Vitória Meli is in the bookstore at the Lisbon Pavilion at the Buenos Aires Book Fair buying books in Portuguese, one of which is a children’s book, for her son who accompanies her in the stroller. This 41-year-old Argentinean has a passion for Portugal, and in particular Lisbon.
It was in the Portuguese capital that he spent his honeymoon, but the relationship had already started before. From her childhood, she remembers that, at home, her mother had a photo of Lisbon. However, it was a book by the Italian writer António Tabucchi that made her fall even more in love with the Portuguese capital.
Journalist by profession, Vitória explains to Renaissance that the “fascination” “was born with Tabucchi and his great book [Afirma Pereira] that describes Lisbon”. When reading the work of the author, also a lover of Lisbon, he felt like he had set foot in that piece of Portugal and was “travelling with it”.
This discovery led her to study Portuguese and, therefore, she is now looking for books in Fernando Pessoa’s language to practice. Asked about Portugal, she remembers the country as “a safe place”, different from Argentina “where you can’t leave your car open”.
For you, “Portugal was a discovery”. Vitória explains that “it’s a place that doesn’t get talked about much”, however, when you get to know it “it’s incredible! And Lisbon is beautiful! It has everything!” she says with enthusiasm in her voice.
For this reader of Portuguese authors like José Saramago, it wasn’t just the books or the landscape that fascinated her. “I loved the cuisine! For me it’s something fundamental when I’m going to discover a new country and its flavors. When we taste a food, we eat the place,” she explains.
For now, while dreaming of a return to Lisbon, Argentinean Vitória Meli is devouring books in Portuguese to feel at home.
