關於 best restaurants in taipei 2021 ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

[#台味甜蜜蜜 / The Sweet Taste of Taiwan] 誰說只有台灣人才能詮釋台灣味？#亞洲最佳甜點主廚 賴思瑩訪談筆記 / How Asia’s Best Pastry Chef translates the flavours of Taiwan in her beautiful desserts - Interview with Angela Lai ( Taïrroir 態芮 )

昨日台灣餐飲界最大的新聞，莫過於亞洲50最佳餐廳（ Asia's 50 Best Restaurants）名單揭曉。台灣共有 祥雲龍吟Ryugin（46）、 JL Studio（26）、 logy（24，首次入榜）、 RAW（21）與 MUME（15）等五家餐廳上榜，另外還有一個極為驚喜的好消息，就是 Taïrroir 態芮 的甜點主廚，來自新加坡的 #賴思瑩（Angela Lai）榮獲「2021 亞洲最佳甜點主廚」（Asia’s Best Pastry Chef 2021）。

身為新加坡人，卻在一個以法式技法呈現台灣精神的餐廳工作，雖然過去早就是台灣通，Angela 還是得花大把精力將自己沈浸在本地的飲食文化中學習。不過外籍餐飲人的身份，卻讓她在觀察台灣事物時，有一分帶著新鮮感的目光與好奇心。她每回發想甜點，除了從自己過去的台灣飲食經驗出發，也經常查找資料、聽取團隊成員和朋友的分享，如果是沒有嘗過的食物，則會親自前往體驗。

#以甜點進行文化交流

以態芮 2020 年冬季菜單中的 「扉泥墨糬」為例，這個作品脫胎自「宜蘭麻糬米糕」。Angela回憶，「是外場的Nina跟我說的，她媽媽是宜蘭人。她說麻糬米糕只有宜蘭有，而且只有那一家有賣，宜蘭人都知道，我就特地去了一趟。」親自嚐過後，她被「奇妙的口感」觸動，決定把它做成甜點，「讓大家知道宜蘭有這個」。她以法式手法變化原始元素的口味和質地，由於想到「在台灣比較少吃到米布丁」，便嘗試「將花生打成花生醬、做成米布丁，上面撒上像綠豆糕做成的crumble（奶酥顆粒），鹹鹹甜甜的」；接著考慮「麻糬單吃可能有點無聊」，於是先將麻糬「煮到黏稠、再灌入Paco筒中」冷凍攪打做成冰淇淋，保留原本的Q度，「再加上黑芝麻脆片和初春蘭香茶的茶湯」的口感與風味變化，就成了一道清香繚繞、餐後享用特別舒心的作品。

態芮早期的甜點之一「椪餅」，也是Angela親自前去台南觀察老師傅製作後習得。但她不僅重現正宗的口味與質地，還轉化了台灣的傳統習俗。態芮的椪餅「烤出來後直接把底部剪開當成蓋子」，食客品嚐時敲開，會驚喜地發現裡面藏了薑汁冰塊、麻油冰淇淋和黑糖珍珠。薑汁與麻油的口味搭配，來自於她得知過去台灣婦女坐月子「會把椪餅加蛋、麻油、薑一起吃，還會用麻油煎椪餅」，黑糖珍珠的焦糖風味，則呼應了椪餅內部濃醇的糖香，為古早味瞬間添上現代的時髦風貌。她也親自跑去鹿港看麵茶的做法、傾聽夜市煮麵茶時「燒一壺水，讓它一直逼逼逼」的聲響，只因被團隊成員分享的故事感動，「家裡在耕田，阿公阿嬤為了讓小孩不要在大人農忙時餓肚子，就煮一杯麵茶，中午讓他們喝一杯撐到晚餐」。她設計一道以麵茶冰淇淋、海綿蛋糕、雪酪等組成的作品，記下台灣的故事，並還原傳統「加入油蔥提味」的特色，傳達給年輕的客人，宛如進行文化交流。

