Is there anything special you love doing in the rain? Oh, I know, I used to hear it pretty often: “What are you talking about? I love sunshine! I hate rain and whatever associated with it”. Yet, some things seem more fascinating when it’s raining, don’t you think? Like wrapping yourself in a rug with a book by your favourite author, (and, as a delightful supplement, tea and chocolates within your reach).
And what I really adore on a rainy day is hanging about a good bookstore. There is one in Saint Petersburg, Dom Knigi in Singer House, a heavenly place for book lovers. This is one of the most beautiful buildings on the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and Griboedov Channel.
And what I really adore on a rainy day is hanging about a good bookstore. There is one in Saint Petersburg, Dom Knigi in Singer House, a heavenly place for book lovers. This is one of the most beautiful buildings on the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and Griboedov Channel.
They’ve got a tremendous selection of books, and also benches and chairs for visitors, very comfortable, you know. More than that, you’re free to have coffee in the café on the second floor without parting with a book. That is the best part of it: savouring a book with a view of Kazan Cathedral and an éclair. Once I spent in the café two hours or so with a book of Brodsky’s interviews and “Coco Chanel Secrète” by Marcel Наеdrich, and then bought both of them, unable to part with such absorbing reading.
And in any city, bookstores attract me as honey draws Winnie-The-Pooh. When we were planning the itinerary In Portugal I insisted on including Porto because of Livraria Lello. I’d seen pictures online and was completely mesmerized by its incredible wooden panels, ornate painted plaster and carved staircase.
Believe it or not, but we went there on a really rainy day. Outside it was not much, we actually went past. A narrow building in neo-Gothic style, squeezed in between the others.
But the inside was really beautiful, an amazing intricate design, stained-glass window, so different from usual boring store interior.
Yet, the choice of English books was limited to a few dozen; they were beautifully printed gift editions with gilt edges, but too few! The coffee shop turned to be a couple of chairs, besides, it was rather small and dark inside, probably due to the weather. And there was an official repeating annoyingly at regular intervals: “No photos, please!”
All in all the real Livraria Lello seemed to me not as impressive as in the pictures. Might it be a grey rainy day that made it look like that? You can say I’m contradicting myself, but “I hope you will allow me the pleasure of being inconsistent” (Oscar Wilde, not me)! And I still love rain and bookstores. I wish there were good ones in our town…
Oh, you are absolutely right - that "Dom Knigi" became very dear to me, it's really a great bookstore, the building is so atmospheric and right on Nevsky, charming.. It's a pity I didn't have much time to browse it thoroughly, thought the intended 10-minute run still turned into an hour, it's just too irresistable to walk out of it with empty hands))
ОтветитьУдалитьAs for the bookshops and rain, I've never tought of it that way (I always consider shopping in the rain a misery:((), but you've got a point here, if it's shopping for books, no need to hurry outside into the wretched rainy weather.. well, why not) I LOVE cozying up with a book during the rain, that's how I've spent most of the rainy evenings this autumn - completely unproductive but very soothing) And what I like even more than reading a book on a rainy day is... sleeping. What could be more lulling than the sound of raindrops against the window glass - when you're all cozy and warm wrapped in a blanket inside?)
Hi, Irina! I love rain, bookstores, and libraries. On a rainy day, I like the sound of falling rain on my umbrella and the smell of the mixture of soil and green leaves. In scorching summer, only rain can soften the heat. We have mega-chain bookstores where we can comfortably spend like the one in Petersburg but they are not the antique buildings like the photo but very modern. The interior of the bookstore of Portugal is so beautiful, which made me wonder what is the outside appearance is like.
ОтветитьУдалитьRegarding your comment, I didn’t know “ledum” and checked it. It doesn’t grow in my region (western Japan) but in northern Japan where temperature is cooler. Bloom period is June to July.
Yoko
Dear Yoko, I've updated the post adding a picture of the exterior. Would you have spotted the building? It appeared ordinary!
УдалитьThank you for letting us see the outside appearance. It is beautiful but the beauty of the interior is more than the expected from the outside.
УдалитьI don't know, but the stairs in that shop reminded me about Harry Potter.
ОтветитьУдалитьBINGO, Julia! Joan Rowling lived in Porto a couple of years and was inspired by Lello. I published more pictures of the staircase deliberately, yet no one before had noticed it!
ОтветитьУдалитьAs for me - I DO like sun, sea and books. Just lying on the seashore and reading something romantic... And I HATE rain, when it rains more than half an hour.
ОтветитьУдалитьI wouldn't define whether I like or dislike rain. It depends. But what I can say for certain is that I LOVE when it is raining outside and I am comfy inside!!! Be it my warm armchair with a book or a lovely bookstore. The latter by the way hasn't been tried by me yet. I mean, I haven't had a chance to appreciate those wonderful benches and chairs for visitors in Dom Knigi, since they were occupied by other people all the time))) All the better, the night is young... ))
ОтветитьУдалитьSounds odd - "It depends". What can it depend on? Dress properly and have a walk in the rain, say, in Summer garden, Your "comfy inside" will feel so much stronger after.
УдалитьIt's also odd that few of my readers were impressed by Livraria Lello, which is in the list of 5 top bookstores in the world. My fault, probably...
As for the described bookstore, when I look at the pictures, it seems to me more like a library than a bookstore. My own preference is not top 5 beautiful stores, but modern and not central bookstores, which are big ones with cafes too. It's not that I can't understand the beauty. I can. But I take it separately from the store. E.g. in Dom Knigi they sometimes fail to provide good advice on the books, and they will never phone you when the asked book arrives, though promised to do so. I say yes for the beauty and no for the service. Getting back to Livraria Lello, I don't see what I could buy in it, as there are very few English books. I would only enjoy the wonderful interior.
УдалитьSo I did, but I thought it wrong to leave it without a material reminder. I picked a gift edition of Virginia Woolf's "To The Lighthouse"!
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