Atlantis Books, Oia, Santorini
The donkeys first led me to it! Patient, disciplined beasts travelling in a single file on the enchanting, narrow, cobble stoned streets of Oia, they were led by minders who were slightly less disciplined though a lot more spirited! Buoyantly calling out greetings in Hindi (they turned out to be Pakistani labourers) they gambolled on the road, cheerfully occupying all of it, so that stepping hastily back (and almost falling headlong down a flight of stairs) I stumbled across this enchanting wonderland of a bookstore, appropriately christened ‘Atlantis’. Oh Atlantis with your romantic name evoking lost worlds, and your whimsical location inside one of the cave houses carved into the bowels of the earth, how easy it is to lose yourself in your depths and let the world outside sprint along at its relentless pace, while one enjoys a moment (or a few months or years of relative calm)! Clearly others agree as the store is often manned by students and young people from acros...