Where there’s life, there’s hope – the old adage says.

But there is another thing intimately associated with life: smell.

Where there’s life, there’s smell.

And so, with the exception of some very few places where extreme conditions and the lack of water in liquid state make all life impossible, smells are everywhere.

But not all smells are pleasant to our human noses. Why is it so is still up to debate, although most experts seem to agree that education, culture and personal experience determine most of our olfactory preferences. It comes as no surprise then that different smells are perceived and appreciated differently, depending on those determining factors.

There are some smells though which appear to feel unpleasant to most human noses, regardless of the the cultural and social background.

Similarly, but at the other end of the spectrum, there are smells which seem to have an almost universal appeal.

Again – why is it so remains unclear, but one simple explanation would suggest that those smells speak to the part we human beings all have in common and that they trigger in us emotions that we all share.

Below is the list of some of the places which have a distinctive olfactory signature, a characteristic, recognizable scent familiar to most people.

I like to call them “places to be” for all scent lovers or anyone enjoying simple yet powerful beauty of common things.

Of course, it is my personal hence subjective list, but I know from experience that the smells characteristic of these places tend to be almost universally appreciated. And, by all means, it’s but a “sampler”, a tiny selection of wonderfully fragrant places to be found – everywhere!