Does your tube stop taste of apple pie, HP sauce or putrid meat? For James Wannerton these are just some of the strange tastes he experiences as he travels on the London Underground.
A journey on the Central Line for the 54-year-old will start off tasting of burnt bacon, and gradually change to taste of cheese, sausage, sprouts and cabbage water. And the tastes are very real. ‘They are all involuntary and cannot be "turned off" or "toned down",’ Mr Wannerton said.
That’s because Mr Wannerton, from Dollis Hill in North London, is one of an estimated two-and-a-half million people who suffer from gustatory auditory synaesthesia. This a cross-sensory neurological condition which means he can literally taste words.
The bad news for people in Mile End is their area tastes of fingernails. London Bridge tastes of lumpy mashed potato, West Hampstead of spam and chocolate and Covent Garden of digestives. ‘As a young child I used to travel to school on the London Underground and because of my synaesthesia, on each trip I experienced a taste and texture sensation of each station name,’ said Mr Wannerton. ‘I used to recognise where I was along the journey by taste just as much as by the actual location. ‘I did this every time I travelled on the Underground and it very soon became an involuntary and very automatic additional response to my general perception.’
While he can get tastes and textures from simply reading a station name, the ‘ambiance’ and appearance can also alter that experience. ‘The tastes are 100 per cent consistent in that they never change,’ said Mr Wannerton.
倫敦地鐵圖給人們帶來不少靈感，從音樂標識到人氣餐廳很多都借鑒了地鐵圖的交叉線。但你曾嚐過或想像過地鐵站的味道嗎？是香甜無比的蘋果派？還是瀰漫著腐肉的酸臭味？英國一名年屆五旬的James Wannerton搭乘倫敦地鐵時，無需舔嚐便可知道月臺的滋味。每次地鐵呼嘯而過時，他便會不由自主地享受起這頓『地鐵盛宴』。月臺的名字一響起，他的腦中隨即浮現出多汁的烤培根、香濃的起士、香腸等食物的形象。這就是「聯覺synesthesia」，憑著這種神奇的能力， Wannerton勾勒出他嚐到的每個地鐵站的味道。
