K15t Company Outing – Heidelberg was Calling
The annual company trip is a big part of building a positive team at K15t, but opportunities for having get-togethers have been few and far between since Covid began. But the summer of 2022 finally presented the perfect opportunity.
With everyone in town for K15t’s Team Week in our Stuttgart office, we made the most of it and headed north to the beautiful city of Heidelberg for our Company Outing!
No Rain Shall Hinder Us!
Spirits were high as everyone clambered onto the bus taking us out to beautiful Heidelberg. This was a great chance for all our colleagues who work mostly remote or from abroad to meet and get to know one another, especially for those who were new at the company.
There was just one problem: The heavens had opened up and it was pouring down rain. We had planned a 9km hike through Margaret Gorge and spirits would likely be dampened (quite literally) if we had to trudge through a summer downpour.
Thankfully luck was on our side. Right as we were setting out on the trail, the skies cleared. We enjoyed the trek through the beautiful scenery without getting soaked through to our skin, although we did have to watch our footing as the rain made the path quite slippery.
But this hike wasn’t your average wander in the woods. Our guide created a GPS quiz for us to follow. We had to find the clues, collaborate on all our answers, and locate our final destination: A warm and relaxing hotel and spa!
What’s a Grill Master’s Most Vital Task? To Please Their Steakholders
Many of us went straight to the indoor pool and hot tub to give our tired bodies the relaxation they deserved, while others went to the patio of the hotel to have a cold and refreshing drink and afternoon chat.
For dinner the hotel prepared a big BBQ outside, with various salads, dips, sauces that came with all kinds of barbecued meat, with vegetarian and vegan options on the table too like delicious grilled veggies. One of the highlights was a whole salmon in salt crust, a delicacy we weren’t expecting for a BBQ!
After dinner, the German colleagues introduced our many international colleagues to the classic lawn game Kubb, also known as Vikingerschach. The international colleagues at K15t had gotten in one day the full German experience. A delicious BBQ food. The magnificent scenery. The fact that the entire German entourage were more than prepared to hike through the rain before it thankfully cleared up. And finally, a good old game of Kubb!
Boating on the Neckar into Heidelberg
Our bus ride home the next day was in Heidelberg, so to get there we naturally took the best possible method: A boat trip along the famous Neckar River. The Neckar Valley is famous for its vineyards, and along the river you could spot ruins of old castles as the princes of old fought over this prosperous region. We got a great view of it all in the sunshine as we sailed into Heidelberg.
Heidelberg is a beautiful city and very popular with tourists. We had time before our bus left for Stuttgart, so we took a guided tour around the city. As always, the final bus trip home was a lot quieter than the way there. The trip had everyone quite tired out.
All the same, everyone agrees the outing was a fantastic way to get the company together again. It’s so important to meet and catch up in-person from time to time, especially for the colleagues who’ve joined us in the past year. Knowing the person on the other side of a Slack message makes such a difference!