Libreria Giorni, or the Story of a Woman who Fell in Love with a Book Shop

Zara sweater (similar)
Zara jeans (similar)
Gucci loafers
Chanel handbag
Celine sunglasses
Mejuri earrings (similar)
Location: Libreria Giorni – Florence, Italy

Once upon a time, about four years ago, we (somewhat) impulsively booked a trip to Florence. It would be our first European holiday since returning from a three-month stint in Paris in 2017. We’d just been everywhere, it felt like, which is a wonderfully privileged position to be in. But it was also our first time booking a trip to Europe from Winnipeg in a decade, and the price of flying anywhere was shocking – not to mention beyond our budget. We went through a list of places we’d like to go – every destination either required thirty hours of travel time or cost twice as much as we could spend.

“What about Florence?” I suggested. I still don’t remember why the city came to mind, apart from the fact that we’d never been there.

“What about it?” Ian wanted to know.

“We could check the flight prices…”

It was, it seemed, meant to be. The trip was a relatively easy and the plane tickets came in at a price we could afford. We found an Airbnb we loved, booked it, and started planning the Tuscan adventure we’d never actually dreamed of. In the process of planning, I stumbled across photos of a vintage book shop called Libreria Giorni. It was love at first sight. The sign, with its vintage script and gold hue, just slightly faded by the passage of time, was like so perfectly me, it was like I’d invented it. I could already envision capturing snapshots of one of my outfits with the sign in the background, a book in hand…

…I planned for those photos all summer. And then, when we arrived in Florence, we found the beautiful Libreria Giorini under construction, its sign obscured by scaffolding. I was heartbroken.

I got over it, of course, but not until about a year after we came home from that trip. That sounds melodramatic, but it’s true. I feel disappointment keenly, struggling to let it go, even when it’s over something relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. And in my heart, those photos weren’t minor, they were a creative dream that went unfulfilled.

We didn’t plan to go back for them. We did think we might return to Florence someday, but not specifically for the photos. In fact, we didn’t plan to go to Florence this year while we were in Italy. Our destination, apart from Rome, was supposed to be Naples. But we dithered too long over train trip times and hotel bookings, until virtually everything that we wanted sold out. Where could we go instead, we wondered? Dozens of destinations came to mind – but train travel made getting to most of them quickly and efficiently a complex endeavour. Towns like Arpino, which have no train service, weren’t an option. And even many relatively well-known tourist destinations like Sorrento aren’t on main train lines, making travel to them longer and more tiresome if, like me, you just want to get where you’re going.

And so, there we were again. “What about Florence?” I said.

This time, Ian’s answer was, “Yes, please!”

“Il n’y a qu’une vie, c’est done qu’elle est parfaite.”
– Paul Eluard

We booked a train trip, and a hotel shortly after that. On a clear Wednesday morning, we arrived in the Tuscan city that stole our hearts back in September 2018. After cappuccinos at our favourite cafe, which sits in the shadow of the Duomo, we wandered towards Libreria Giorni, hopeful but wary. The scaffolding was removed, leaving behind the same nineteen-sixties era sign that I love so much and a window full of old books my limited Italian skills don’t allow me to properly read. It was exactly the way I pictured it. Four years late, but better late than never. Life doesn’t always work out the way we hope it will, but we only get one, and that’s what makes the one we, with all of its complications and disappointments and ultimate victories, perfect.

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