Lisbon has experienced the kind of renaissance not seen since the 14th and 15th centuries, when the city was at the heart of an empire that stretched from Brazil to India. The event credited with kicking off this recent rejuvenation was the World Expo in 1998. Lisbon was quick to seize on the catalyst of Expo 98 and used the worldwide exposure well, to put itself firmly on the tourist and business map. The city has taken its traditional charms (the friendliness of its people, its buzzing nightlife, the splendour of its natural setting) and moulded them into an attractive package. Lisbon's superb natural setting, spread across seven hills and hugging the banks of the wide River Tagus estuary, attracted settlers Many of the citys grandest buildings, such as those along the waterfront in the suburb of Bélem, are legacies of those days. Twenty-first century Lisbon is a vibrant, cosmopolitan and creative city that has managed to successfully marry the historic with the modern, the traditional with the cutting edge. Lisbon is at its best on languorous summer evenings, when the pavement cafes and riverside restaurants bustle with steamy life. Even in winter, when rain sweeps in off the Atlantic, any brief snatch of sunshine brings the tables back outside, in a city where enjoying life and taking time to appreciate it is still paramount.