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2007 Edelweiss Alpine Adventure Photo Gallery
We travelled through the picturesque landscapes of Southern Germany from our European point of entry, Munich - the usual destination for Americans sampling the Edelweiss European tour packages. Check out the full story in
2007 Edelweiss Alpine Adventure
.
Our Alpine adventure took place aboard the Boxer-powered BMW R1200S, seen here before the towering Zugspitze - Germany's tallest mountain.
The fountains at King Ludwig II's Linderhof Palace.
Where's John Ashcroft and a $2000 dollar curtain to restore some modesty to this photo gallery!
These are not Solid Gold. Solid Gold was a dance/music program in the '80s.
King Ludwig II's Linderhof Palace had many statues, like this one of a very Germanic Posiedon.
The gardens at King Ludwig II's Linderhof Palace were beautiful.
King Ludwig II's Linderhof Palace sports a lot of decoration. Is that Roccoco? Let's just say it is.
Our lunch destination for Tuesday was King Ludwig II's Linderhof Palace, which the Bavarian ruler constructed in homage to Versailles.
The motojournalist as pure tourist geek.
It may been July, but there was some fresh snow in the Namloss
A group of lucky guys mug for the camera.
The town churches in Austria were exquisite - simple yet beautiful.
Coffee stop in the Namlos Valley. I must be thinking about having to go home, or maybe the Germanity of my surroundings was starting to rub off.
Our coffee stop in the Namlos Valley was beautiful. You can see them, but we could hear the cowbells all around us.
Our stop in Livignio showed us the laid back lifestyle of the Italians and delivered the best cappuccino of my life.
Somewhere up there in the mist, about 5000 feet up there, is the famed Stelvio Pass.
There were broad smiles in our journalistic entourage after the epic ascent and descent of Passo dello Stelvio.
At the 9042-ft summit of Stelvio we encountered rain, sleet and even hail, making it a memorable ride indeed.
Climbing up 48 switchbacks to the summit of the 9042 feet was the highlight of our editor's unforgettable Edelweiss Alpine adventure this summer.
This was my feeble attempt to photograph the ascent of Stelvio. You can just make out the summit through the fog. There were stretches where my visibility was less than 50 feet.
Our Beemer entourage tied our Boxers to the Glurns town square hitching post.
The walled city of Glurns was our Monday lunch destination, with the Italian city located in the region of Tirol - an area inhabited by an ethnic and linguistic German majority.
Watching the busses squeeze through Glurns.
Markus gives us the walking tour of Glurns.
The entrance to the walled city of Glurns.
Tunnels were all over the place through the Alps.
An odd sight on our journey was this church steeple ascending out Lake Resia. The spire and its surrounding village was flooded to make room for the man-made body of water back in the days of Mussolini.
The church steeple poking out Lake Resia was a little spooky. The fact that it was associated in my mind with Mussolini didn't help.
If I were riding to work, I'd have said, 'screw this, I'm driving.' But not in the Alps, I couldn't wait to visit Italy and Switzerland.
Our hotel stop in Mieming, Austria also had the most bad-ass commode I've ever used. You pull the velvet rope on the left to flush.
Our tour took us through countless small European villages, with each city surrounding a beautiful church like this one in Mieming, Austria.
Our hotel stop in Mieming, Austria was very posh.
This was the guy following me during the horse charging. I'm serious. He claims this was the result of a leaking riding suit. Yeah right Gabe, that stuff was Goretex!
Steve Bertolucci was a great travel companion. His ability to converse with the animals was Doolittlian.
The Alpine valleys lie between steep Alps.
Austria's Inn River Valley.
No this isn't shot from the seat of my flight into Germany. Its looking off the edge of our Sunday lunch stop.
Our Sunday lunch stop was perched on a mountainside high above the Inn River Valley. Here our tour guide, Markus, investigates the edge of a ramp used to launch glider enthusiasts.
A view from the top of our Sunday lunch stop. Innsbrook is hiding behind the pine tree.
Duke was still giving me useful advice: 'Always set off independent clauses with a comma... Oh yeah, alway drink two steins at the same time!'
Impromptu food shot 2: This is carpaccio - superthing beef. Maybe the single best thing I've ever eaten.
Impromptu food shot 3: Our only meal in Italy, I got the pasta. I stuffed my face and let my former boss, Kevin Duke, pick at his salad while he waited for his main dish.
Impromptu food shot 2: This is carpaccio - superthing beef. Maybe the single best thing I've ever eaten.
Impromptu food shot 1: This is a veal sausage. It tasted a lot better than it looks. They serve them for breakfast/brunch.
The riding conditions could have been better, but it would take more than buckets of rain to deter our editor from enjoying the three-day Alpine tour.
The R1200S was a more than able mount which tackled all the Alpine passes with ease and comfort.
It was a particular treat to ride a Boxer-powered R1200S thru Beemer country.
The Zugspitze is Germany's tallest peak.
Lake Plansee was an ideal coffee stop, a peaceful setting.
Our American motojourno crew takes a pit stop to put the rain gear back on. Almost all of the miles, or kilos, tallied were on narrow two-land roads, with plenty of tunnels like the one ahead.
Being a motojourno is hard work, but then they fly you over to Germany and give you a bike to ride, so nobody believes you when you tell them its 'hard' work.
Our editor, Bart Madson, crossed famous passes and drag raced charging horses as he galavants through the majestic European Alps courtesy of BMW and Edelweiss Bike Travel.
Laid back and almost always smiling, Markus Hellrigl was the perfect guide for our journey, always picking the most adventurous of routes.
Edelweiss Bike Travel is a fantastic way to see the world on two wheels.
Our group stops to take in the scenery during our half-day rider prior to the official three-day Alpine tour.
Just a quick shot of the Alpine scenery. Notice the group of bikes on the far left, most likely fellow Motorrad festivarians.
This cow comes from Tom's tour, but the ones I dodged were the same.
