Young at Heart

Meet Antonio da Silvo Gomes. He's 70 years young and has worked for 40 years at the restaurant 'Bar Lagoa' in Ipanema, where Bb and I had lunch today. He literally runs circles around the younger waiters. When we chatted to him, he said that he loved his work, enjoyed talking to the clients and knew most of them, often getting to know generations in a family. 'If I stayed at home, I wouldn't have any of this', he said, gesturing around the crowded restaurant. And crowded it was! We arrived at 3.40pm and it was packed and people were queueing to get in. When we left at around 6, there were still many late lunchers like us, and people were starting to arrive for early dinners. That's Bb just left for the airport, heading to Mexico City again, via Houston this time. The weekend's been far too short. Sweet, but short.