Seriously, I really want to be just like Norberto when I don't grow up!
Backdrop, it was my birthday, I was in Lisboa (Lisbon in
English) Portugal and for my birthday celebration I wanted to experience Portuguese
Fado.
Fado is traditional folk music. It includes instruments like
guitars and mandolins with one Fadista singing poetic lyrics related to the
darker elements of love, death and sadness; on occasion some include humor.
We had the second best seat in the house for the O Faia Fado
show. I anxiously anticipated the arrival of the party of table in front of us.
In my mind I'd pictured some older arrogant rotund man with his arm candy who'd
probably taken an hour to paint on her face just for their evening out. Yes, my
thoughts are that vivid; even more so than described here. A couple like that,
actually ended up being at the table behind ours 😂. The owner of the best
table in the house for the evening, was seated alone. I noticed him when he
came in; a genteel man, perfectly put together.
Our bottle of wine arrived shortly after this distinguished
gentlemen was seated. We offered him a glass of our Albariño assuming he didn't
order a bottle of wine because he was alone; he politely declined...his wine
would be arriving shortly. It was obvious he'd experienced this before because
without prompting he said... I ordered a bottle myself, if I drink it, I do, if
not oh well. From there we be began to talk ...
Norberto is 78 years young with the spirit of a 21 year old.
He is from Argentina but had spent 40+ years living and working in Puerto Rico.
He had been to this very same Fado house 20 years before and the same headliner
was performing. He arrived earlier that day from Madrid and was heading out on
a tour of Portugal on Friday.
In between performances we talked of travels; well mostly he
talked and I was trying to absorb it all. This year alone, he'd conquered Machu
Picchu and the Galapagos. He typically travels alone, but he never considers it
as such because he always makes friends along the way. I hung on his every word
as he told tales of his experiences and shared photos. He was such a
fascinating man with an inspiring outlook on life.
I finally asked, where haven't you been? He answered with
ease, Greenland and Mongolia.
For the last act, Letina Gentil commanded the
"stage." I actually smelled her perfume before I laid eyes on her;
however, oddly it was not offensive. If I had to compare her to an American
artist it would have to be Tina Turner; her presence was really indescribable.
Her powerful voice and enormous soul ... the power notes vibrated in my body
and when softened, pierced my soul. She had a power move at the end of each of
her performances...she'd get very close and face the Fado guitarra and belt out
notes that filled the entire space, completely. It was as if she was drawing
power from his strumming in to her diaphragm...it was so incredibly moving. I
do not speak Portuguese; however, I understood it all, through her passion. 
As her set ended, Norberto grabbed her attention and shared
his story of having experienced her performance 20 years before. Just then the
lights brightened a bit and the staff, followed by the audience began to sing
Happy Birthday to me. Our server sat a dessert with a candle down in front of
me, followed by another server with glasses of champagne for all three of us.
It was the perfect ending.
We chatted with Letina a bit more before she had to go visit
with others. Then we continued our conversation with Norberto before they
kicked us out.
We insisted Norberto ride back with us. The streets were
very alive even though it was well after midnight. He looked back at us and
said we shouldn't be going in, we should be out there, pointing to all going on
around us. Please remember Norberto is 78 and ready to turn up after
midnight...love him. We agreed, but needed to drop shopping bags at our hotel
first. By the time we arrived at our hotel either he'd had enough of us or,
politely decided maybe we needed to have a little birthday quality
time...because he said I will let you two go. I was sad, I didn't want our
night with Norberto to end.
Did I mention Norberto was a wiz with a smart phone (iPhone
7, holding out for the X) ... by the end
of the night we'd airdropped photos, exchanged information, and he'd even
showed me a trick on WhatsApp.
This was quite possibly one of my best birthdays ever, and
I'm certain Norberto was a contributing factor.