Angela熱愛鹹甜的口味搭配與多種質地、口感變化，前者很容易與台灣人的味蕾產生共鳴、後者則讓她的作品靈動鮮活、總有神來之筆。譬如她的「地瓜粥」，在地瓜達克瓦茲的基底上，放了醃漬脆地瓜、鹹蛋黃雪酪，再以烏龍茶口味的米糊泡泡覆蓋，最後加上以瓦斯噴槍炙烤過的地瓜脆片。一匙舀起，不僅僅是地瓜粥本身，搭配的鹹鴨蛋、醃漬小菜，以及飯後清口的烏龍茶⋯台式「清粥小菜」的餐桌風景便瞬間在眼前浮現。

#何順凱的菜_Angela的甜點共同打造態芮

在來到台灣之前，Angela 在新加坡的 Guy Savoy 服務，也是在那裡，她結識了態芮的主廚何順凱（Kai Ho）。同樣真誠開朗的兩人很快就變得親近，Kai 甚至幫 Angela 規劃過來台的旅行。2015 年他開口邀請 Angela 來台工作時，互相信任彼此的兩人只在三言兩語中就決定了 Angela 接下來五年的未來。「我第一次還沒接到，後來接起來，聽到他說：『你在幹嘛？』我回答：『在忙啊！幹嘛？』他說：『你要來台灣工作嗎？』我驚呼：『真的假的？』然後立刻說好，他才稍微解釋了一下，說：『我有一個project（計畫），你要來我才接。』」Kai 輕描淡寫的說法，沒讓 Angela 完全信服，但過了幾天後，「他寄來所有的合約」，她才發現「自己真的要來台灣了」。

在台灣餐飲界，如果說到對「台灣味」的探索與詮釋，態芮絕對是最具有代表性的餐廳之一。許多媒體形容 Kai做的是「台魂法菜」，但他自己從來不這麼定義。他認為「我的菜就是我的菜、就是台灣的菜」，無論使用甚麼技巧，做的其實都是自己喜歡的菜、想做的菜、曾經感動他、在記憶中佔有一席之地的菜。他是土生土長的台中囡仔，學中菜出身、且懷抱著「想為台灣、台灣餐飲做些什麼」的理想回台，很自然地會在做菜時從成長脈絡與飲食記憶中尋找連結；過去在美國工作、中國開店、新加坡接受正統法菜訓練的經歷，則讓他能夠在「扎實地把菜做好」的前提下，自由地以不同的技巧呈現心中理想的味道。這樣的彈性，正好給了新加坡出身的Angela相當大的空間去理解、揣摩自己心中的台灣味與台灣印象，端出只有在態芮才會成立的作品。

過去五年間，Angela 幾乎已經要變成台灣女孩，她說自己回新加坡的時候，「大家會覺得我是台灣人」，朋友甚至會開玩笑虧她，「你可以暫時不要跟我說話嗎？你現在太標準了我沒有辦法。」她對台灣的農產品和進步的農業科技大加讚賞，更驚豔於產地與餐桌之間的近距離，她曾經親自造訪過西螺的瑞春醬油工廠，也看過許多食材產地，過去在一切仰賴進口的新加坡，這些都是奢侈。她睜大眼睛和我分享，「進口的好處是可以看到各國不同的東西，但台灣有趣的是，自己的農業發展很好，自己做出來的品種、自己研發出來的也很棒。明明就一個芒果，怎麼會有這麼多種！每一個都這麼奇妙，每一個的味道、每一個香氣都不一樣！」

對不安於停滯不前的 Angela 來說，台灣給了她發揮的舞台、挑戰的空間；她也為台灣帶來許多驚喜，讓我們獲得一位比本地人還要用心做功課、把傳承視為使命的甜點主廚。昨日 Angela 獲獎的消息傳來，愛封「台灣之光」的台灣媒體沒有落後，立刻將新聞標為「台灣第一人」。新加坡籍的Angela是否願意在自己以外背負「台灣」招牌暫且不論，但她為自己身為態芮團隊一員感到驕傲、整個台灣餐飲界為她熱烈喝彩，同感榮耀卻一分不假。

