Finding the quirky bookshop that floods in Venice

On Sunday, our first day in beautiful Venice, we had a free day, so a few of us joined Sylvio on a walk. I wanted to find the Librarie Acqua Alta (the bookshop that floods).We started off at around 9am and took a leisurely stroll around Venice until 5pm.  I had no idea it would take so long to find the bookshop, but I enjoyed every minute of it, taking in the sights, chatting, stopping for a coffee and a bit of sketching here and there.  After much sight seeing and a few hundred photos later,  meandering through the labyrinth of narrow streets, we … I should say Sylvio … found it. I can take no credit whatsoever for such a feat 😊.

The bookshop started 14 years ago by Luigi Frizzo (pictured above) who is passionate about his unpretentious  book shop. It is also home to several cats who don’t take too much notice of all the visitors. They are either sleeping or in their “peel me another grape pose” adding to the quirkiness of the store.

I meet Luigi and his lovely son (also pictured above) and show him a recent article in the West Australian  on their bookshop. He says “Oh, that’s my Dad”  and he’s delighted to see the article all the way from Australia.

We stay a while enjoying the ambience and checking out the books and the stairway Luigi has created from the water damaged books in the past. The best quality books are now stored on the highest level of shelving to avoid any water damage in the future.

 

Malcolm painting one of the cats …