The Edelweiss office team and the DGA - Die glorreichen Acht (English: The Glorious Eight) have just returned from a truly outstanding joint excursion to Italy.

Well, maybe there are a couple of things that need to be explained beforehand...

To be honest, I cannot precisely tell how the name DGA has actually developed. But what I can tell you for sure is, that these Edelweiss tour guides are a bunch of great people who contribute to the development of Edelweiss Bike Travel by sharing their on-tour-knowledge and expertise they have been collecting over the years! Not to mention the people from the office team who do a truly outstanding job to make all our tours possible before they actually take place! Many thanks for your fantastic work in the background!!

And I think I can speak for all - also many thanks to Rainer and Vicky for having organized this outstanding trip! By the way, you did a great job in keeping everything secret

To bring these two Edelweiss Bike Travel components together, to exchange knowledge and to fine-tune our mutual work, the DGAs and the office team meet on a regular basis. Of course, it is in the nature of things that there are motorcycles involved. This time we were taking out some of our brand new Harley Davidson motorcycles!

This year, Edelweiss added a couple of tours to the program that are especially designed for our Harley enthusiasts! The Harley riders amongst you can look forward to great tours in destinations such as Italy, Spain, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and even Morocco!

Our extensive riding experience during the last couple of days was the ultimate proof that it is absolutely relaxing and great fun riding those Harleys on those twisty Italian roads!

Vicky and Doris from the office together with Tom Tour Guide

Angela and Marko - at our start hotel in Levico

The first "breather", after everyone had successfully managed riding their Harleys up the twists of the "Kaiserjägerweg". This is an extremely narrow road that has been built between 1870 and 1880 by the Austrian "Kaiserjäger", a battalion of soldiers at the time of the emperor Franz I. What was only a narrow and steep mule track in those years, serving for the supply of military material to the border line between the Austro-Hungarian zone and Italy, has been turned into a motorcyclists delicacy in 1911.

We were positively surprised how well the handling of the Harleys was while riding up these tight curves!

Steffi, Doris, Marko, Tom, Vicky, Angela and Eva.

Lunch took place in one of the many slow food restaurants you can find in Italy. Slow food restaurants originated in Italy and are meant to be a countermovement to the fast food restaurants by serving well selected food that has been grown in local areas. Everybody agreed that it is well worth taking time to enjoy your food - and how can you not, being served such a delicious meal in the "Da Le Bele Restaurant" !

Look how wonderful the table and the meal are decorated... Slow food, of course, does not only mean taking time to eat. But also let it be a feast for your eyes!

Fresh, handmade Pizza and a variation of typical Italian starters.

Delicious herbal Risotto!!

The group - amazed by the delicious lunch: Doris, Gaby, Rainer and Anna from the office, and Michael, one of the tour guides...

  ... Stefan and Vicky from the office and tour guides Angela, Marko, Manuel and Tom.

Harley prince Tom and his Harley queen Doris

Eva from the garage team and Stephan - riding a Harley with these sun glasses is even cooler

Markus and Franziska on the Road King

After having arrived in our hotel in Bessano del Grappa we got a lesson in how to prepare a perfect Pizza! Alan, one of our Italian tour guides, was translating for us more or less all that was said

Among other things, we learned that you need to prepare a different dough depending on whether you want to bake your pizza in a wood stove or in your baking oven at home!

Everything is handmade!

  The next morning we met in casual wear, as we were up to some walking! At this point it was still a secret where we would end up, although some of us had already a good guess!

The "Buck Ladies", Steffi and Gaby Buck.

Another surprise was planned for Gerhard! It was his birthday today, too! What a great place to celebrate!

Taxi cabs took us to the train station and we hopped off the train in - Venice!

Since the whole trip was full of secrets and surprises, it was not surprising to be surprised by another Italian tour guide colleague Domenico who was awaiting us at the Venice train station! Domenico was our guide for the day to show us around the city which is entirely built on the water!

First, we were meandering through the alley ways and over numerous bridges (Venice has about 400 (!) of them inside the city)...

...which serve for people to be able to cross the countless water routes inside the city.

Venice is home to the famous opera "Teatro La Fenice"

Of course, you shouldn't miss a typical Italian espresso or cappuccino in one of the tiny cafés ! It was big enough, though, to accommodate 22 people

We continued walking and got a good idea of the Venetian architecture before we turned out again at the Canale Grande.

The whole lot of us - definitely not lost thanks to Domenico

One of the highlights was the ride with the gondola and a true gondolier. We learned that being a gondolier is more a tradition than a profession - it usually is passed on from father to son!

How romantic

Crossing the famous "Markus" place ...

...we found an Edelweiss family member to be especially happy!

Two of the most famous bridges in Venice - the Rialto Bridge and the Bridge of Sighs

A day so full of impressions makes it hard to leave again... Alan, Markus and Steffi ready to "harley back"

So are Jens, Doris, Tom and Gerhard...

...and the rest of the group...

...such as Ursula, Anna and Conny

and Stephan.

And last, but not least, Rainer, Edelweiss general manager and his wife Gaby!  

If one of us thought this would be it, straight back to the headquarters - far wrong!

First we went to see Bassano's "Alpini Bridge". The wooden Ponte Vecchio (meaning 'old bridge') was first mentioned in 1209 and used to be a major line of communication between the two parts of the city Bassano and Borgo Angarano! Over the years it has been destroyed and built again several times due to floodings or war. In 1947 it has been rebuilt by the Alps Forces, hence the name "Alpini Bridge"

Fantastic view from the bridge!

As the name suggests, Bassano del Grappa is a good place to find some of the finest Grappas. At one end of the bridge you can find the local distillery and a bar where the locals meet. We are on the motorcycles - so no Grappa tasting now! But who says you can't buy one to take home?

Before we hop on the highway back to the headquarters in Mieming, Austria, we climb for a last time with our Harley Davidons up a mountain pass - of course, this has to be the Monte di Grappa.

Anna and Franziska enjoying themselves to the full

Somewhere on the road... The Italian secret: it is well worth to stop for an espresso every now and then - this is when you meet the locals telling you about forgotten stories! Manuel translated for us what this Italian gentlemen was telling us about the place.