再次恭喜 Angela，我們都以你為榮！！！

🔖 延伸閱讀：

新加坡與台灣的相互凝視，Taïrroir x JL Studio「Starry, Starry Sweets 星新鄉映」甜點餐會：https://tinyurl.com/5sfc2wpv

更多 Angela 的作品影音：https://tinyurl.com/d3z3cvjf

#Ying的台味甜蜜蜜 系列（點 hashtag 看系列專文！）

#yingspastryguide #taipei #yingc #Tairroir #態芮 #AngelaLai #2021亞洲最佳甜點主廚 #AsiasBestPastryChef2021

直到胖女人唱歌為止，它一直沒有結束，但是可悲的是，胖女人唱歌得太早了，脆弱的蝴蝶飛走了。

當我2000年在網上結識Charlene並打橋牌時，她是一位成功的女商人。她在網上訂購了許多法國和意大利產品，然後運往台灣，她嘗試了一切，她吃了任何東西，任何動物，水果或蔬菜的任何部分，食物都是她一生中很重要的一部分。 2000年我第一次在現實生活中遇見她時，她看上去就像電影明星。 2007年，這個女孩選擇放棄自己的生活，放棄了我們認為是家庭的最好的朋友，失去了她的工作，並賣掉了在台北的公寓與我同住。我告訴她：從現在開始，您將在餘生中度假，我信守諾言。

夏琳（Charlene）想要在荷蘭說些什麼，並開始在博客中建立新的個性，而不是利用她在台灣的名氣。她從零開始慢慢建立起來，如今在多個小組和平台中擁有超過213.000忠實的粉絲和追隨者。夏琳（Charlene）一直對旅行和歐洲美食感興趣，退休後的夢想是成為一名作家並住在屋頂傾斜的歐洲國家（尤其是法國或意大利）的房屋中。我們住在荷蘭一個不壞的公寓裡，屋頂平整，她非常喜歡這個溫馨的家庭。

在荷蘭，她開始寫烹飪書，在她變得更出名之後，一些出版商要求她翻譯書籍：例如尼吉拉·勞森，傑米·奧利弗和戈登·拉姆齊。即使在醫院進行重度化療時，她也一直在這樣做，甚至在她即將更正最新版本時也是如此。我們到了很多地方，都是隨機挑選的，只是四處逛逛，常常幾個小時都沒有遇到其他人或汽車。我們住在漂亮的公寓裡，大部分是在小城市和鄉村，或者在茫茫荒野中。我們看到了美麗的事物，吃了美味的食物，過著像本地人一樣的生活，輕鬆而
又沉悶。

自2017年10月以來，我和我的蝴蝶夏琳女王（Charlene）戰鬥了三年多。她獨自在醫院的無菌室里呆了6個月，我們已經隔離了一年多。起初，我們似乎可以戰勝這些可怕的癌症。這次夏琳只想要一點運氣，但無濟於事。夏琳心地善良，總是對他人意味著最好，她努力工作，堅韌而甜美，從不抱怨，對生活中的小事感到滿意。

從2020年8月開始，我們在意大利度過了最後兩個假期。錫耶納（Siena）讓她感到非常高興，“我有史以來最好的假期”。她的夢想是去第二個假期，直到下一個生日，我擔心那是非常樂觀的。夏琳對我們無法前往法國普羅旺斯的呂貝隆感到失望，因為我們最初計劃了第二個假期，2003年我們在此度過了第一次假期。不幸的是，荷蘭政府突然宣布法國的許多地區為“橙色”，我們剛預訂後就因為高電暈風險而禁止進入。西班牙也在名單上：一個我從未訪問過的國家，她想向我展示，西班牙全是橙色。

