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Friedrichshafen 2008 - The Ham Radio exhibition After an enjoyable, but short
trip with the XYL last year, we wanted to make more of a holiday of it
this year, so we decided to stay in Friedrichshafen for a whole week. I reserved a room in the Hotel Buchhorner Hof in early January, as rooms do get booked very early. That was the important part sorted, and then came the flights. This is a case of timing, and therefore it pays to keep an eye on the Ryanair website each day, and see what you can get. Sometimes, booking too early means you pay a higher price, and it is then a case of holding your nerve as long as possible, and booking at what you feel may be the cheapest price. I ended up paying just under £200 for the two of us, return to Friedrichshafen, which is more than I have paid in some years, but less than others. This also included "Priority Boarding", which actually costs £3.00 per person, per trip, but is well worth the extra! Yes, you can get flights for less, and I have paid as little as £39.00, but that was only one year. If folk tell you they paid 1p for their flight, yes, it can be done, but that does NOT include taxes etc, and they will have paid around £30 to £50 in total for the flight. The last part to be booked was the local flights to Stansted, and then overnight accommodation there. This was actually booked quite late on, but that is less of a problem. We managed to get a good deal on the flights to Stansted, but had to contend with overnight stays at both ends of the holiday. We left Guernsey on Tuesday 24th June, stayed overnight at the Express by Holiday Inn, and then made the trip to Germany on Wednesday 25th June, arriving in Friedrichshafen at around 4.30pm local time. Having Priority Boarding means you get on the plane in the first 25 - 50 people, and you can then get to choose a good seat. The flight itself was uneventful, and seemed to pass quite quickly. As is usual, there was a large crowd waiting to get off the plane, and when we finally stood on the top of the gangway, we realised it was going to be warm! The temperature was still around 30C!
The thermometer showing the temperature! One outside the airport terminal,
it is a simple matter to cross the road (remembering which way to look!)
and on to the platform for the short train ride to the main Town. We checked in to the hotel somewhere around 5.30pm, unpacked quickly, and then went for a stroll along the lakeside and into the town.
The Hotel Buchhorner Hof Wednesday 25th June was the
football semi-finals, and tonight's match was between Germany and Turkey!
As we strolled around, we looked for a restaurant with outside viewing,
and decided on one with a nice projection TV set-up. The two of had a
very pleasant meal, plus a few beers for me, and some wine for the lady,
and sat there to watch the match. Europeans have a very different attitude
to football than the English, as was proven by the fact that both German
and Turkish fans were sat side by side, chatting happily. OK, I will concede
that many of the Turkish fans were probably born in Germany, but there
was no bad behaviour at all.
Eating our meal and watching the footie! In the end, Germany won their place in the final, and the streets were lined with cars, all beeping horns, hazard lights flashing, and much cheering, which went on until around 1.30am. Not one single police siren was heard, and indeed, nor were police needed. On Thursday, we decided to make a day trip to Meersburg, as this is an old town, and is also a wine growing "capital". There is an ancient castle, dating back to the 12th Century at least.
The old town of Meersburg. We went there by bus, as trains
don't visit this town, and the bus deposited us at the back of the town.
After a few hours of visiting the wine museum, the castle, plus loads
of shops, we started to look for the lakeside and the boat to take us
back. Ah! The back of the town is some 300' above the lake, and the only
obvious way down was to follow the narrow paths! No major problem, except
that it was about 30C again, and the little paths were narrow and very
hot! We found a pleasant café for some lunch, and then walked around,
looking at the various shops, and then sat and watched the activity around
the small harbour. Meersburg is a fairly active place on the lake, with
many boats going to Konstanz, and also to various places in Switzerland.
