The other Shakespeare bookshops

RIP George Whitman, the eccentric owner of the original Shakespeare & Co. bookshop in Paris’ Left Bank. The shop, now in its second avatar, celebrates sixty years of existence this year. And Whitman, who bought it from the original owner Sylvia Beach died last week, aged 98. I have been dying to write a story on this fabulous bookshop where I spent hours on my Paris trip – am waiting for an editor to bite buy. And I am really looking forward to writing that story. For now, just a pic.

Till then, let me tell you about the two other bookshops I spotted in Europe, named after Shakespeare. There are probably many more but these two for now. One in Prague – of all places, an English bookshop in an Eastern European country! Shakespeare in Prague – but then, I found Lennon there, so why not?

And the other, the really really charming one in Avignon in Provence – a small bookshop with what I can only call a typical French attitude. Look at the cheeky sign on the shop window. That said, the owner, who was closing for lunch, was nice enough to keep it open for ten minutes while I browsed and clicked and drooled. Go figure.

I found this in a small street somewhere in the heart of Avignon as I was wandering aimlessly one fine spring day. I probably would never be able to locate it if I were to try again. The shop also had a tiny cafe (I did try asking for a coffee but clearly, that was going too far!) and books stacked in some method-to-the-madness way that only the owner understood. In all, a lovely discovery.

Postcards from Charles Bridge

Presenting Charles Bridge – across the river Valtva in Prague in pictures.

Any time of the day, a few thousand people are on the bridge…

If you want it to yourself, go early – really early – in the morning. Or try late at night. I froze though, taking this picture…

In the 17th century, thirty statues were placed on either side of the bridge all the way. This is one of my favourites…

More than anything else, it is the buskers, artists and vendors on the bridge which make it special…

Trdelnik: the tongue-twister treat

Trdelnik – say that slowly and be sure to unroll your tongue at the end of it – is a traditional slovakian pastry in the shape of a hollow cylinder. A long rope of sweet dough is rolled on to a thin wooden or metal rod and then baked on an open fire and coated with sugar and cinnamon and nuts (traditionally only walnuts).

I first came across it in the small pretty UNESCO town of Cesky Krumlov. And then everywhere in Prague. The trdelnik shop was one of the highlights of the Easter market at the old town square, calling out to people with that buttery, sugary, pastry smell. Suffice it to say, I was sold – I tried various versions, even one with a coating of chocolate inside. I remember reading or hearing that trdelnik means tasty but I am not sure about that. But who cares about the meaning; it was del.iii.cious.

A yellow submarine and some love and peace

Apparently, John Lennon has never visited Prague – so what is a Lennon Wall doing in that city? It is in the Mala Strana area, close to Charles Bridge, a wall covered with graffiti – words and images – inspired by Lennon. In the 1980s, he was a hero and an inspiration to the young and the restless of Prague – especially after his death in 1980. And scribbling on this wall was their way of opposing the Communist regime and everything it stood for.

So scribble they did, in the face of harassment from the police who jailed these wall artists for their “subversive activities”. Even as the authorities kept white-washing the wall and placing sentries in the area, the messages kept appearing – the wall, a symbol of peaceful protest.

Even today, there are people with paint brushes and stained clothes and that gleam in their eyes painting their two bits on the Lennon Wall – the flower children of the new millennium. And of course, some of them seem to use it as a free space to discuss the state of their current relationships, as you can see from the last photograph. But then, you know what these flower children were like…

And oh, two things: this is my 250th post on this blog, so pat me on the back virtually and make a wish that the next 250 is as interesting and varied and comes up much quicker. And my photography page is up on my website – check it out.

Prague welcomes Easter

Early April was for me the perfect time to be in Prague. Winter was over and it was cool without being too cold and the summer visitor crowds had not started pouring in. Just yesterday, a friend tells me that she was barely able to walk in Prague when she visited in July. We stayed in a small hotel very close to the lovely Charles Bridge – the clerk at the counter sternly advised us against buying a travel pass. “You can walk everywhere,” he said. And we did. We did hop into a tram going up to the castle but everywhere else, we walked.

The Easter market had just opened that day and the entire city sported a carnival look. Festoons, balloons, street stalls, people blowing bubbles, performers and buskers – the city was a fairy tale. No, really. Remember those Russian fairy tales you read as a child – the Old Town Square brought it all alive for me. The square dates back to the 12fth century and was a central market for the entire town – it also hosts some of the most famous and prettiest sights in town, The Tyn Church and the Astronomical Clock, to name just a couple of them. And as with all self-respecting town squares in Europe, it is ringed with cafes and restaurants, all of them with tables out in the fresh spring air.

And then the Easter market – an open stage with performances through the day, dozens of stalls selling Czech craft and Easter goodies and all kinds of food and drinks – brightly painted Easter eggs, traditional glassware from the country, wooden toys and souvenirs and local wines. And on one side, a tent holding workshops for children and next to it, a pen with fat sheep and piglets for them to feed and play with. The best thing about the market was that there were as many locals walking around the shops as tourists.

Prague was our absolute favourite among the cities we visited. More posts coming up on charles Bridge, the Lennon Wall and all the rest of it – watch this space!