Finally Friday!

After a hectic week it's finally Friday :)
This week has been eventful. Monday I had a stand at Grand hotel - and also attended the EUMA conference at Grand in Oslo. Tuesday and Wednesday I spent at Lier Gård, a beautiful farm with conference facilities north of Hamar. And delicious food! I was here because we had the final seminar in the Reis og Ryk- project, which is the project that initiated my whisky experience. Thursday I was supposed to be at a different seminar that was arranged by Innovation Norway for small scale businesses in Hedmark run by women -but unfortunately I had to spend a hectic day at the office instead. Strange this peak season...

In the evening I took the night off, and visited my friend Eli and we had a great time out at a show with GT-Sara (FAMOUS Norwegian lady, 85 years old and an amazing entertainer. Check her out at youtube!) Laughed ourself (almost) to death.

This morning I left early from Oslo for the 2nd day of the seminar, and had a very interesting day going through future plans of the Aquavit Trail. Inspiring!
Now back in Oslo and trying to catch up all the office work that has been ignored the last week.
Looking forward to a relaxed SATURDAY tomorrow.

Monday!

After 2 weeks it was hard - but also great - to be back at the office. A lot to do, which is when I get most done.. The coming week is quite busy. Thursday a group of 30 is doing the Aquavit trail - I'm really looking forward to meeting them all and show them around in our region. They are going to experience great food and a great tasting - I hope they will enjoy it.

On Friday we are hosting the 2009 Gilde Juleakevitt launch with Arcus and master distiller Halvor Heuch at Høsbjør Hotel with Norske Akevitters Venner. That is going to be great fun. So far apx 50 people has signed up for the launch, and we hope to get a few more before Friday. As a member of the board of Hedemark Akevittens Venner we are hoping to get as much people as possible, members and new potential member to join - and to see how important it is to value our Norwegian Heritage.

And then, Saturday morning it will be 2 long days with the Travel Festival in Oslo, Reisefestivalen -organized by Zine travel magazine. Akevittruten will have a stand at the festival and will promote our great tours and upcoming events. Festivals are always hard work, late nights and no sleep - but on the other hand it's also always great fun - meeting a lot of people and other colleagues in the travel trade industry. My friend and "partner in crime" - Espen Smith (as far as beer is concerned) will be helping me out and we'll be convincing you all to have a beer or an aquavit tasting as soon as possible. Let us show you! :)

Let me know if you are coming to the festival and I will try to fix you a discount. Send me an email to stine@akevittruten.no and let me know if you want a ticket for Saturday or Sunday.

Back to Norway

After 2 great weeks in Scotland I returned home yesterday and I already miss being served tea for breakfast :o) I'm really greatful to Reis& Ryk, Hamar Chamber of Commerce and the Leonardo da vinci-program that made my trip possible. For two weeks I have been travelling on the Malt Whisky Trail and met a lot of interesting, great people who has made this journey incredible.

Distilleries, castles, accomodation, whisky aficionados - everything has been much better than I expected.

We will be offering an Exclusive tour for the Speyside whisky festival in April/may 2010 - so have a look at the website for more information.

A BIG THANKS TO ALL I met along the whisky trail - I hope to see you all soon!

Pictures below:
Left:Strathisla Distillery
Right: I made my very own whisky bottle with cask strength whisky help from guide Chris at Aberlour Distillery - a real tourist :o)

Stine and the social media challenge :o)

New friend and social media enthusiast - Rene - convinced me to start blogging after a couple of exciting weeks on The Malt Whisky Trail in Scotland. So here we go. Trying how this works, and hopefully I can share my world of adventurous journeys, culinary experiences, entrepreneurship and other things that might come to mind in the future.

As the founder, owner and only employee at the travel/ events & managements company Akevittruten - The Norwegian Aquavit trail - it's my job to ensure that my guests are enjoying their meetings, conferences, tours and arrangements that we tailor for each group. It has been great to be able to be a "guest" myself for a while, seeing how things work on the whisky trail, getting new ideas, meeting interesting people and really enjoying myself in this wonderful country. And of course tasting a LOT of whisky.

Hopefully you will be able to join me for a tour in the future, now that I've tested all the products to ensure the quality of accomodation, distilleries and the whisky :o)

Slainthe Mhath!

Below pictures from Whisky Tasting at Aberlour Distillery in Speyside and Scottish Tapas at the Scotch Whisky Experience in Edinburgh. Yum!