The 5th Empire - Only in Portugal

My mother in law turned 94 years old the other day, and my wife and her brother decided to celebrate this by taking her out to a rooftop restaurant overlooking the river Douro.

View from the restaurant

The weather was perfect, neither too hot nor too cold, and the food and drinks were excellent. However, my brother in law found one of the dishes a little lacking in salt. He called upon a waiter for some salt an pepper. Then, he asked the waiter where he was from. Turned out he was from Guimarães, the same city my in laws come from.

Pretty soon, we had a small conversation with the waiter about all sorts of things, and he was called upon several more times through our visit. The interaction was pleasant, with us being demanding but genuinely interested in the business, and the waiters being eager to serve and vent opinions on our chosen dishes and drinks.

We followed no set rules. My son got a starter and two deserts, my brother in law had a starter only, while the rest of us ordered full three course menus. We took it easy, and talked about all sorts of things, ranging from the type of grapes used in the wines we had selected to the origin of the word Bacalao.

None of this may come across as strange. However, an interesting detail in this is that our waiter was in fact a heroin addict, recently down and out. The restaurant makes a point of employing such people as a form of charity. The man had a certain fragility about him, typical of people who've been through a lot of abuse. But there was a certain pride and nobility in his ways too. He was clearly on his way up from the depth, even if it was clear from his bruised arms that he was still self-medicating.

This is the sort of charity we find in Portugal, where drug use is considered an ailment rather than a crime. People are given a second chance, and it's beautiful and inspiring to see.

My brother in law and I in casual conversation, with my son and mother in law listening in