Been There, Smelled That explores the aromas of places around the world. Travel writer Maggie Downs investigates some of the world’s most potent smells, looks at how odor cultivates a connection to place, and presents how humans engage with smells, from scents that have endured generations to the latest innovations in aroma-making.
On my first full day in Addis Ababa, I head to the basement of the National Museum of Ethiopia, where I spend the morning with the fossilized remains of early hominids.
The attraction here is Lucy, a 3.2 million-year-old ancestor to humans. Her Ethiopian name is Dinkinesh, which means “you are marvelous” in Amharic, but she’s commonly known as “Lucy” because “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” played on a cassette tape while paleontologists excavated her bones from the dirt.
