Hello,
It has been a while since my last post as I was on my travel for the past few days. This time it was my first business travel in my life. I was excited and I am grateful to my new employer for this opportunity. Officially I am starting with my new job on second of November, but they already sent me on training in Cologne for a couple days.
Well we departed on Sunday morning and arrived back on early Wednesday night. We went there by two cars, or better say vans in two groups of five. I shared already where I will work in the future, but in case you missed it, my new job will be at company Autocommerce which is general distributer for Mercedes – Benz vehicles and my position will be product specialist in vans segment.
I have to admit I don’t have much knowledge so far regarding vans and automobile industry in general, but I would say for myself I am a quick learner and I hope I will do well. I have first indication, that I will do well and I will share it later on in my post.
As Slovenia is doing pretty bad with current COVID 19 epidemic status and we are officially listed as dark red country on the list which means we are a high risk country. Therefore we needed to fulfill a lot of protocols to enter in Germany. Fortunately we have our trainer with us and he also prepared all the documentation in advance, so we just needed a negative test on Sunday morning in order to get into Germany. All of us passed rapid test and we were ready to go, but it was already 12 o’clock and there is more than 1000 kilometers to Cologne from Ljubljana, meaning we know we will probably arrive sometimes past midnight.
The drive went well till about 200 kilometers before Cologne where traffic accident happened in front of us. There was already congestion and navigation offered a detour, but unfortunately we weren’t paying attention and that cost us about two hours delay. There were 5 tow away vehicles coming on the crash so it had to be quite big. We arrived at the hotel at around 1 am and went directly to bed.
Next morning we had free time up to 12 o’clock and I thought I might have some extended sleep time as this was my first night alone from the kids since my son Luka was born two and a half years ago, but I just couldn’t make it to 7 am. So after getting ready I went to have breakfast and other team members joined me as well. At around 9 am I decided to go to the Cologne’s old city center which was about 20 minutes away. None of the other colleagues went there, but I had my moral duty to go and to share my experience later here with my dear followers on Hive :)
I can say it was worth visiting as Cologne is quite nice city. Didn’t know it is fourth largest in Germany, did you? Most famous place in town in for sure the famous cathedral which they were building for 600+ years and as it looks like they didn’t do it perfectly as some renovations are necessary all the time, making our photos looks bad with these construction stages :)
I went towards Rhine River for a short walk and stopped by at some interesting places to take some shots. They also have nice shopping streets but there was not enough time for that. Also photos are not the best as taken in hurry with my old smartphone, but hope they will still be good enough for you to get an impression about how city of Cologne looks like.
After returning to the hotel at around 12 o’clock, we did our second rapid test, this one for event bubble. All participants were tested before the start of the event, even if they were vaccinated, recovered, etc.
After lunch we departed to the event location which was place called X Post, known to be ex post office. I was really impressed by the atmosphere at the moment I walked in. It was done in a very cool way with many screens and open space concept. Probably I was so impressed as it was my first event which I was attending and not organizing (in my last job I was organizing that kind of events).
At that point I will just add few words about what the event was actually. It is called GTE (Global Training Experience) Citan (name of MB Van). We dig into details of the product and compare it to the competition. We also had two driving sessions. We were learning a lot on the real example – the van itself. One of the things on our agenda was also sneak preview of the new T class which is coming next year and if I would tell you more about it, I would have to kill you :)
So overall it was a fun training where I found out a lot about vans and MB as a brand. It was really awesome learning experience and I could have done it again and again. Whole program was on the level where you expect it to be if you are talking around Mercedes Benz brand.
The program ended with a quiz and closing session. And there is where my proudness comes :)
I was on third place overall (there was over 200 people on the event from all around a World who are already working in MB Vans industry) at the quiz which was a recap of two half days of our training. So I am looking forward and I am full of motivation to start with my new job!
At the end of the day, Monday we had a beer at the place called The View. I am not a beer lover, but hey you simply have to try local beer in Germany and I don’t regret it as it was actually pretty good.
I don’t have much more to share with you today, other than some photos and the statement that I love Autobahn in Germany – No limit gives your van an option to fly over 220 km/h :)
Hope you enjoyed my first business travel with me and I certainly hope there will be more to come.
This is so amazing Andy, as I discussed the T-Class van with @johannpiber yesterday. Especially the Touring one.
That city looks great I am glad that you are on fire for the new job as it sounds like a very good one.
We wish you all of the very best for your future and greetings to your family.
!BEER
Yep, my friend, we have 😃
Did I tell you that you have to pay extra if you want to have indicators on your new Mercedes? That's because Mercedes drivers don't blink anyway, and the ones who drive with a hat are the worst 🤣🤣🤣
!BEER and !PIZZA - nice 😃
!invest_vote
Oh yeah and the reason that I like Merc. and BMW is firstly that they are quality German engineered cars and secondly that they are back wheel driven.
Indicators are meant for us poor people Hannes 🤣
I presume why you don't like the drivers wearing hats, is that it reminds you that you are also going to get old 🤣🤣🤣
Cheers and thanks.
Well, back wheel driven cars are nice when the road is dry, but have you ever driven a BMW up on a mountain in Winter? My father had to put a heavy weight in the trunk in Winter, just to be ableto drive the little hill up to the house 😁 but all in all you are right, theybuild first class quality.