她完成了五件事，這在以前似乎幾乎是不可能的：我們2020年5月1日成立20週年，以及兩次浪漫的意大利長假。第一次去意大利的錫耶納和她最喜歡的Val d'Orcia，第二次去意大利的Lago Maggiore的斯特雷薩，那裡她的身體明顯較弱，但仍然非常欣賞令人嘆為觀止的景色和9月的夏日天氣，由於水的問題，再次搬到錫耶納（Siena），這使她感到自己在第二故鄉，感到非常高興！最近，她是荷蘭公民12年，而13年前移居荷蘭。我敢/希望認為這是因為她感到幸福，安全和得到了照顧。她的最終目標是她的生日（12月16日），很遺憾，這太樂觀了。

我們很享受，我們吃飯，我們哭了，我們笑了很多，我們彼此珍惜，我們聊了很多小時，一切都說了，不後悔。我們是一個。夏琳（Charlene）擔心我成為一個人，一個人呆著，為失去她感到難過，我為她錯過的一切感到非常抱歉，希望她能和我們在一起更長的時間。我們比以往任何時候都更加緊密。我非常愛她，她將永遠在我心中，會非常想念她！我好寂寞。

將來我會回到我們一起去過的地方。從4月底到2021年6月初，我們在意大利計劃，預訂並支付了“在電暈之后慶祝/征服癌症假期”的費用。如果Corona允許我，我現在仍然想走，但是那是對未來的“遙遠”，吸取了Charlene和我們過去的所有假期，我可能會稍作更改。我們計劃了很多事情，所以對你們所有人：Carpe Diem！不要延遲或推遲您的目標，願望或清單。我會保留她的個人資料，並嘗試不時發布一些內容，我不能總是閱讀所有評論並回复它們，但放心，我會注意到它們。對於跟隨Charlene到公寓和飯店旅行的朋友：請提及她以保持生命，以免被遺忘。

如果您決定做出回應，請做出有意義的回應。不要有空洞，空洞，無所事事或宗教用語，否則請不要回應，我倆都很好，我知道你也會想念她。

熊

It aint over till the fat lady sings, but sadly the fat lady sang too early and the fragile butterfly flew away.

When I met Charlene in 2000 online, playing bridge, she was a successful businesswoman. She ordered lots of French and Italian products online to ship to Taiwan, she tried everything, she ate anything, any part of any animal, any fruit or vegetable, food was an important part of her life. The moment I first met her in real life in 2000 to me she looked like a movie star. In 2007 this girl chose to give up her life, her best friends we consider family, her work and sold her apartment in Taipei to live with me. I told her: From now on you will be on a Holiday for the rest of your life and I kept my promise.

Charlene wanted to mean something in Holland and started to create a new personality in a blog, not using her fame from Taiwan. She slowly built it up from nothing and today has more than 213.000 loyal fans and followers in several groups and platforms. Charlene has always been interested in travel and European food and her dream after retirement was to become a writer and live in a house in a European country with a slanted roof, preferably in France or Italy. We lived in a not bad apartment in Holland with a flat roof which she loved so much, home sweet home.

In Holland she started to write cooking books, after she became more famous, she was asked by several publishers to translate books: Nigella Lawson, Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay for instance. She has been doing this even when she was on heavy chemotherapy in hospital, even just before the end she was correcting the last version. We traveled to many places, randomly picked, just drove around, often not meeting any other person or car for hours. We stayed in beautiful apartments, mostly in small cities and villages or in the middle of nowhere. We saw beautiful things, ate fantastic food, lived life like a local, relaxed, but never a dull moment.

Charlene the truffle queen, my butterfly and I fought since October 2017 for more than three years. She has been in a sterile room alone in hospital for 6 months, we have been in quarantine for more than a year. At first it looked like we would conquer these horrible cancers. All Charlene wanted was a little luck this time, but to no avail. Charlene had a good heart and always meant the best for others, she worked hard, she was tough and sweet, she never complained, and she was happy with the little things in life.

