Wholesale Tea & the Queen in Slovakia - Ancient Wisdom - Giftware and Aromatherapy Supplier

Greetings from Slovakia

Yes, I'm in the pretty town of Trnava, not far from Bratislava. Home of AWGifts.eu our newest and smartest warehouse and offices.

It's an absolute and total delight to be here!! I'll tell you why below.

Last week I was in Spain, doing what I do best, and that's taking the team out to a nice meal and having a party. Well they deserve it, this year Toni and his team have done amazing things and since I was there.. I was telling you; things in Spain were getting hot.. much too hot.. if you missed it you can catch up here.

From Spain I met up with Erika (our manager in Slovakia) and her family - who had been on holiday in Spain and we travelled back together. A flight from Malaga to Vienna on Lauda airways. It was very turbulent and we landed with an almighty crunch, those planes are quite old I think. From Vienna a taxi took us to Bratislava airport, and Tomas met us there..

It was Saturday and lunchtime so since we were near Bratislava we went into town for lunch. As we walked across town in the central park a big event was taking place with a concert by lots of young people dressed in pink, singing theme songs from the new Barbie movie. We stopped to watch, and a TV reporter and camera crew approached us and basically interviewed Tomas for a vox-pop opinion piece. He was quite thrilled, now he thinks he is going to be famous..

We went for lunch by the Danube river, to discuss his new media career :)

It's been a while since I was in Slovakia and I was eagerly awaiting Monday morning when we would go to AWGifts and meet the full team.

Regular readers will know that in Spain our team is full of fun, hardworking but always up for a party.. whilst here in Slovakia they are hardworking, industrious and always up for a.. a long serious discussion.. Haha it's just the way it is.

As much as I try I can't get the party started..

Anyway today I'm taking the managers for a thank you lunch..

Actually I couldn't be more proud of the team here and what they have achieved. In just a few years we outgrew our first warehouse and moved in one massive leap and a bound from a 1000 sq meter warehouse to a 8000 sq meter super modern distribution warehouse. A lot of diligent hard work by the team here, and lots of websites developed - in every european language - it's a major achievement..

Tomas and I have this tradition of exploring the charming town centre after work and finding a nice restaurant to dine in. Despite its small size, the town has good dining options. Yesterday, we ended up an old favorite called Pizza Kitty. It has been serving the locals since Tomas was a kid and has become a beloved establishment in town. The restaurant itself is quite impressive, spread across various rooms in a historic building. However, with the summer heat, all the action has moved outside where the outdoor seating area is pretty busy. And since Tomas is a well-known figure in town, he's often greeted by old friends. Trnava has a thing about art, so it's not unusual to stumble upon an art installation or exhibition. Yesterday, near Pizza Kitty, we discovered an exhibition dedicated to the Queen's visit to Slovakia in 2008 - it was interesting!

I'm not a royalist or otherwise, but the idea that someone thought it good to celebrate this event 15 years ago - today on a street in Slovakia. Connecting Slovakia to the UK. Somehow seems both incongruous and heart warming.

And back in UK.. lots of stock arriving in the warehouse. Lots back in stock. (see below)

And I'm sooooooooo excited to see Gemstone Tea Strainers! Believe me heaps of work went in to bringing you this gem of a gift. A gift for both gemstone and tea loving folk.. so the best of two worlds. You can display and sell in your Gemstone Dept and your Tea Department.. The product is absolutely beautiful. But check out the packaging.. (by Sandra our talented designer). A five sided pyramid box, with silver foil print, embossed and with details about what the gemstone is for. (Coco made that packaging happen). And the product matches and compliments the Crystal Glass Tea Infuser Bottles. Well done guys! See below.. truely (as it says on the box) a mystical tea experience.

Anyway onwards.. I arrived here on Lauda airways, and I'm leaving on Eva Airways shortly. I never really heard of either of those airlines.

Eva Airways should be an interesting experience. And you might ask where am I off to?

I'll report on both of those things next week.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Thank you once again for your support.

Take care

David