So I'll have to wear a hat when I'm getting old? Don't think so 😎🤣
Here, drivers with a hat are the worst drivers, that's a fact 🤣🤣🤣
!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote
Good Afternoon Hannes,
Nope, those steep mountains of yours will test any road car in winter methinks.
I have had 2 BMWs in my time and they both were very good, but I never had to travel with them on ground roads, as I only used them for work and holidays.
Those days I was a manager at two companies and had an office in the city.
Hey, I wear a cap every day of my life and I am not old 🤣
Here three quarters of the nation of all colors are the worst drivers 🤣🤣🤣
Cheers and thanks.
Good evening Zac,
it's always funny in Winter when these big strong cars are not able to drive up a little hill ... but it's not funny when they block the road so that I cannot pass, because when you have to stop it's sometimes impossible to carry on driving upwards.
I know a lot of young people who like to wear hats, but I don't like hats, as long as no icy winter wind freezes my ears :)
In my opinion the drivers have become worse in the past years, they don't look as much anymore and they don't care as much anymore.
!PIZZA and !BEER - sounds like a nice dinner :)
!invest_vote
Hey guys it is nice hosting your little discussion under my post :)
It is good for publicity of Mercedes as well :)
I am sure new T class will be a great van and hopefully you both will have the opportunity to try it out.
@johannpiber denkt du hast ein Vote durch @investinthefutur verdient!
@johannpiber thinks you have earned a vote of @investinthefutur !
@johannpiber denkt du hast ein Vote durch @investinthefutur verdient!
@johannpiber thinks you have earned a vote of @investinthefutur !
@johannpiber denkt du hast ein Vote durch @investinthefutur verdient!
@johannpiber thinks you have earned a vote of @investinthefutur !
Beautiful magnificent buildings how nice to envy them and they are quite tall and huge ;))
Yes, you can find many spectacular buildings around the World. But for all of them us, humans are responsible. Aren't we great :)
Ode and how people are ... people especially since they used to work with their hands and today we admire how they did it so magnificently and precisely meticulously and very nicely with style and harmony everywhere on the planet ;))
I see a beautiful city atmosphere and also very clean, I want to go there but I haven't been able to travel, maybe it's very far for me. I see like a new life if I get to this city.
I haven't travel for a while now as well, so this short getaway was just perfect. I really enjoyed it and hopefully I can repeat it soon...
I'm sure you can make that short trip? good luck with a short but pleasant trip for you sir
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Wow! First of all, congratulations Andy on being able to finally travel outside your country to Germany. It must have been a breath of fresh air for you to savor other locations, most especially the magnificent city of Cologne while enjoying the GTE (Global Training Experience). Here's to more future adventures! Stay safe always and have fun! 😊
Thanks Erne!
My feets were really itchy for some time now :)
You know how much I love travelling. Hopefully it will be easier to travel soon.
Thanks for stopping by again and wish you a great weekend ahead!
Wow, this structure is so magnificent! It is definitely a work of art, a timeless architectural marvel.
I am not an architectural genius, but I can agree with your opinion. It is an awesome, majestic building. Probably that is why they were building it for 600+ years.
An entertaining story and, I believe, a very interesting experience! 👍
Ohhh yea it really was. I wouldn't mind doing such a training for new S class as well ;)
Oh this is amazing, happy to hear that you are doing good and your new employer gave you this opportunity. And Köln (Cologne) is a very beautiful city in Germany.
First of all thank you for stopping by!
We also say Koln, so it is much closer to me than Cologne :)
Didn't know much about the city and I was impressed. I wouldn't mind extending for an extra day or two :)
How exciting to start a new job with such training.
I miss my business trips. There is always some time for sightseeing when going somewhere even if it is short. The city of Cologne is beautiful and I love the night photos with the reflections.
Wish you success in your new job!
Thank you for stopping by and for your best wishes.
I certainly hope there will be more business travels for both of us in the future :)
Hi Andy. Great to hear about your work travel. Sounds like a good training and congrats on getting 3rd place. How is the family?
Thanks for asking about the family!
Well they are quite well. I would say they are superb, but they are having some minor health issues at the moment. Hopefully nothing more than a bit more serious cold.
Otherwise we are doing great.
How are you doing? How is life in US these days?
oh wow you visited cologne that were i live currently :)) you got some really nice shots there:)
Didn't know that!
Well you are living in a nice city, at least speaking from my first impression.
Have a nice week ahead!
Good luck with your new job! I also congratulate you for being the 3rd 🤗 I am sure that this trip was very good for you, even for business, because even seeing the photos is a pleasure. There are many places in the world that I want to travel to, it reminded me of my dreams..
Itchy feet got the better of you, using the morning off to go explore and get some amazing photography with city still appearing quite empty of people.
Favourite photo is the one with old building in background and water feature to the fore, all look exceptional though in all honesty!
Enjoyed the training and good luck in the new position Andy.
@tipu curate
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 76/96) Liquid rewards.
Thank you so much Joan!
I will do my best to impress at my new job and to have fun as well, just like I had in Cologne.
Well photos are not of the highest quality, but you never know I will come back and try with new set of them :)
Have a nice one and thank you for support again!
Enjoy the new position, learning something new keeps us on our toes. Cologne is a beautiful city with lovely features you managed to capture in the time allotted.
It is always awesome to visit such an impressive buildings as cathedrals...