Royal Edelweiss Dream RED1301

Goodbye everybody! The Royal Edelweiss Dream is over and we would like to thank all our tour members, great riders and first of all very nice people! We hope to see you soon again on another Edelweiss tour! Dena, Lance, Carl, Phillip, Randy, Carolyn (Catherine), Bruce, Susan, Linda, David, Louise, Bob, Corelle, Christopher. Thank you from your tour guides, Ramon and Domenico Day 10, riding Cortina d'Ampezzo - Buchen The last riding day has unfortunately arrived. Today’s route leads us through the Dolomites, over the Falzarego Pass and then, after a nice lunch break in Brunico, we went over the Brennero Pass, the border between Italy and Austria. From there we reached Innsbruck and then our hotel in Buchen... back to where we started! Leaving Cortina d'Ampezzo Beautiful landscape on the Falzarego pass! Day 9, riding Venice - Cortina d'Ampezzo Leaving the hotel in Venice? The boat for the luggage comes at 8:15, then we have to go with a taxi boat to the garage where the bikes are parked... everything is a little bit more complicated here! Today we rode finally direction Alps and everybody could not wait to enjoy the cooler temperatures, but we had to wait until the afternoon for that! We rode through the wine region of Valdobbiadene, famous for the prosecco and, after a picnic near Vittorio Veneto, we finally entered into the Dolomites area and could enjoy some nice twisty roads before finally arriving in Cortina d'Ampezzo! Coffee break in Treviso, hometown of the famous brand Benetton Picture stop at the Misurina lake, surrounded by the Dolomites Day 8, Rest day in Venice Nobody decided to ride today, so we took the chance to visit a factory in the island of Murano, where they produce the famous glass and we could also see a demonstration of how they work. After that, a boat took us to St. Marco Square, the heart of Venice and everybody had a nice and "refreshing" walk (it was a very hot day!) Our hotel suggested a nice restaurant for the evening, where we could enjoy the local specialties, of course accompained by a very good italian wine! Leaving the hotel Inside the glass factory Reaching "Piazza San Marco" The Belltower of San Marco Detail of a gondola boat Too many bridges in Venice! Ciao Ramon, pay attention!!! Riding day 7, Verona - Venice Nice ride in the Veneto region! This morning we sadly had to leave the beautiful Verona, but we had to ride to Venice, not far away, one of the most renowned cities in the world for its beauty and its long history. Venice is built on more than 100 small artificial islands, so we could not reach our hotel riding our motorcycles and we had to park outside the centre, then a taxi boat brought us there. After dinner, time for a nice walk! It was difficult not to get lost when the sun went down and with more than 400 bridges ... but we finally managed to come back to the hotel! Leaving Verona Louise, Bob, Phillip and Carl Susan, Linda, Bruce and David Corelle, Christopher, Randy and Carolyn Lance, Ramon, Domenico and Dena Beautiful hotel lobby!!! Louise, Carolyn, Corelle and Linda on the taxi boat! "Ponte dei sospiri" (bridge of the sighs) Venice by night a drink near Rialto bridge Riding day 6, Florence - Verona Today we had to cross the Appennini mountains to reach the flat region of the Pianura Padana so, after leaving Florence, a nice long curvy road lead us to Bologna, the hometown of one of the most known italian brands, Ducati!!! A guided tour inside the Ducati factory and Museum was already booked and what an emotion it was to see where these nice bikes are born, where the engines are assembled, tested and finally the beauties are ready to be shipped all over the world! After the guided tour and of course after a visit to the Ducati Store, we continued to Verona, a wonderful old town amongst the most beautiful of Italy where, after a very nice dinner on the terrace of our hotel, we had a relaxing walk in the historical centre, famous especially for the balcony of Juliet (Verona is the town of Romeo and Juliet!) and for the Arena, a old roman anphytheatre still nowadays used for Opera and concerts. Leaving our hotel in Florence Coffee break on the Appennini mountains The first Ducati model after world war II Oldo logos have always something special The bikes of Mike Hailwood and Paul Smart! Superbike! MotoGP! Walk in Verona the balcony of Juliet The Arena of Verona Day 5, rest day in Florence Postcard from Florence Riding day 4, Viareggio - Florence Also today the sun shines as we leave the coast and go to see Pisa with his beautiful "Piazza dei Miracoli" where we can admire the famous leaning tower, and then Lucca, another very old town whose historical centre is still surrounded by big walls. After that, a tasty picnic was prepared on the surrounding hills, before we finally reached the cradle of Reinassance, Florence, where we will stay for 2 nights! Pisa Pisa David and Linda... and the leaning tower of Pisa Pisa Piazza dei Miracoli Lucca Hi Bruce! Domenico opening the picnic Corelle, Louise, Lance, Ramon and Bob Randy and Carolyn Carl and Phillip Picnic Riding day 3, Lake Como - Viareggio After the rain of yesterday, today the weather forecast is really good and we have to say that maybe the weather could have been a bit fresher on this long riding day!!! We headed south towards Liguria and its beautiful coast where we could see Camogli, Portofino and some went also to the Cinque Terre before reaching the hotel located in Viareggio, on the coast of Tuscany. The view from our hotel on the lake Como Camogli Portofino Carl and Phillip Louise and Bob Christopher and Corelle It was a hot day also for this nice cat! Our hotel in Viareggio Riding day 2, St. Moritz - Lake Como Today we entered Italy but we were not very warm welcomed because on the Splugen Pass the temperature dropped down a lot and it almost started to snow! After that we reached the beautiful Lake Como and visited the Moto Guzzi factory museum. Moto Guzzi is one of the oldest motorcycle manufacturers and many of his models made the history of motorcycling, they did a lot of innovations and still nowadays it is one of the most beloved brands. While we were visiting the museum, a real thunderstorm arrived, lots of rain... but our brave riders managed to ride into the rain and finally we reached our hotel on the other side of this big lake! All the brave riders! First mountain pass, the Julierpass 2284 metres above sea Coffee break at Solisbruecke Spluegen Pass, rain and cold! We are in Italy, but this was not a warm welcome :) Inside the Moto Guzzi museum did you know that the police of California used Moto Guzzi? That's why one of their model's name is California! How many cylinders has you bike? Well, this one had 8 cylinders, back in the 50's! And it was only 500cc, pretty amazing! What a heavy rain! The view of the lake Como from the hotel Lance Riding day 1, Buchen - St. Moritz The first Royal Edelweiss Dream started with perfect weather conditions, and this morning everybody could not wait to start riding! We left our beautiful hotel in Buchen and rode across the Alps. After a delicious lunch break in Glurns, we reached St. Moritz in Switzerland, one of the most famous (and expensive!) ski resorts in the world. The view from our hotel in Tyrol Domenico is an artist :) Our beautiful group!