The very first Edelweiss Tour Guide Training Tour is over. We all agree that it was a big success, the well trained rookies can't wait to go on their first tours. We tought them how to deal with problems that can arise on tour, most of which were fake situations, but not all of them...

After 6 days full of technical breakdowns, lost tour members, faulty GPS systems, and fake policemen everybody is about to head home or continue on the next quest, the EBT Office Staff & Senior Tour Guide Meeting. We have to break in the new Harleys, so stay tuned!

Good bye, Arrivederci, Auf Wiedersehen, Au Revoir, Tot Ziens and Haere Ra from Lago di Levico, Italy. See you soon!!!!

FIFTH RIDING DAY

sudden "police control" by the Karin i hear di

up in the clouds on Monte Penegal

after a delicious Cappuccino our WWII-trooper was not grumpy anymore

Claudia fixing the flat tire on La Lineas bike

The hidden treasure that was really hidden (unfortunatelly not all of us could visit it)

close up

after her de-briefing Claudia took it really easy

view fromKaiserjägerstraße down on Lago Caldonazzo and Lago Levico

Rainer swinging down the Kaiserjägerstraße heading towards "home"

Olli swept like hell that day

office-team & DGA arriving in Levico

after an exhausting day we got a very warm welcome from the office-team & DGA

"Boot Prosecco"

FOURTH RIDING DAY

A special photo for Karin....

Last but not least....Claudia and Manuel presented the best welcome briefing this week!!

Stephan, Björn, Rainer and Markus having a break....

Does Albert make a pee- or photo-stop??

Pablo....the devil on the Diavel...

Pablo trying to catch Andreas...

Milan and his bar table Olli...

Italian picnic by Olli and Martin!

Beautiful view from our picnic place down to the valley!!

THIRD RIDING DAY 

Today we were riding from Bozen to Levico, but on a different route than at day one. Beautiful Lago delle Piazze near Bedollo.

Rainer and Markus with tourguide Oliver at the Planetarium Südtirol in the Eggental.

Picnic was served at Truden again.

Pablo serving coffee after the delicious picnic.

The group was welcomed at the hotel with a boot beer served right next to Lago Levico.

Rainer telling Albert and Stephan that he almost got lost when riding alone but luckily found the way to the hotel with the help of Björn. Well done!

SECOND RIDING DAY

Under a clear blue sky and an already rising temperature the group took off from our hotel in Levico al Terme in South Tirol. This time under the lead of tourguides Björn and Pablo. The morning tourguide Björn took us to Castel Toblino, which was built in the 12th century and beautifully situated at a peninsula.

After the coffee stop, we went on to Lago Molveno, which again turns out to be a hidden treasure. Of course the tourguides had to face several "incidents" which were dealt very well by both leaders.

The picnic , which was this time prepared by Ted and someone from Downing Street 10, who insisted to stay incognito on this tour.

The afternoon ride was very exciting , also due to the challenging "incidents". After this , the group headed for Bolzano again for a nice dinner and the evening program

Martin entering Castel Toblino

Mr Alberto from Sao Paolo  again shoots off!!

Oliver riding the Edelweiss blue line !

Group picture at Lago Molveno

Oliver, Claudia and Björn at the hidden treasure of Castelvecchio

Chef Picnic at Mezzolombardo

Claudia in between the beautiful vine yards of South Tirol

Stephan trying to swallow an entire profiterole

Marcus from the USA celebrating his "vegetarian" birthday. Congratulations!!

Riding the narrow streets in the mountain villages

First Riding day

THE MORNING...

7 a.m. - breakfast - tiny little eyes and crinkled faces. Yesterday was really an exhausting day and today seems to be at least that hard. While most of the new (and experienced) TG's were listening to Ted's daily briefing, Claudia & Manu collected all the luggage in the lobby to carry it to the van. After the pre-riders and the group left the hotel in Bolzano the picnic-crew rushed to the next supermarket.

Ted and Albert right before "taking off"

shopping-queen Claudia and sherpa Manuel

THE RIDING...

Heading out from Bolzano with a clear blue sky, the hole group was eager to hit the hairpins and the mountain curves. After having a numerous amount of curves and nice roads we found the hidden treasure of a medieval little chappel where we also had a coffee-break and a stunning mountain-view

Our hidden treasure "St.Helena"

typical Alto-Adige-landscape

THE PICNIC...

While the boys were burning fuel on Italian roads the picnic crew exhausted thereselfes with preparing a legendary lunch right in the middle of nowhere.

the chefs

the most critical (vegetarian) picnic-jury of the world

the result

the hungry herd

THE EVENING...

One by one the whole crew arrived in our hotel in Levico. After every "costumer" was instructed (when, what, where) we had a little break before Björn and Pablo performed an entertaining welcome briefing. The de-briefing took place while we had dinner. After the dessert all the people gathered in the lobby for a chill-out, some together - some digital...

Stephan's combining "work" with pleasure

the end of the day

Welcome, Bienvenuti, Willkommen, Bienvenue, Velkom and Kia Ora from South Tyrol! Seven new and semi-new tour guides from a variety of countries embarked on a one-week training tour to prepare them for the hard life out on the road. Follow this blog and see what they're doing!

Instructors Tom (left) and Markus (right) with the Van&Trailer Class of '15: Manuel, Claudia, Oliver and Martin.

Loading bikes on a 11 meter flatbed trailer is not as easy as it looks...

Unloading is easier, but Claudia is still nervous. No wonder, it's a 20,000 Euro bike...

Positioning the ramps is essential!

Oliver and Manuel, dutifully rolling up the tie-downs. Unrolled tie-downs make Workshop-Jens very grumpy, and who would want that???

Spectacular South Tyrolean scenery

Meanwhile, the Guiding&Scouting Group was practising the bike handover procedure in Bolzano

Oliver and Björn doing paperwork

Stephan, Ted and Björn. The beer in the background is actually not a beer, right, Stephan???

Group picture...

Poor Ted had to give the welcome briefing. The group gave him a hard time and had fun doing it.