From August 2020 we have been on our last two Holidays in Italy. Siena made her extremely happy, “My best Holiday ever” she said. Her dream was to go on a second Holiday and reach her next birthday, I was afraid that was quite optimistic. Charlene was disappointed we could not travel to the Luberon in the Provence in France, where we originally planned our second Holiday, where we had our first Holiday together in 2003. Unfortunately, the Dutch government suddenly declared many regions in France as “orange”, no go areas because of high Corona risks just after we booked. Spain was also on the list: A country I have never visited, and she wanted to show me, Spain was all orange.

Five things she accomplished, which earlier seemed nearly impossible: Our 20th anniversary May 1st, 2020 and two romantic long Holidays to Italy. The first to Siena, Italy and her favourite Val d’Orcia and the second to Stresa at Lago Maggiore, Italy where she was clearly weaker, but still immensely enjoyed the breathtaking views and the summery weather in September, where due to water problems we had to move, to Siena again, this made her feel at her second home, she was so happy! Recently she was a Dutch citizen for 12 years and moved to Holland 13 years ago. I dare/wish to think it was because she felt happy, safe and taken care of. Her final goal was her birthday (December 16th), unfortunately that was too optimistic.

We enjoyed, we dined, we cried, we laughed a lot, we cherished each other, we talked for many hours, everything has been said, no regrets. We were one. Charlene was worried for me to be and stay all alone and was sad for me losing her and I felt so sorry for all the things she missed out on, wished she would have stayed with us longer. We have been closer than ever before. I love her very much, she will always be in my heart, will miss her so much! I feel so lonely.

In the future I will go back to the places we have visited together. From the end of April till the beginning of June 2021 we planned, booked and paid an “after Corona, celebration / conquer cancer Holiday” in Italy. I now still want to go if Corona lets me, but that is “far” into the future, having learned from Charlene and all our past Holidays, I might change it slightly. We had planned so many things, so to all of you: Carpe Diem! Do not delay or postpone your goals, wishes or bucket list. I will keep her profile alive and try to post something now and then, I cannot always read all comments and reply to them, but rest assured, I will notice them. For the friends that follow Charlene’s travels to apartments and restaurants: Please mention her to keep her alive so that she will not be forgotten.

If you decide to respond, please respond meaningful. No hollow, empty, idle or religious phrases, else please do not respond at all, both are equally fine with me, I know you will miss her too.

Bear

直到胖女人唱歌為止，它一直沒有結束，但是可悲的是，胖女人唱歌得太早了，脆弱的蝴蝶飛走了。

當我2000年在網上結識Charlene並打橋牌時，她是一位成功的女商人。她在網上訂購了許多法國和意大利產品，然後運往台灣，她嘗試了一切，她吃了任何東西，任何動物，水果或蔬菜的任何部分，食物都是她一生中很重要的一部分。 2000年我第一次在現實生活中遇見她時，她看上去就像電影明星。 2007年，這個女孩選擇放棄自己的生活，放棄了我們認為是家庭的最好的朋友，失去了她的工作，並賣掉了在台北的公寓與我同住。我告訴她：從現在開始，您將在餘生中度假，我信守諾言。

夏琳（Charlene）想要在荷蘭說些什麼，並開始在博客中建立新的個性，而不是利用她在台灣的名氣。她從零開始慢慢建立起來，如今在多個小組和平台中擁有超過213.000忠實的粉絲和追隨者。夏琳（Charlene）一直對旅行和歐洲美食感興趣，退休後的夢想是成為一名作家並住在屋頂傾斜的歐洲國家（尤其是法國或意大利）的房屋中。我們住在荷蘭一個不壞的公寓裡，屋頂平整，她非常喜歡這個溫馨的家庭。

