a rather blustry saturday morning (a sad reminder that winter is well on its way) i made my way to this bookshop slash cafe to have a coffee and a chat with the lovely Lou V.  now i'm not overly familiar with the whole quartermile, but after instructions from my dining companion i turned right at the starbucks and made my way along.  the shop is hard to miss though with the huge glass windows displaying a beautiful interior of colourful and well loved classic books behind a chic cafe with clear tables mixed amoung huge velvet purple couches.\n\ngetting there early i took a seat at one of the tables as the couches were occupied and proceeded to make a phone call while i wait.  now this place gets a immediate extra star because i was clearly very upset and crying on the phone and instead of looking at me disapprovingly the ladies working the cafe seemed to just get on with their business and leave me to be.  when Lou V. did arrive she took me and my sorry self to a newly emptied velvet sofa and bought me a cup of tea and a cheese scone.  the girl behind the counter was especially nice and made no comments as to the mascara that had migrated from my eyelashes to my cheeks.\n\nour hot drinks and my scone came promptly and i found it very lovely that my tea was a loose leaf which came with a little timer and instructions from the waitress to allow the tea to brew for two full turns of the timer.  very nice touch.  my cheese scone was huge as well and immediately slathered with butter for a quick bite into the comfort of cheese and carbs that i needed!  when poured my cranberry apple tea was a rich red colour and very comforting.\n\ndespite being blatently modern, i found this bookshop very cosy and welcoming.  it reminded me of the trendy boutique shops i've been to back in the states.  i also loved that they had beautiful coloured covers on the classic books that were on display and really used the huge space they had to fill up the shop nicely but not make it feel crowded.  i had a quick browse of the books before we left and felt a bit of sadness that i no longer buy real books since i've had my kindle as this would clearly be the ideal shop to get them at.\n\nnow my only complaint and why this place has gotten 3 stars instead of 4.  it was freezing!!  absolutely freezing!!! and i was wearing a cardigan and ugg boots, so clearly i should not have been so cold.... i don't know if it's because the place doesn't keep heat in well with the high ceilings and massive windows lining three out of four walls of the shop, but it was so cold that we opted to leave and get a second coffee elsewhere.  i think i will visit this shop again, but perhaps bring a few extra layers to keep warm or wait until a sunny summer's day when the warmth from the sun can heat the shop through the windows.