Bookshops speak to our soul

Bookshops are some of my favourite places on earth. When I'm in a bookstore I am happy.
When I walk into a good bookshop I enter my own little world. A world of fantasy and imagination. A sanctuary of the soul. A magical place where I can spend hours on end, discovering all sorts of things.

One such place is Daunt Books for Travellers in Marylebone, London. With a beautiful interior layout, the Edwardian building adds so much character and style to the store that it's easy to be swept away by the romance of it all. Whenever I'm in the neighbourhood I find it impossible not to drop in.

And to prove bookstores are blessed by a higher power, I visited one in Maastricht, the Netherlands last year that is located in Gothic settings. Boekhandel Polare brings a whole new meaning to enlightened reading. There is a cafe in the back of the church-slash-bookshop where you can have a coffee and take it all in.

 

 

Named as one of the most beautiful bookshops in the world by numerous media outlets this 13th century church acts as a glorious stage for the written word to perform it's magic show.

In my opinion books will never lose that magic. Their appeal is eternal. They speak to our soul. Technology supplants many things but books are not one of them. It would be like the spoken word going out of fashion. Books represent the backbone of learning and knowledge. They are the gateways to the story of our history and the guardians of our time. The places they are stored are their sanctuaries and thus are sacred.