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alassa_irena asked me about a place I would like to go for the December meme,, and -- well, I mean, lots of places, SO MANY places, but if I could pick one place and one place alone --

-- okay, I'm down to the wire for getting this post in while it's still technically the 10th, but a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

SO BEAUTIFUL IT'S PRACTICALLY INDECENT.

I had to google 'Welsh book town' to find these, because I knew it existed but I couldn't remember the name of it. It turns out the name of it is Hay-on-Wye. I WANT TO GO THERE. The dream is real.

Crossposts: http://bookelfe.livejournal.com/398629.html

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

bookblather

.....

I want to go to there.

From:

lacewood

I REALLY WANT TO VISIT THIS TOWN TOO. *____* One day, Wales, I will come for you. ONE DAY.

From:

hafl

I went there at the end of my trip to Britain in 2012. I'm really glad for currency exchange rates, because that way, it took about a week until I realized I spent more money on books that I would make in two months.

From:

luzula

But...what if it starts raining? All those poor books!

From:

brooms

i was about to say that i hope the weather is dry, but it's in the british isles. and you can see moss and vegetation growing at the bottom of the shelves.

maybe the books are bought quickly and don't stay in the shelves for long.

From:

skygiants

The only problem is I'm not sure I would ever be able to LEAVE.

From:

skygiants

There was a brief period in my teenaged years when I was determined to learn Welsh. That didn't last long, but the sentiment lingers. Damn it, Susan Cooper!

From:

skygiants

oh my god I'm so jealous. And the thing is it would be SO UNWISE for me to actually go for exactly that reason but I DON'T CARE.

From:

skygiants

Tarps? LOTS OF TARPS. I hope and assume. I mean it is pretty terrible as far as actual care and preservation of the books and I should care about this, but ... it's so magical that I find I can't ... what a great archivist I am.

From:

raven

Oh, it's Hay! Such a lovely part of the world.

From:

skygiants

Those pictures are SO BEAUTIFUL. I've never been to Wales -- the only parts of the UK I've visited are London, Oxford, and Nottingham when my great-grandmother was there -- and I would love to get the chance some day.

From:

raven

You know, I've spent my entire life in the UK, more or less, and there are huge swathes of it I haven't seen. I really should do something about it!

From:

luzula

Yeah, it would be pretty damp even with the tarps. I don't know, I can't really focus on the pretty in those pictures because I get worried about the books getting wet. Maybe I should consider a career as an archivist. : )

From:

lnhammer

Wait, if that's supposedly Wales, why is the sky blue?

Books kept outdoors in Wales? *wimpers*

From:

skygiants

THE SKY IS BLUE BECAUSE THIS IS A MAGICAL TOWN IN WALES WHERE BOOKS ARE KEPT OUTSIDE AND IT'S TOTALLY FINE

don't step on my dreams

From:

skygiants

I laud your preservation-focused mindset while at the same time determined to personally ignore it. YOU CAN'T TAKE MY DREAMS AWAY FROM ME.

From:

dimestore_romeo

Hay-on-Wye is really great! I used to pop over there every couple of years with an epic obscure book list so I could come home with bagsful of weird retro scifi and Storm Constantine novels.

One of the bookshops is an old cinema, and to get to some of the top floor rooms you have to take staircases from the cellar!

SO GREAT.

From:

skygiants

This is like you explaining to me how you used to just pop over into Diagon Alley every couple of years to go shopping. It's fine, it's fine! No big.

From:

dimestore_romeo

Haha, I only live about an hour and a half away. It's a bit tricky to get to because it gets very, very rural over that way, but worth it (you pass signs to heritage monuments such as "Arthur's Stone", a neolithic chambered tomb...)! It is very, very cool.