A very kind owner, son of Luigi Frizzo, made our visit to acqua Alta bookshop, a sweet memory. He told fascinating things about how his father would manage the shop during rising water - 'acqua alta', the fun and rationale of shelving books in boats, gondolas, bath tubs and so on. Visiting this bookshop was pretty high on my bucket list, and boy!! Was I happy?
After roaming around for a complete day, tired, we came back to our hostel. Our hostel (hostel generator) was situated on an separate island. It was slightly late in the evening, almost dusk. It was drizzling, making it cold and windy. But we buckled up. I couldn't bear the thought of not going to this bookshop after having come here crossing thousands of miles. After a small boat ride across, we started asking for directions. I had Google map directions. But as they say, getting lost in the narrow alleys of Venice is an experience in itself. After going around winding lanes for around 20 minutes from St Mark's square, I could sense, we are near. A local told us, maybe it isn't open today. My heart broke a little. We paced faster, as the shop welcomed us to this -
The whole drama of getting lost, thinking we might not make it, the kindness of owner, exotic nature of the shop, chilly air, the book staircase was so overwhelming - it brought tears. We spent quite a lot time here. Met an interesting southerner, David, from Salerno, Italy. Had nice chat. Pumped enough book smell into lungs.
We lingered, and lingered. It was almost time to close the shop. After I was done with the smelling, hugging, reading, skimming, and finally shopping, the owner gifted us this poster (the very first image). On one side, it's a collage of shop's icons, while on the other it's Luigi Frizzo, kissing Marilyn Monroe. The poster now adorns the wall in our home, reminding us of the great kindness of the owner and wonderfulness of the shop itself.
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