We booked a trip back to Friedrichshafen by boat, and spent a very enjoyable
hour sat outside on the sun-deck with a beer in hand. One back in Friedrichshafen,
we headed for the hotel, had a much needed shower and change of clothes,
then went in search of somewhere to eat. Friday is the start of the
Ham Radio show, and what the trip is really about. We got up at about
8am, had a nice breakfast, and then walked through Friedrichshafen market,
which happens every Friday. The fruit, veg and meat are all exceptional
quality, and amazingly cheap in comparison to Guernsey. Loads of fresh
strawberries, cherries, peaches, nectarines, and so on, are on offer,
and all are grown locally. We ended up at the harbour bus station, and
managed to catch the 10am FREE shuttle bus to the halls. Yes, the shuttle
is free to the exhibition, and runs every 20 minutes throughout the day.
The first job is to queue for the entry tickets, and we both got 3-day
passes, as this is the cheapest option if you intend to go for more than
just one day. If you haven't been before, then you may be forgiven for
thinking "it's only a show, how big can it be?"
A small part of the Wimo stand. I'd only been there for a matter of minutes before spotting various well-known calls, and I then spent the next 90 minutes catching up with old friends. My first job, once inside, was to take my DXCC application to the ARRL stand for checking. You queue up, hand over your cards and application form, and then get a receipt, which you then use to claim back your cards the following day after they have been checked. As I had already paid via the LoTW website, using the "hybrid" application, I didn't have to hand over any Dollars, but if you are just making a paper application, then it does help to have some Dollars with you. Next stop was to put my QSL card on the "QSL Wall", which is where almost everyone places a card to show they have been here. It can take some while to look at them all, and there are always some surprises in store when you start looking!
The QSL wall. My wife and I
then walked around the various national HQ stands, including the RSGB
stand, and signed the visitors' books at each. Again, we met old friends,
and spent some time chatting with them. I have been investigating the
idea of purchasing an Icom IC7000, so it was time to start looking at
the stands to see how much, and who had the cheapest. By around 4.30pm, we were both
suffering from sore feet, and decided to call it a day. And we needed
time to get ready for the RTTY Gathering at the Gasthaus Heuschober. We had decided to all meet up for breakfast at 8am on the Saturday morning, and after that we went and got the free shuttle bus to the exhibition for day 2. My first stop was to collect my DXCC cards, and I had to queue for about 20 minutes to get mine. I usually reserve day 2 for looking round the flea-market, and I spent probably the next 3 hours just mooching around the various stalls, seeing what was on offer. There is always an amazing variety of equipment on sale here, some new, some second-hand, and varies from radios, computer parts and sundries to tools of all kinds. I usually find it best to have a quick look round, make a few notes on things that attract my attention, and then come back if necessary. It doesn't pay to buy the first one you come across, as some stalls sell the same thing much cheaper, so do look first. We all met up again at around 1pm for something to eat and drink, and decided not to venture outside as it was just so hot. We had a small snack at one of the café places inside, and then split up again to go check out the things we all wanted to buy. We had decided against visiting the exhibition on the Sunday, so this was "last minute shopping" for all of us. By around 5pm, we had all had enough walking, talking and shopping, so went out to catch the shuttle back to town. We had been invited to join a group for a meal near Tettnang, so we ordered a taxi for 4, and made the seemingly long journey through wonderful coutryside to the Brauari-Gasthof-Shoerer. From Tettnang to the restaurant, most of the fields we dedicated to hops, and it was quite an impressive sight to see miles of hops strung up. The Shoerer was not quite what we had expected! I was anticipating a small pub with a beer-garden attached. What I saw was a huge farm house, with quite a few rooms inside for eating, a large beer-garden, plus a brewery! On top of all that, this was a fully working beef and pig farm, and we discovered that all the meat on the menu is raised on the far, slaughtered and butchered on site, and then served fresh!
