M.J. Rose

Could this possibly be the best hotel for introverts and book lovers? The Literary Man hotel in Óbidos, Portugal has a massive reading lounge with over 50,000 books…

From HuffPost,
This Hotel With 50,000 Books Is A Literary Lover’s Dream Come True
Oh, and there’s a gin bar too.

by Suzy Strutner

“If you tend to spend your vacations reading, then this is the spot for you.
The Literary Man hotel in Óbidos, Portugal is home to about 50,000 books and counting, a manager told The Huffington Post. Some titles are available for purchase, and others are reserved for reading only in the historic hotel’s massive lounge, which is pretty much the book lover’s equivalent of a Caribbean island:

The Literary Man is nestled just outside the walls of the historic center of Óbidos, a charming medieval town that’s recently started embracing bookishness with the addition of new bookshops and a literary festival.

Guests at the hotel can savor their reads–which range from vintage titles to best-selling fiction to cookbooks–at the in-house gin bar, in the cellar during a massage or in a variety of cozy, simple hotel rooms. Prices start at about $90 per night, but we have a feeling we wouldn’t sleep a wink here…”

For glorious pictures of the hotel’s bookish interior, click here.

We think that if you still haven’t danced in an attic in Paris, it’s time…

From MessyNessy,

Dancing in the Attic of the Paris Opera House

“Classical ballet as we know it today was born within the Paris Opera. In 1930, LIFE magazine staff photographer, Alfred Eisenstaedt, was given access to the sacred world of the prima ballerina at the Grand Opera de Paris. He sat in on a rehearsal for Swan Lake, photographing the dancers doing their barre exercises, perfecting choreography, as well as capturing the girls at ease, standing around chatting or looking out over Paris from those fabulous round windows.

There’s something eerily beautiful about these photographs of the glamorous ballerinas against the backdrop of that dim and dusty attic space of the Grand Opera, a stark contrast from their gilded stage below. I wonder if that room still exists as it was on that day, with those big round windows, black walls and the ballet barre with a view….”

Click here for many captivating photos of this scene, and if you want to be inspired to do some dancing–perhaps in your own attic? Why not!

If this doesn’t inspire you to want to spend a day back in your childhood playing with this, well, we don’t know what would…and by the way, who is this Colleen Moore of old Hollywood who spent a reported half-million dollars on this fairy castle and then sent it on tour to raise money for children’s charities? We like her.

From CBSnews.com,

A Doll House To Dream Of

“It is the ultimate enchanted castle: lush gardens and sumptuous rooms, decorated with precious furniture and priceless art. There are glowing chandeliers and elegant bathrooms. Not bad, for a doll house!

Between 1928 and 1935, Hollywood star Colleen Moore spent a reported half-million dollars on her Fairy Castle, employing some 100 Hollywood designers and craftsmen to build it, and then sent the doll house on tour to raise money for children’s charities.

Chicago’s Museum of Science & Industry – home to the Fairy Castle since it was donated in 1949 – has recently renovated it, as one does with a house that is getting on in years….”

For a huge gallery of the dollhouse and more on its history, click here.