在荷蘭，她開始寫烹飪書，在她變得更出名之後，一些出版商要求她翻譯書籍：例如尼吉拉·勞森，傑米·奧利弗和戈登·拉姆齊。即使在醫院進行重度化療時，她也一直在這樣做，甚至在她即將更正最新版本時也是如此。我們到了很多地方，都是隨機挑選的，只是四處逛逛，常常幾個小時都沒有遇到其他人或汽車。我們住在漂亮的公寓裡，大部分是在小城市和鄉村，或者在茫茫荒野中。我們看到了美麗的事物，吃了美味的食物，過著像本地人一樣的生活，輕鬆而又沉悶。

自2017年10月以來，我和我的蝴蝶夏琳女王（Charlene）戰鬥了三年多。她獨自在醫院的無菌室里呆了6個月，我們已經隔離了一年多。起初，我們似乎可以戰勝這些可怕的癌症。這次夏琳只想要一點運氣，但無濟於事。夏琳心地善良，總是對他人意味著最好，她努力工作，堅韌而甜美，從不抱怨，對生活中的小事感到滿意。

從2020年8月開始，我們在意大利度過了最後兩個假期。錫耶納（Siena）讓她感到非常高興，“我有史以來最好的假期”。她的夢想是去第二個假期，直到下一個生日，我擔心那是非常樂觀的。夏琳對我們無法前往法國普羅旺斯的呂貝隆感到失望，因為我們最初計劃了第二個假期，2003年我們在此度過了第一次假期。不幸的是，荷蘭政府突然宣布法國的許多地區為“橙色”，我們剛預訂後就因為高電暈風險而禁止進入。西班牙也在名單上：一個我從未訪問過的國家，她想向我展示，西班牙全是橙色。

她完成了五件事，這在以前似乎幾乎是不可能的：我們2020年5月1日成立20週年，以及兩次浪漫的意大利長假。第一次去意大利的錫耶納和她最喜歡的Val d'Orcia，第二次去意大利的Lago Maggiore的斯特雷薩，那裡她的身體明顯較弱，但仍然非常欣賞令人嘆為觀止的景色和9月的夏日天氣，由於水的問題，再次搬到錫耶納（Siena），這使她感到自己在第二故鄉，感到非常高興！最近，她是荷蘭公民12年，而13年前移居荷蘭。我敢/希望認為這是因為她感到幸福，安全和得到了照顧。她的最終目標是她的生日（12月16日），很遺憾，這太樂觀了。

我們很享受，我們吃飯，我們哭了，我們笑了很多，我們彼此珍惜，我們聊了很多小時，一切都說了，不後悔。我們是一個。夏琳（Charlene）擔心我成為一個人，一個人呆著，為失去她感到難過，我為她錯過的一切感到非常抱歉，希望她能和我們在一起更長的時間。我們比以往任何時候都更加緊密。我非常愛她，她將永遠在我心中，會非常想念她！我好寂寞。

將來我會回到我們一起去過的地方。從4月底到2021年6月初，我們在意大利計劃，預訂並支付了“在電暈之后慶祝/征服癌症假期”的費用。如果Corona允許我，我現在仍然想走，但是那是對未來的“遙遠”，吸取了Charlene和我們過去的所有假期，我可能會稍作更改。我們計劃了很多事情，所以對你們所有人：Carpe Diem！不要延遲或推遲您的目標，願望或清單。我會保留她的個人資料，並嘗試不時發布一些內容，我不能總是閱讀所有評論並回复它們，但放心，我會注意到它們。對於跟隨Charlene到公寓和飯店旅行的朋友：請提及她以保持生命，以免被遺忘。

如果您決定做出回應，請做出有意義的回應。不要有空洞，空洞，無所事事或宗教用語，否則請不要回應，我倆都很好，我知道你也會想念她。

熊

It aint over till the fat lady sings, but sadly the fat lady sang too early and the fragile butterfly flew away.
When I met Charlene in 2000 online, playing bridge, she was a successful businesswoman. She ordered lots of French and Italian products online to ship to Taiwan, she tried everything, she ate anything, any part of any animal, any fruit or vegetable, food was an important part of her life. The moment I first met her in real life in 2000 to me she looked like a movie star. In 2007 this girl chose to give up her life, her best friends we consider family, her work and sold her apartment in Taipei to live with me. I told her: From now on you will be on a Holiday for the rest of your life and I kept my promise.

