"The YG-Meeting in Strasbourg brought again a wonderful opportunity to talk and have fun with people I wouldn’t have met otherwise.

In the early morning hours (i.e. around 9am ;-) on March 25th, the Swiss crowd (Cornelia Siegenthaler, Marie-Anne Aebi, Susanne Kaiser and myself) met in Basel. Of course I didn’t get to reading any of the newspapers I brought along for the ride due to the extensive inter-chapter information exchange. At the Strasbourg train station Kateryna Nalyvayko was already waiting to welcome us. A few minutes later Olga Straistaru arrived from Paris (or from Moldavia, depending on whether you take the short or long term view).

Famished after the arduous journey, we urgently needed some food supply. Fortunately a Ukrainian friend of Kateryna and famous pizza cook, was already awaiting us in his gourmet temple (i.e. his 8th floor flat). Invigorated by the aforementioned French pizzas and some Swiss cheese we started our adventurous journey with a visit to the cathedral of Notre Dame, which Olga had so conveniently brought along from Paris. No, of course Strasbourg has its own Notre Dame, of which we got some unusual insights thanks to our tour guide. In addition, the tower of the cathedral offered a breathtaking view over the city and the adjoining mountains (Vosges, Andes, Himalaya, etc.).

After that we explored Petite France, a beautifully picturesque quarter with creeks, bridges, mills and of course plenty of cozy restaurants and cafés. Naturally, we wanted to expose ourselves to the local culture and therefore ventured into one of the cafés on the riverside. Some of us audaciously ordered hot chocolate. Unfortunately we quickly found out what this restaurant and the chocolate it serves have in common: they’re both really close to water…

But of course we didn’t give up that easily and gave it another try in the café of the Museum of Modern Art. There we met four members of Rotaract Strasbourg. Rotaract is the equivalent of our YGs in the Rotary club. It was very interesting to exchange information about our respective organizations, structures and ideas.

One of the Rotoract members then joined us for dinner at the “Trois Brasseurs”, where we got the chance to taste the famous Alsatian tartes flambés “a volonté”. The “all you can eat” turned out to be rather useless, since the portions would have been plenty anyway. There seems to be something about human nature which makes the prospect of unlimited food extremely enticing.

Kateryna and another friend offered us accommodation at their apartments. After a comfortable night (and after loosing an hour due to daylight savings time) we met for a sumptuous breakfast with French éclairs, Moldovan sweets and Swiss chocolate.

With our new found Rotaract friend, we then visited the Palais des Rohans, the 18th century residence of four successive Cardinals named Rohan, and later Napoléon’s. In addition to the luxurious Cardinal’s apartments, the Palace houses, the Decorative Arts Museum, the Fine Arts Museum and the Archaeology Museum.

Afterwards, it was already time to part. But, you know, the nice thing about YG-good-byes is that you can look forward to meeting your friends again at one of the next meetings. Not “farewell” but “see you”!"

                                                                                            Kai Warszas, PTPI's Zürich, Switzerland Chapter