03/11/2019
KingPin
16 Reviews
KingPin
1
Train ride and sailing camp
When I was about ten/eleven years old in the early 80-ies I was living on the coast of the Swedish archipelago. Our greatest adventure was going alone with friends on the train to Stockholm. It is only 45 minutes, but it felt like a faraway trip to another world. You had no cellphones in those days, so you were truly on your own. The trains were old, probably over 20 years, in brown metal with wooden panels inside, and a bordeaux/dark grey striped velvety padding on the very upright seats. We usually did these trips in summer, so the windows were down so that you could catch the breeze in the otherwise steaming carriages.
The trains were as mentioned very old, and were built for transport, not comfort. The brakes were metal-on-metal, so the breaking was a screechy affair. As the train braked on these dusty summer days there was a distinct smell of burnt metal and dust. As smell of the iron in blood, smoke, gravel dust and cold steel. This is the EXACT opening scent of “Dry Wood”, combined with a bit of bay leaf (after an initial flash of citrus).
After about an hour or two the bay leaf takes over with hints of fresh pepper. Interestingly enough, in Sweden you use bay leaf in the water when boiling hot dogs, so my trip goes from train adventures to sailing camp in the archipelago. Boiled hotdogs were a staple lunch for the crews, hungry as wolves after hours on the sea, and the bay leaf scent was a blessing since it signified an upcoming feast of hot dogs in bread with ketchup and mustard.
Even though I thoroughly enjoyed these trips down memory lane, I must admit that smelling like train breaks and hot dog water with pepper is probably not going to be my signature scent.
The trains were as mentioned very old, and were built for transport, not comfort. The brakes were metal-on-metal, so the breaking was a screechy affair. As the train braked on these dusty summer days there was a distinct smell of burnt metal and dust. As smell of the iron in blood, smoke, gravel dust and cold steel. This is the EXACT opening scent of “Dry Wood”, combined with a bit of bay leaf (after an initial flash of citrus).
After about an hour or two the bay leaf takes over with hints of fresh pepper. Interestingly enough, in Sweden you use bay leaf in the water when boiling hot dogs, so my trip goes from train adventures to sailing camp in the archipelago. Boiled hotdogs were a staple lunch for the crews, hungry as wolves after hours on the sea, and the bay leaf scent was a blessing since it signified an upcoming feast of hot dogs in bread with ketchup and mustard.
Even though I thoroughly enjoyed these trips down memory lane, I must admit that smelling like train breaks and hot dog water with pepper is probably not going to be my signature scent.
Hermesh
