Best of Europe BOE1303

The Best of Europe tour is over and we would like to say thank you to all tourmembers for the great time we had together during these days! Hope to see you soon again! Michael, Susan, Christopher, Sue, Joe, Nancy, Sean, Mona, David, Gina, Terry, Kristin, Michael, Alenko, Marilyne, Bob, Nancy, Christine, Gerald, Dorothy, Lauri. Your tour guides, Axel, Domenico and Gottfried Riding day 7, Warth - Erding On the last riding days we are going to see the beautiful Neuschwanstein and Linderhof castles, both built by king Ludwig II of Bavaria, and that attract millions of tourists every year. This king was a controversial figure, very introverted and shy, he became king at the joung age of 18 but he was never really interested in the "duties" of a king. King Ludwig is nowadays generally well-liked and even revered by many Bavarians also because his legacy of architecture and art generate a very good tourist income in the region. Neuschwanstein has appeared prominently in several movies and was the inspiration for Disney's Sleeping Beauty castle! Morning briefing on the terrace Neuschwanstein Joe and Bob trying their offroad skills! Coffee Break at lake Plansee Lake Plansee Linderhof Palace Linderhof Palace Last coffee break Riding day 6, Schaffhausen - Warth Today, we will finally have a taste of the Alps on another beautiful sunny day, the weather seems to be just ideal! We rode from Schaffhausen to the lake Constance (Bodensee in german), a big lake on the river Rhine that is situated between three countries, Switzerland, Germany and Austria! Then a group of riders decided to do a shorter route and followed the lake until reaching Austria and another group did a longer loop to go to see also the Säntis mountain, the highest peak of this region. We finally reached the beautiful hotel Jaegeralpen, a ski resort located in Warth, where the only neighbours we had were the cows on the surrounding mountain slopes. During dinner, the group received the Best of Europe t-shirt and there was also time to celebrate Terry's birthday! :) Lake Constance Over the Säntis mountain New BMW model, this is a prototype and will be launched in 2014! Dorothy and Laurie Gerald and Christine Christopher and Susan Bob, great sweeper! Riding on the Alps Most expensive t-shirts ever! :) Riding day 5, Ribeauvillé - Schaffhausen Somebody up there must really like us, another perfect day of sun! Maybe the temperature could have been also a little cooler... but we don't complain at all! Today we left the beautiful village of Ribeauvillé and we crossed the Rhine valley again, to enter the Black Forest again, where we visited Hexenlochmühle, an old mill where we tasted the famous black forest cake. After that we had a delicious picnic and we finally entered Switzerland where, before arriving at the hotel, we saw the huge waterfalls of the Rhine, the biggest in Europe! Hexenlochmühle "Black" Forest? :) Cuckoo clocks! Black Forest Cake! Picnic The Rhine Falls Schaffhausen and the Rhine Falls Rest day, Ribeauvillé Today everybody could sleep more and, after breakfast, our brave riders could choose between two routes, one shorter and one longer... and the most of them chose of course the longer one! But the shorter one also went to the very beautiful castle of Haute Koenigsburg and, when everybody came back to the hotel, we could taste a delicious buffet made with local food! Terry & Gina Visiting the Chateau Haute Koenigsburg The view from the castle Walls of the castle Picnic! Nice view of Ribeauvillé Riding day 3, Heidelberg - Ribeauvillé Another sunny day! Today we left Heidelberg and, after a short ride on the motorway, we entered in the Black Forest to ride on the famous "Schwarzwaldhochstrasse", the most famous scenic route in Germany! After that, we crossed the Rhine valley and entered France, to reach the beautiful village of Ribeauvillé. Coffee break in Marxzell David, Mona, Christopher, Susan and Sean Alenko, Michael, Stephan, Bob and Nancy Gina, Terry, Kristin, Joe Kristin, Michael, Joe Domenico and Axel On the road in the Black Forest Ribeauvillé Gottfried Storks! Ribeauvillé by night Riding day 2, Rothenburg - Heidelberg Also today the weather was just perfect for riding! We left the beautiful town of Rothenburg and visited the monastery of Schöntal, a beautiful piece of Baroque architechture. After lunch, following the river Neckar, we arrived in Heidelberg, a town famous for its university and popular tourist destination due to its picturesque cityscape. Checking the master map David Nancy and Sue David & Mona Leaving Langenburg Lauri and Dorothy Alenko & Marilyne Terry & Gina Inside the Schoental monastery Guided visit of the Schoental Monastery Modern frog Nancy, Gottfried and Sue View over the river Neckar from the Hirschhorn Christine and Gerald Michael Our hotel in Heidelberg Stephan, who did an Edelweiss California Tour with Edelweiss, met Nancy and Robert there and came to see them in Heidelberg! What a nice surprise :) Fireworks in Heidelberg Heidelberg by night Riding day 1, Erding - Rothenburg What a beautiful sunshine when we woke up this morning, and the weather forecast also looked perfect... so we couldn't wait to start riding and somebody also went down to the garage to take the bike already before the morning briefing! :) We left Erding and headed north, using also the highway for a short while, then we stopped in Eichstätt for lunch in the old castle of Willibaldsburg, overlooking the Altmühltal (old valley of the mills). Finally, we reached the gorgeous medieval town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber where, after dinner, we took the chance to follow a very "original" guided tour of the historical centre. Everybody is starting to take confidence with their bikes and for sure we'll soon start to have even more fun riding! Gottfried doing the Morning Briefing Gina, Terry, Christine, Christopher and Susan copying the master map Ready to go! Sue, what a big ice cream!!! Michael enjoying ice cream Mona, Gina, Terry, Gerald, Christine and TG Domenico Lunch break at Willibaldsburg Nancy and Bob Marilyne and Kristin Gerald, Domenico and Christine Kristin and Michael Leaving Willibaldsburg... whatch the cobblestones!!! Afternoon Coffee Break Arrived in Rothenburg! Dinner time: Susan, Christopher, Sean and Joseph Alenko and Marilyne All women like the watchmen George in Rothenburg :) Guided tour of the historical centre Sue and Nancy Reflections of Rothenburg The watchman Roofs of Rothenburg