“Go for it,” says Hekla Guðrún Þrastardóttir, a newly qualified baker who went to Vienna on an Erasmus+ grant and encourages other newly qualified tradespeople to seek out adventures and opportunities with the Erasmus+ programme.
Hekla Guðrún got to experience a fun adventure herself when she worked at a French artisan bakery, Parémi, in the centre of Vienna earlier this year. Hekla Guðrún talks about her adventures in Iðunn's latest podcast, Adventure in Europe.
“I thought it was exciting. The bakery is owned by a couple, and the husband is French. It's a small and sweet bakery. There are a lot of great and very diverse products,” says Hekla Guðrún, who mentions that others worked with her in the bakery through the Erasmus+ programme, for example from Germany and Norway. Baking studies differ between these countries, but Hekla Guðrún says she stood on solid ground with her journeyman's certificate from Iceland. “The studies abroad are much more specialised,” says Hekla Guðrún, referring to the pastry chef programme. “Whereas here, we take it all in one package, which helped me a lot.”
She stayed in Vienna for four months and enjoyed life in the city. Her family was diligent in visiting, and although she hadn't progressed far in her German studies, she did well and found many opportunities to learn new things. She used the train system to travel between places and liked the joy of work she felt in the bakery. In fact, she liked it so much that she is moving to Vienna after the New Year.
“It was quite early on that I thought I'd be willing to stay there, and everyone was eager to help me. They offered me a job, and I'm going to start working at the beginning of January,” says Hekla Guðrún, who is looking forward to the adventures ahead.