Time to say good-bye!

What a group, what a week! It was an honour for me beeing allowed guiding you all. So good characters, interesting talks, I laughed so much. Thanks to all of you I really hope seeing you again.

Ursula + Domenico

Thank you for this very special gift 

a short group introduction!

We have inertial engineer working on the Mars Rover, PHDs - a bunch of them,professors, researches, orthopaedic surgeon, horse back riders who did parts of Norway on horses, real estate dealers, Pros in art, a GP, one who was nominated for the nobel price, the future Chamie Oliver of Canada, computer engineers, one is qualified for the Iron Man in Hawaii, and so on.... The tourguide IQ raises from coffee stop to coffee stop and from ferry cross to ferry cross

6. Day: Atlanterhavsvegen - The Atlantic Road

Are you ready for another beautiful riding day? Today there won’t be any serious altitude differences, instead you will see water – lots of water! Our ride leads us along the Norwegian coastline almost all day long.
It takes us about 1 ½ hours – partly on the beautiful, twisty 661 – to reach the ferry to Molde. Another half hour and we arrive in Bud, a small town at the westernmost tip of the Nordmøre peninsula. In World War II the Nazis built an underground fortress here, and today you can still see bunkers, cannons and other remains of these dark times.
The road continues along the coast and uses a series of bridges to cross over to Averøya Island - the Atlanterhavsvegen, or Atlantic Road.

normal morning mess in the garage

Another beautiful day is waiting out there

first ferry cross to Molde, the town of the roses. Heavily bombed during WW II

These guys are not only keen on motorcycling, they are also interested in history. We watched the little movie in the visitor center in Bud and than inspected the bunkers

nowadays Bud is a lovely little town

can you see the rags - they are used for drying the fish to preserve it for the harsh winter days

In Bjartmars Favorittkro - the best lunch on tour - Bakalao, Fish Soup and the friendliest service as well

Grooooup picture

the group is soooo relaxed that it is difficult to get them moved

Eight storm-lashed bridges between Vevang and the island of Averoya connect 17 islands. People here have to live with strong winds all year long and you can only imagine nature’s wrath on a stormy day! The road was built between 1983 and 1989 and has attracted countless visitors since then. The British magazine “The Guardian” voted it “Best Road Trip” in 2006.

I have to say - these pictures are from John, that`s why they are so perfect

The curved bridge

on the last ferry of the tour. How many did we take?

John was missing - but we haven`t realised yet

the long white cloud.... Moldefjorden

Oh my god - but where is John??? We waited for the next ferry while Steven untertained 2 young boys - we killed ourselves laughing...

He found us again! Here he is. Juhuuu! Was a bit worried he will be angry with me. It was my fault, that we lost him.  But he left the ferry with a big smile and his always sparkling eyes. I was pretty sure Team Texas want to make a bee line straight back to the hotel. But.....

...Team Texas, Steven and Rob jjust didn`t care. A shortcut?? No way!! So we did the whole loop on beautiful little streets, had some more relaxed picture stops and another Fjord. The computer system at the final  gas station broke down, Stevens bike hardly made it to the garage - but just in time - 8 p.m

We Tourguides have the order from our CEO Rainer Buck not to be later at the hotel as 5 p.m. so that the guest can have a relaxed shower and a rest before dinner. Ok - Rainer, next time, I`ll promise

It is nice to have one of these tourguide helmets as a sweeper - despite somebody was missing.

Arik - happy birthday, all the best, hope we will see you again.

5. Day: The Fjords

There aren’t many roads we haven’t ridden during the last four days! However, there is still a white spot on our map: South of Ålesund there is a wonderful riding area across and along countless fjords.
The peninsula, framed by Nordfjord and Voldsfjord, is off the beaten track, with narrow roads and small villages. We cruise around fjord after fjord, and take in the panoramic views along with the crisp, clean air. The road back leads us along more fjord shores, have a break and enjoy the wonderful views. The ferry from Folkestad brings us back to E39 and it’s only 1.5 hours and one more ferry to Ålesund.

A expected a rainy day but a group like this starts out in a good mood anyway. We have 3 ferries to catch today. 

So far so dry - first coffee stop in Orsta

a special coffee place

despite some clouds the streets are dry and the views spectacular.

Team Texas and Steven

The real   estate pros

After lunch we hit pouring, pouring rain. My group arrived at the ferry 20 minutes before take off, Domenico arrived just in time - all are together!!! Well done guys 

new gloves and thunderstorm

5 minutes later the sun was out again - back to normal. 

John and Aya

our Mars genious

Steven, Craig, Bev and Ron

there has much more to come than tons of rain to kill the optimism of these guys

same on the last ferry - group arrived, boarded, ferry took off

Domenico hold the whole gang back a little bit at the gas station, I rushed into the next supermarket, loaded the saddle bags with beer (some people looked a bit astonished at me)  - boot beer time!!!

