Hogwart's in Porto

I may safely say that Porto has become my favorite foreign city. It's at least the biggest city close to me that I can visit. It's bigger than Vigo, which is the biggest city in Galicia. Portugal is also the closest foreign country I can visit. At about an hour's drive, it's slightly closer than Paris by air. The biggest difference is I can drive to Portugal with much less expense than I can fly to Paris. And our pockets are in no mood for expenses. 

On this trip, I decided to head straight for the iconic Livraría Lello, the bookstore I had always been meaning to visit, but never had. I had thought it

would be a matter of showing up at the door and waltzing in, like at any bookshop, but no, it's not that easy. When I found the street, Rúa das Carmelitas, right next to the University, I saw a line stretching out the front door and down the street. As I followed the line, people were holding tickets. You need to buy a ticket to enter the bookstore. I picked out an American, and asked where he had bought the tickets (For some reason, Americans are easy to pick out abroad. Sometimes I mistake them for Germans and vice-versa, but once I hear that broad English, I know it's a fellow American.). He explained where the ticket seller was, further up on the corner, and I bought a ticket for four euros, which would be discounted from the purchase of any book. It's a nice way of ensuring sales and profiting from the massive visits.

The line moved along quickly, which was a relief while standing in the brief

spots where the trees' shades didn't overlap. It was a summery day in Porto on Wednesday. As I entered, the vision was pure delight; if I lifted my eyes above the heads of the mob. Art deco surrounded me, with gothic touches in the arched cabinets above the shelves. The problem is that it's a small space with so many people, but the building is a pure delight. There's a fairy tale staircase in the further end that winds up and around to the second floor, with carved and painted wood. Above, through the open floor plan, you can see the stained glass in the ceiling with "Decus in labore," dignity in work. If you can make it to the shelves along the walls, on the left as you enter you can find books in Spanish, English, French, and German. The rest is filled with all different subject matter in Portuguese, which, if you can read Galego and Spanish, is not that difficult to decipher.  

I decided to leave the choice of book for last and tried to wend my way to the back of the store, behind the staircase. The first floor ceiling can be more easily seen there. It is actually not wood, but painted plaster. The building was created in 1906 by Xavier Estévez with an Art Deco and Art Nouveau interior, and neo-Gothic exterior, and was constructed by the Lello brothers as their new headquarters, after having bought out the Chardron bookstore and publishing house, one of the oldest in Portugal, dating back to 1869. Their choice of street, right next to the University, ensured clients, though the Lello brothers were

also patrons of the arts and involved in cultural activities in the city. The present popularity of the bookstore is due, in part, to being described as the third most beautiful bookshop in the world by Lonely Planet guides in 2012. The café on the second floor therein described, however, has had to go. The other part of the popularity is thanks to Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling spent some years in Porto as an English teacher. Here, she began writing the first Harry Potter book. It is said she used the description of the stairs in Livraría Lello as the model for the stairs at Hogwart's. Therefore, the grand selection of Harry Potter books in the children's section.

Trying to climb the stairs is a titanic feat in itself. They were never designed for the hordes that visit now, rather for the client or two that would climb up and down in search of that desired volume. They are narrow, and the famous red paint is now flaking in the middle of the curved steps, as thousands of feet pound them daily. Of course, everyone wants a picture of themselves taken right in the middle, and everyone who is trying to go up or come down, has to wait. I pray the building never has to be quickly evacuated, though I suspect and hope a new, auxiliary staircase has been built at the back, out of the general view, for such a horror. 

On the second floor, there is a larger sense of peace, possibly because less people fit upstairs than downstairs. The walls and ceiling are lighter and airier
than downstairs. The front windows are open over the city, and the Torre dos Clérigos can be seen to one side through the haze. There is a cash register here, as well as the two downstairs. Souvenirs can be bought up here and down at the back. I prefer the photos I take, and the book I will buy downstairs.  

Back downstairs, I choose a book and make a last round of the architectural delights. I gaze at the ceiling again and don't envy those who work here. I hope

they are well-paid. The bookstore is surely earning plenty of money with all these visits, and the employees know their business and how to wait on people. All of them know more than two languages. They speak Portuguese, Spanish, and English, and I have heard one of them speak French. I haven't heard any German, but I'm sure at least one of them also speaks it. That is one of the big differences between Spain and Portugal. If it's difficult in Spain to find one person who speaks English with any fluidity, it's quite easy to find someone in Portugal who speaks English and at least one other language smoothly.  

I leave the building with my purchase in my small backpack, and set out to enjoy the rest of the day in the city of delight.

Façade

The curving stairs.

  

First-floor ceiling.