Home

Home is an apartment in a highrise building with a view of a river and a beautiful mountain.

But my real spiritual home is the place where I grew up in Europe. A 1920s brick house with a huge garden, not too far from the coast.

And those are two of the defining values in my life.

The garden gave me a love of the outdoors, nature, and fresh fruit, especially berries, of which we had a large variety in our garden. I am still a strong admirer of the Italian way of alfresco or outdoors dining, even though at my home, we only managed that on rare hot summer evenings.

The presence of the coast about 20 kilometers away gave me my love for the sea and the beach. Mind you, I dislike sitting on boats for hours, and I'm not much of a swimmer, but watching the sea, visiting islands, spending days on the beach, not lying around, but walking, hiking, or just reading a book. That's what summers are for.

Unfortunately, those things are what I miss the most while living in Taiwan. No real beach culture, and no place for gardens. That's why I'll be taking a break from the busy and noisy Taiwanese life and opting for a month of Europe. See you in late May. Ciao!