One of my new jobs this year was being in charge of Vienna Orientation. Vienna Orientation is the first week that new staff spend in Austria. We get to help them move into their apartments, find their way around town, learn how to grocery shop – basically get oriented to Vienna. In the past I’ve been a buddy for new folks, which is a lot of fun, but this year I got to be responsible for planning our outings, getting all the paperwork together, scheduling speakers, etc. It was a bit less one-on-one time, but I got to know each of the new staff instead of just one or two, and that was great!
Our first outing was a trip up to Kahlenberg. Kahlenberg is a mountain (hill if you’re from Colorado) overlooking Vienna. It’s a great place to visit on a clear day because you get a view of the entire city. I loved going here my first year and seeing just how big Vienna is.
After visiting the lookout in Kahlenberg, we rode the bus down to Grinzing for dinner. We walked around a bit because it’s just a really cute town. 🙂 Then we had dinner at a Heuriger called Figl’s. Yummy!
Other staff got to take them on trips to the Naschmarkt and a tour of downtown Vienna. Luckily we had nice weather for most of the week!
Of course, it wouldn’t be summer without BBQs. We had several BBQs at various places to give everyone a chance to get to know one another better. It was a great week!
