Strasbourg: Home of the European Parliament and a Symbol of Franco-German Reconciliation

While Croatians traditionally flock to the south at this time of year, and recently even to some more distant and exotic destinations, I found myself in mid-July in Strasbourg, the capital of the French region of Alsace, right on the border with Germany, with which it shares a significant part of its history and whose influence is strongly felt in language, culture, architecture, and, of course, food. And no, it was not my own decision to spend a week of summer exploring this historically and culturally rich city, but rather I ended up there out of necessity (read: for work). I went to cover the constitutive session of the European Parliament, the first meeting of the MEPs after the elections held in June, taking place in the recognizable ‘Louise Weiss’ Parliament building in Strasbourg. Moreover, after unbearable 35 degrees in Zagreb, the trip to a ten degrees cooler north was quite welcome for me and the other journalists from Croatia. I decided to make the most of my stay, gathering as much information as possible during the first,’business’ part of the day, and then wandering the streets and squares of the old town center and along the canals of the III river, which flows parallel to the nearby Rhine, often until late and pleasantly warm evening hours.