My third day in Warsaw turned into a search for a used bookstore. But, surprise! I was looking to sell this time, not buy. When you're carrying everything you have on your back, the goal becomes to make it as light as possible. I picked up a series of seven books in Australia, and was only on book four when we left Galle. In my stubborness, I decided to carry the remaining books with me and sell them as I went.
I finished book four and passed that on to Matt. Pack lighter. Book five was really big and a hardback to boot, but I finished it in part thanks to the many hours spent on buses in Turkey. I was able to sell it (for a measly 5 lira) at the Book Bazaar section of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. (Apologies for not writing a post about that experience; the Grand Bazaar is a really cool place, and I only discovered the book bazaar on my second to last day there! Probably a good thing...) Pack lighter still.
On to book six, which was about half the size of book five (but still heavy in the bottom of my pack.) The series is one of my favorites (yes, I have read them before... I like rereading good books!) but the incentive of a lighter pack is also hard to deny. Any spare moment spent on a bus, I read; I also enjoy reading at least a few pages before going to sleep at night. I finished book six in the Ukraine, but couldn't find a place to sell it. So I packed it for the trip to Poland, hoping to find a good used bookstore but telling myself I would take it no further than the city of Warsaw.
So, once settled in a hostel, I began planning where I wanted to visit in Warsaw. It was easy to work in some used bookstores; there are interesting things scattered all around the city and lots of little side streets to walk down. I ended up finding and going into more bookshops than I intended.
The first one I went to didn't exist. Well, maybe it does, but I couldn't find it and people in the area hadn't heard of it. The second one I happened upon purely by accident. It was very cluttered, as only the best bookstores are, but the owner didn't wish to buy any books. Understandable, considering the piles of books she already had. There was even a small English section.
The owner of the second shop wrote down an address for me, but I barely glanced at it. I was still finding my way around and hadn't gotten the layout of the city just yet; if I deviated from my route I might get lost. I would look up the address that night and go to it the next day. Little did I realize that the address was on my route! Streets change names almost every block it seems, and I was on the street with the third bookstore without even knowing it! Sadly, this was a new bookshop only and they didn't buy used books, either. But I was directed right across the street and behind a bus stop, where I was told there was an actual used bookstore!
This seemed promising, but the owner kindly informed me that they only bought antique books. When I inquired about the existence of a used bookshop in the area, he said there was one right around the corner... but he also owned that one and wasn't really interested in my book.
I soon passed another chain bookstore, this one called 'American Bookstore.' I went inside. I can't help it - I love books. This one was stocked entirely with English language books, and although there was a number I would like to read, I'm in no hurry to add more weight to my pack when I've worked so hard to make it lighter.
It was getting darker and colder by the minute, so I decided to head back to my hostel (with a stop on the way for dinner/a lesson in Polish at Bambino Milk Bar). One last bookstore caught my eye, but it wasn't because of the books. There was a cat, sleeping on a stack of books! I went inside to pet him, and got a sleepy purr in response.
In the end, I donated my book to the hostel I'm staying at. It's a new hostel and they already have a collection going; hopefully someone will pick it up and enjoy it as much as I have. The weight will be in their pack then, not mine!