Olfactory travelogue
Steps: approx. 228.2 // Smells: approx. 6 axial and 32 peripheral
Noted by JS Kpok
You stand with your back to the mailbox and begin to read:
“I’m met by the scent of freshly mown grass. And the earthy, somewhat sour smell of mulch. I follow the smell down Essener Strasse.”
Now turn right, cross over the small street you just came from and read the next paragraph once you reach the corner of the cemetery.
“Now the smell of diesel rises into my nostrils. A small excavator seems to be digging a grave here. I catch the scent of damp, freshly turned earth. I keep walking. Suddenly I’m met by a thick, sticky smell. Is that a linden tree in bloom? Is it too intrusive? All the same, I don’t change sides of the street. But I concentrate on the scents from across the way. What do I smell there? Dust, cement, and burnt diesel again. The new housing development that’s under construction.”
Now walk straight ahead on this side of the street toward the tram stop “Krankenhaus Stoppenberg”. Read on whenever a scent wafts into your nose.
Your rhythm will be just right:
“I leave the cement behind me and continue on Essener Strasse. Now I smell cigarette smoke and cologne that reminds me of my grandfather. Matthias Werner and his son, the undertakers, are standing in front of a building, smoking. Mulch, still. The Stoppenberg cemetery, which stretches along Essener Strasse, is apparently being landscaped. Somewhere in the distance I smell a sugar high and childhood thoughts. I smell a poppy seed pastry. I’ve arrived at the Krankenhaus Stoppenberg stop. I’m reminded of the smell of the broken air conditioner, sweat, and chewing gum in the 107.”
Continue on page 59.