Was it the lemon cake? When Gerd tells me that a day with lemon cake is a good day, I didn't expect him to be so right.
"Turn left here for a moment, there's supposed to be a small library here. Just take a quick look inside!" I tell my husband and - I'm getting ahead of myself - just a quick look turns into 3 wonderful hours.
Gladstone's Library is a residential library. Aha, living and reading. There are 250,000 printed items here, including theological, historical, cultural and political materials.
We enter the grounds and are already impressed. You have to hand it to the past generations here: they can build impressively! At the entrance we learn that we can visit the café and some of the rooms, but for the library we need a library card.
So we enjoy ourselves in the reading room. We are pampered with the best oat cappuccini and a feeling of well-being that will probably never let us get out of our soft armchairs again.
The reading rooms are quiet learning spaces that provide writers, researchers and readers with a space to think and work. A number of published works, including scholarly books and bestselling novels, have been produced here. (Which ones, unfortunately, remain unmentioned!)
But it doesn't leave us alone. How does one get such a library card? We ask and lo and behold: we have to hand in our IDs, fill out a form and, after a reverently whispered briefing, we now receive our day passes to browse the aisles.
And that's what we do extensively. Of course, everything here is as quiet as a mouse. People are reading devoutly, writing something in notebooks or laptops, we marvel at the collection, leaf through old atlases and even older encyclopaedias. We find books about Helvetia and yes, even books that are on the index in Germany.
There's only one thing we can't do. Sneaking through the corridors unnoticed. The wood of the stairs and the entire library creaks under our feet. We tried light steps, belly-flops or giant strides. Whoever moves here is audible.
What a magical gift to have discovered this library.
Merci for "travelling with us
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I love (old) libraries. Recently I finally visited the Old Library of Trinity College in Dublin. If I ever find myself in this corner, I have to make a note of this library.
Hello Christiane
Yes, we love it too. Somehow it has something homely about it, doesn't it?
For us it was more of a surprise, as I honestly had no idea why I had made a note of it, years ago. I probably saw something in a report somewhere or read something in an old travel guide...
If you ever come here, have fun!
Kind regards - Heike
Thank you for this beautiful impression from, what felt like, bygone times. Libraries with charm and character are also a dying breed. Unfortunately. In times of constant scrolling, it would probably be good to just sit in a library chair again and leaf through a book undisturbed.
Hello dear Jana
ohh yes, I really enjoyed just diving in there. And yes, the "old" libraries are a thing. In Scandinavia we visited many very modern ones, and in Birmingham we went to a new one. Also beautiful, but very different.
I never used to read in libraries myself, always just borrowed. But this was really a great experience.
Are you also wandering around somewhere right now? Or are you planning something nice?
Kind regards - Heike
Whow....
I can almost feel them.
This atmosphere.
I could probably have spent a lot of time there too. 🤓
I can't wait to see if I can do it when I retire.
Mega great, isn't it?
If the floors hadn't creaked so much, we would have walked several more rounds. However, there were also people there who were really reading and we didn't want to disturb them.
Kind regards - we are of course already further along!