Belém

There’s this place in Belém, Lisbon, called Water Mirror. Actually, any place by the river in Lisbon is like a magic water mirror. If people in Lisbon are in love with the city, I have the feeling it’s mostly because of the river, this Tagus which keeps us company next to Wine With a View in Belém.

There, by the Padrão dos Descobrimentos, a constant reminder of our golden age, lives a new Lisbon, with young and sophisticated people, flooded by tourists who know that Lisbon is a rare gem for travellers who are thirsty for the world. Here, at Wine with a View, we watch them stop, choose a wine according to the weather and seat and gaze at the river, as though time would never pass them by.

The experience here is mostly sensorial. It is absolutely possible to not think, not imagine old or future times and just be there in the moment. They simply like to be. And I like watching them arrive, stop and stay. We smile, empathetically: I know what they’re feeling. I don’t have to know their stories to know what they’re feeling when tasting one of the wines we have selected or just stopping by to savor the moment.

They then go back to their busy itineraries, joining the homogenous set of visitors, searching for monuments and hallmarks of the city – which are indeed not to miss – but they take the experience with them. Because they love good wines, because they know life is better if it’s made up of experiences lived with the senses. I can’t imagine any other way to travel, but to live and record each instant with all your 5 senses. That Wine With a View helped focus that lens, makes me happy.