by Aline Maillard, Switzerland
From June 14th to 16th, the CYE board gathered for an in-person weekend filled with discussions, meetings, and planning (not to mention plenty of gluten-free food and socializing).
I arrived early on Friday in Amsterdam, so I decided to explore the city a bit on my own before meeting up with Amalie and Paula. I have to admit, I felt quite out of place walking through Amsterdam instead of cycling. Honestly, I might have seen more bicycles in those three days in Amsterdam than I’ve seen in the past few years living in Zurich.
My wandering through the city wasn’t entirely aimless. I made sure to stop at Craft Coffee & Pastry for some gluten-free croissants to serve as meeting snacks later. Two remarks: firstly, I had to queue for more than 30 minutes, and secondly, those croissants were so delicious that I would gladly do it again! They were airy, large, and filled with a variety of sweet and savoury options.
Next, I visited Espressobar Puccini, where I found gluten-free sandwiches that looked so good I even went back to the kitchen to double-check if they were indeed gluten-free. To my delight, they were.
When Amalie and Paula arrived, we prepared for our afternoon meeting while enjoying the croissants. Our hotel was very central, so we were able to literally catch glimpses of the busy city. Gill Brennan, board member of AOECS, joined us in person for our afternoon meeting and helped us define and set up a proper strategy for CYE. After dinner, we bid farewell to Gill and enjoyed a breezy evening stroll and drink on the canals.
On Saturday, we met up with Melissa and Dana from the Dutch Youth Organization, Coeliactive, who are also part of the organizing team for this year’s summer camp. I made sure we were on time to meet them, embracing the Swiss cliché of punctuality. However, I couldn’t fathom that the gluten-free place where we were supposed to meet, Wild & the Moon, was actually a chain, so we were perfectly punctual at the wrong location. Eventually, we managed to gather and discuss the status and progress of the summer camp.
We spent the late afternoon strolling through the city and enjoyed dinner at Bloem Eten & Drinken.
On Sunday, after an early meeting session where we reviewed the CYE constitution, it was time to say goodbye with a big CYE To-Do list in mind.