Boot drying strategies - see how he manipulated the hairdryer, that the button is pushed constantly - just smart guys

4. Day: Trollstigen and Trollveggen - The Troll`s Ladder, the Troll`s Wall 

Trolls are ugly little creatures with oversized noses and feet and shabby clothes. They live on high mountains and snowfields, in waterfalls and under rocks, and can be several hundred years old. Nobody has ever seen one and most likely you won’t see one either – at least not outside a souvenir shop – but the Norwegians insist that trolls live all around them.
On today’s ride we are going to see Trollveggen (“Troll’s Wall”), Europe's highest vertical rock wall (3,300 feet), with the top reaching 5,700 feet, and Trollstigen (“Troll’s Staircase”), Norway’s most famous mountain road. On the way down we can sample Norway’s best strawberry cake at the restaurant “Jordbærstova.”

the church in Tresfjord on our way to Andalsnes

Tresfjord - I learned a new word today - serene. That`s exactly what Norway is.

Trollveggen - Europe`s highest vertical rock wall

the dream team

JJohn and Diane

and off we went to climb Trollstigen

Ron is ready to go

This bus is from my hometown. My mum prefers to go with them, but she was not on. But I met some people from home .-)

a masterpiece of architecture

see the platform out there?

John is happy - perfectly parked

Aksla viewpoint high above Alesund

Craig and Tim

Diane

Adron and Craig. Left the Mr. with the "dreckige Lache"

Another great day in this beautiful country - thank you Ladies and Gentleman

3. Day: Geiranger Fjord - yes we did the right decision

Today is the day you have all been waiting for: Geiranger-Day! The world’s most famous fjord offers dramatic beauty that we can marvel at during a one hour ferry cruise from Hellesylt to Geiranger. 360 km of awesome roads and a landscape of outstanding beauty waiting for us out there. We have chosen this day carefully, together with the group, because we need good weather and if possible sunshine. We keep our fingers crossed.
.

Clutch is out at 8.15 h. We`ll do the briefing on the first ferry from Magerholm to Sykkylven.

The ride from Ålesund to Hellesylt serves as a warm-up for what awaits us after the cruise.

we started out, the weather was a bit cloudy

we did the briefing on the 1st ferry

tight hairpins, tourbusses, tilted road - so guys - be careful

waiting for the ferry at Hellesylt - of course we squeezed in

we made it - Steve, Adron and John - Team Texas

Arik and Aya

you know him

the seven sisters waterfall, falling from more than 200 metres (600 feet) of altitude

an abandoned farmhouse on a dramatic cliff, people really used to live here until last century!

the street up to Eagle`s view - we will be there in 2 minutes!

 The Eagle’s Road and Geirangervegen are masterpieces of road construction, and carving through the bends and hairpins is almost too much fun

all made it - what a view

and we went up to Dalsnibba - with even the more spectacular view over the Geiranger Fjord

If you take a closer look you can see the windy road up to Eagle`s view.

a very flexible and cooperative group - we didn`t stop in Geiranger for lunch - all crowded with cruiseship passengers - we went on to Jostedalbreen and had a relaxed but very late lunch

dehydrated and starving - but with a big smile in the faces we arrived in Jostedalbreen

a 15 min movie about Jostedalbreen glacier in the visitor center gives an idea how hard life was back in these days. It`s worth watching

last picture stop on the way back in Hellesylt - we just couldn`t get enough

waiting for the last ferry - what a day - thanks to all of you for beeing so cooperative, patient, maybe a bit hungry (sorry) and making this day so memorable

2. Day: Runde - the birds island

A Touring Center with Edelweiss Bike Travel means you stay all the time long in the same hotel, which offers a lot of comfort. You have not to pack every day and you feel like coming home in the evening. Passengers f.e. can stay in the hotel, in case the weather is not so good or they want to do some shopping and sightseeing. We are in Alesund - here a short description about the neet little town.

The picturesque little town of Ålesund (population ~45,000) is crowded onto a narrow fishhook–shaped peninsula in the sea. It is considered by many to be even more beautiful than Bergen and it’s far less touristy. After the sweeping fire of January 23, 1904, which left 10,000 residents homeless, the German emperor Wilhelm II sent shiploads of provisions and building materials to Ålesund and it was rebuilt in characteristic Art Nouveau style. Canals and bridges add to the harbor atmosphere so that the town with its turrets, spires and gargoyles is also nicknamed “Little Venice”.

after the first ferry from Sulesund to Hareid we were playing around a little bit

John and Diane

Alex on the S1000XR

the tourguide

John

our boss, CEO Rainer Buck, whom we tourguides appreciate very much,  is a "Schwabe" - what that means I will explain it to you tonight. But thank you Rainer that you gave us a third tourguide

Rob and Alex - father and son and Arik

Björn our skipper, a very nice guy,  gave us a lot of informations about the birds...

...and the islanders. 67 living on that side - having all the same last name "Runde", 30 on the other side having also all the same last name "Goksoyr"

With a population of only 160, this little island plays host to half a million sea birds of 230–240 species including 100,000 pairs of migrating puffins that stay here from May until late July. You may also see different kinds of seagulls, cormorants, eagles and many more.

the birds rock

Puffins - Papageien Taucher

Ohhh boy, it`s chilly, a nordic summer - we are not in Naples

Steven

well - no comment

A very warm welcome to the 2nd Norway Touring Center this year. A group of 21 people arrived from Canada, America and Israel and of course the German-Italian tourguide team.

So quite an international group. They are all briefed, charged and fed and ready to ride tomorrow morning.

Stay tuned....