷雨天气时效果最佳。闪电、雨和巨大的空间互相交织，呈现出一种十分清晰的清脆气味。

9. London 伦敦

I agree with Samuel Johnson's oft-quoted "when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford," and while being able to afford London is no small feat, if you just walk the streets, the scent of the city, at least, is free. Mist, rain, peppermint, wet pavement. You can smell the Thames and leather seats and aged Persian rugs. Thank Christ, there's much less cigarette fumes these days. Some people complain that London is a gray scent, but what they smell is actually the opalescent energy of Britain.

我同意塞缪尔·约翰逊经常引用的一句话——“一个人如果厌倦了伦敦，那他就厌倦了生活；因为伦敦有人生能赋予的一切。”虽然在伦敦的生活需要大笔的开支，如果你仅仅走在街上，至少城市的气味——雾、雨、薄荷以及潮湿路面是免费的。你能闻到泰晤士河、真皮座椅以及老化的波斯地毯的味道。值得庆幸的是，这些天的香烟味少了很多。有些人抱怨说，伦敦的味道十分灰暗，但他们闻到的实际上是来自英国的乳白色能量。

8. Mombasa 蒙巴萨

I was only in Mombasa for an afternoon, and what struck me was the scent of rough terra cotta baked by the sun, and a dry-ish tropical air that is common in February when I was there. I'm told the smell radically intensifies in the summer when the rains come and things are more green, although Mombasa is never apparently lush. One of my strongest sense memories was of the four-bare-walled stores the Mijikendas and Swahilis kept. They used fluorescent lights, so they had that distinct metallic, old-ish smell places that use fluorescents always have. I could also detect palm oil, the cement dust from the streets, and these strange spices I had never smelled and haven't smelled since.

我在肯尼亚蒙巴萨只停留了一个下午，晒制而成的陶器的气味给我留下了深刻的印象，时值二月的干热空气也十分常见。我了解到在雨季来临之前气味会扩大，城市中的绿色也更加鲜明，尽管平时的蒙巴萨的植被丝毫不茂盛。我最强烈的感官记忆之一当地人开的四面裸墙的店铺，他们使用荧光灯，所以便有着独特的金属气息。使用荧光灯的地方总是充斥着老旧的气息。我还能在街上闻到棕榈油、水泥粉尘的味道，这些奇怪的香料我从未在其他地方遇到。

7. Mumbai 孟买

I have no patience for the whiny American fear of strong smells. Suck it up. Otherwise you'll miss out on Mumbai, which is one of the most intense and rewarding olfactory experiences on Earth. It's kind of like Avatar for your nose. Everywhere you turn, the thick, penetrating scent of unfiltered motor exhaust and water in gutters lingers. There's the salty smell of ocean mixed with tropical rot, air conditioning, and frying palm oil. And, it's India, so your nose also picks up on incense and every spice imaginable—cinnamon, cardamom, clove. It's the smell of a vibrant city on the move.

我非常不理解美国人对浓烈味道的抱怨。用力呼吸，否则你就会错过在地球上气味最浓烈的嗅觉之旅目的地——孟买。就像鼻子的化身。无论去往何处，扑面而来的都是未经过滤的发动机废气和废水的厚重又极具穿透性的气息。海水的咸味混合着热带腐朽的味道，还有空调、煎炸棕榈油的气味。而且，这里是印度，所以你的鼻子同时闻得到焚香味道，以及任何穷极想象的香料——肉桂，豆蔻，丁香等。这是一个充满活力的移动城市特有的气息。

6. Bogotá 波哥大

Latin America smells of the 1950s; for instance, stroll around the Recoleta in Buenos Aires, and it's like time travel. (For the record, though, I wasn't alive then). Along with that mid-twentieth century smell, Bogotá's aroma is like a new car, concrete, and aftershave—a product of the bustling downtown business district. It's strange but you can also detect the altitude—8,612 feet above sea level—because of the exotic wind, rain, and greenery that rises from the Andes in the East.

拉丁美洲的气味与二十世纪五十年代十分相似；比如在布宜诺斯艾利斯的雷克莱塔漫步时，就如同一场时光旅行。（当然，那时我还没出生）。波哥大充斥着二十世纪中期的气息，就像新车、混凝土、须后水的混杂气味，非常奇异。但是由于遥远的东方安第斯山脉带来的风雨和植物，你还可以感受到8612英尺海拔的高度。

5. Rome 罗马

I don't know of any other city as redolent of the Old World as Rome. Not Milan, not Madrid, not Budapest. Not even Naples, perhaps just because Naples has the ocean air to purify its notorious fragrance (salt water cleans everything from wounds to smells). Invisible Rome is gorgeous. Like the classic Italian masculine colognes of the 1950s, it's a particular style, and you have to like it, but if you do, the act of breathing is a real trip. The ancient walls give off a slightly dirty, sometimes greasy smell full of cedar and car and bus exhaust. Most concisely, it smells like L.A., but with 2,000-year-old stone and 500-year-old palazzi, peeling paint, and espresso-spiked decadence.

我不知道还有没有其他城市像罗马一样散发着旧世界的气息。米兰、马德里、布达佩斯，甚至连那不勒斯也没有，或许只是因为那不勒斯的海洋气息净化了它声名狼藉的空气（盐水能够清洗伤口，也能够清洗气味）。罗马的气息是一个用眼看不到的世界，如同20世纪50年代经典的意大利男性古龙水，是一种独特的风格，而且你必须喜欢它，但是如果你真的喜欢它，呼吸便成为一场真正的旅行。古老的城墙散发出一种带有些许尘土的气息，有时还有油腻味十足的雪松和汽车废气的气味。更简单的说，它闻起来像洛杉矶，但是还混杂着拥有2000年历史的石头和500年历史的宫殿、剥落的油漆以及浓烈的意大利特浓咖啡的颓废气息。