Dawn Berkoski

Shelves laden with books, a blood-red staircase, and a stained-glass ceiling to let in the light.

Livraria Lello is listed as one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world. I always hoped to go. And after standing in a queue that wrapped around the city block, I finally entered the olive-green doors of this national monument.

Strangers periodically posed on the stairs, wanting that special photograph, but the real stars were the books. It was the 80th anniversary of the publication of Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, one of my favorite childhood stories, and I eagerly snatched up a limited edition designed for the store.

And while the view of the red stairs, built by Francisco Xavier Esteves in 1906, and the stained-glass ceiling, created by Gerardus Samuel van Krieken, did not disappoint, it was the carvings tucked under the centerpieces that captured my attention.

Dawn B~