Who says you can't find a bottle of Bordeaux in Korea?

As one ages like a bottle of wine, you hope to age gracefully. You don't want the acrid taste of a cork that has gone bad. You wants the notes to reflect. You want the sparkle, the brilliance, and the health benefits of a good life. Life is like wine. My love affair with wine began later in life. When you are young, you might not appreciate the passage of time, because it seems plentiful. Young wines don't have that well developed feel, but there is potential.

In a piano lounge bar, here in Daegu, aptly titled, "Temptation", I came across a scene of a young student skillfully working her magic on the piano with a multitude of empty wine bottles on the floor. I entered the place alone and surveyed the area. There was a young woman sitting at the bar, the only one watching the artist, while others were engaged in their private conversations. The room noise of hushed conversations without an audience for the artist.It always amazes me when I enter a place alone, because it shocks the host. They never seem to know what to do with a single person. I set him at ease and motioned to the bar where the other solitary wall flower sat nursing her drink and asked to see the wine list. Of course I went to the reds...and scanned and saw so many offerings of Bordeaux...and promptly ordered the bottle.

Was I to consume this bottle alone? Of course not. So I began to make conversation with the other solitary soul sitting at the bar. With her halting English, I motioned that I was offering her a glass as well. I came to discover she was friends with the pianist, her name, Carla...and they were both students at the university majoring in music.

We drank and listened to the passion her friend played with...reviving the notes on her music sheets...bring them to life. In the end the three of us sat, drank wine and spoke of music, life, and love. However, the conversation fell to the challenges of following your dreams in life...and really living those dreams instead of being in the shadows of them.

As I was leaving, I saw this collection of notes...perhaps accolades for this wonderful venue. Perhaps, notes that simply stated 'I was here'. It reminded me of the Shakespeare house by Notre Dame where I posted my note there as well...of what I came to Paris to find.
I just simply signed my name...glued it in a hidden place...leaving another clue in the world of me. Life is an adventure, and I am still aging well like a bottle of well travelled wine.