Charlene wanted to mean something in Holland and started to create a new personality in a blog, not using her fame from Taiwan. She slowly built it up from nothing and today has more than 213.000 loyal fans and followers in several groups and platforms. Charlene has always been interested in travel and European food and her dream after retirement was to become a writer and live in a house in a European country with a slanted roof, preferably in France or Italy. We lived in a not bad apartment in Holland with a flat roof which she loved so much, home sweet home.

In Holland she started to write cooking books, after she became more famous, she was asked by several publishers to translate books: Nigella Lawson, Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay for instance. She has been doing this even when she was on heavy chemotherapy in hospital, even just before the end she was correcting the last version. We traveled to many places, randomly picked, just drove around, often not meeting any other person or car for hours. We stayed in beautiful apartments, mostly in small cities and villages or in the middle of nowhere. We saw beautiful things, ate fantastic food, lived life like a local, relaxed, but never a dull moment.

Charlene the truffle queen, my butterfly and I fought since October 2017 for more than three years. She has been in a sterile room alone in hospital for 6 months, we have been in quarantine for more than a year. At first it looked like we would conquer these horrible cancers. All Charlene wanted was a little luck this time, but to no avail. Charlene had a good heart and always meant the best for others, she worked hard, she was tough and sweet, she never complained, and she was happy with the little things in life.

From August 2020 we have been on our last two Holidays in Italy. Siena made her extremely happy, “My best Holiday ever” she said. Her dream was to go on a second Holiday and reach her next birthday, I was afraid that was quite optimistic. Charlene was disappointed we could not travel to the Luberon in the Provence in France, where we originally planned our second Holiday, where we had our first Holiday together in 2003. Unfortunately, the Dutch government suddenly declared many regions in France as “orange”, no go areas because of high Corona risks just after we booked. Spain was also on the list: A country I have never visited, and she wanted to show me, Spain was all orange.

Five things she accomplished, which earlier seemed nearly impossible: Our 20th anniversary May 1st, 2020 and two romantic long Holidays to Italy. The first to Siena, Italy and her favourite Val d’Orcia and the second to Stresa at Lago Maggiore, Italy where she was clearly weaker, but still immensely enjoyed the breathtaking views and the summery weather in September, where due to water problems we had to move, to Siena again, this made her feel at her second home, she was so happy! Recently she was a Dutch citizen for 12 years and moved to Holland 13 years ago. I dare/wish to think it was because she felt happy, safe and taken care of. Her final goal was her birthday (December 16th), unfortunately that was too optimistic.

We enjoyed, we dined, we cried, we laughed a lot, we cherished each other, we talked for many hours, everything has been said, no regrets. We were one. Charlene was worried for me to be and stay all alone and was sad for me losing her and I felt so sorry for all the things she missed out on, wished she would have stayed with us longer. We have been closer than ever before. I love her very much, she will always be in my heart, will miss her so much! I feel so lonely.

In the future I will go back to the places we have visited together. From the end of April till the beginning of June 2021 we planned, booked and paid an “after Corona, celebration / conquer cancer Holiday” in Italy. I now still want to go if Corona lets me, but that is “far” into the future, having learned from Charlene and all our past Holidays, I might change it slightly. We had planned so many things, so to all of you: Carpe Diem! Do not delay or postpone your goals, wishes or bucket list. I will keep her profile alive and try to post something now and then, I cannot always read all comments and reply to them, but rest assured, I will notice them. For the friends that follow Charlene’s travels to apartments and restaurants: Please mention her to keep her alive so that she will not be forgotten.

If you decide to respond, please respond meaningful. No hollow, empty, idle or religious phrases, else please do not respond at all, both are equally fine with me, I know you will miss her too.

Bear