The Saturday evening meal. Not only did the brewery produce an excellent beer, but they also made their own Schnapps. We spent an excellent evening in the company of Glyn GW0ANA, Curtis MW0USK, Markus DL9RCF, Franz DJ9ZB and Alois DL8RCL, plus a few others whose names I never managed to get. The food was amazing, so was the beer, and the company, and it was with a slight sadness that we had to leave at around 11pm. It was an extremely warm evening, and I don't think it dropped below 25C even at 11pm. Once back at the hotel, we had a coffee in the bar, and then headed for bed. On Sunday morning, we again breakfasted at 8am, and had decided to make the journey to Bregenz in Austria, at the eastern end of the lake. We took the train, noting that we had to change in Lindau, and it was indeed a pleasant trip by train. Once in Bregenz, we avoided the shopping area, being a Sunday, and all of us seemed drawn to the cable car. My intention was just to have a look at this rather dubious contraption, and maybe take a few pictures of it working.
The cable car ascending. Paul GU4YBW then said that as we had come all this way, it would be churlish not go on it! Before we knew what was happening, we were in the queue for tickets, through the barrier and then waiting for the next ride! Now, I know I wasn't keen on trying out this mode of transport, so I guessed my wife would be even less keen, but somehow we were all sucked in by the moment, and so we took the 6 minute trip up the Pfänder which is 1064 metres high. Surprisingly, it was quite a stable ride up, with only a small blip as we went over a pylon close to the top.
Close to the top! Once up there, I think we all realized that if we hadn't done it, we would have regretted it. The views were simply stunning. The lake side of the mountain is quite steep, so you have an excellent view down over the town of Bregenz, and also of the lake.
The view of Bregenz from the top. It helped that the skies were
quite clear apart from some small haze, and it was a little more comfortable
at the top despite the temperature being so high. There is an excellent
café at the top, so we went for a meal and a drink, then went to
look around and see some more of the stunning views.
The view behind the mountain. If you make the trip, do take a camera, as you will need it! We had decided to get the 3pm boat, so after an hour of enjoyment at the top, it was time for the trip back down, and then the walk to the harbour to catch the boat back to Friedrichshafen.
This is the Karlsruhe, our boat back to Friedrichshafen. This is a 2 hour trip, stopping
first at Lindau, then a few of the small villages along the lakeside,
so there is plenty of time to sit back, relax and enjoy the views. I guess
the temperature at the harbour was touching 35C, so we sat outside on
the sun-deck, and it was almost comfortable once under way, with the slight
breeze being very welcome. Monday morning. Once more, breakfast at 8am, and then we went off to the train station to enquire about tickets to Konstanz. The original plan was to get the train there, and then come back by boat. However, the kind lady at the ticket office suggested that if we were all a "family", then the family day ticket was much less in price, could be used on all trains and buses, and was our cheapest option. We opted for this, and began the train journey first to Radolfzell, where we had to change trains, and then on to Konstanz.
Just one of the many painted buildings in Konstanz. When we got off the train in Konstanz, it was yet another day up around 35C, so we first looked for somewhere to buy some water for drinking. The ladies seemed drawn to all the shops, so Paul and I followed them around while they hunted out bargains. One amusing shop we found was selling leather goods, including Leder-Hosen, and our wives thought we were serious when we went inside to check them out! No, I don't think they would suit me, really. After some lunch, we wandered around a bit more, and then went off in Search of the Sea Life centre. This is supposed to be one of Europe's leading aquariums, so a visit seemed to be sensible. It was interesting, but probably not worth the money, which was disappointing, but it was a pleasant afternoon's visit. Whilst at the Sea-Life centre, we did stop and have a drink, which was very much needed due to the heat, so we sat outside the café and relaxed for 20 minutes or so.
Showing the view outside the Sea-Life centre. Whilst we were sat there, a Zeppelin came back and was quite close.
The Zeppelin. Somewhere around 4pm, we decided
to head back to the station and see what times the trains went. We had
to find one going to Radolfzell, and we found one was due to leave any
minute, so we hopped aboard. At radolfzell, we had a 15 minute wait for
the train back to Friedrichshafen, and there wasn't much to do except
sit around and drink water. On Tuesday, Penny and I were due to fly back to Stansted, while Paul and Wendy had another day in Germany. They went off in search of the ancient village close to Uhldingen, so Penny and I walked into the town for some last minute shopping. They have C&A in Germany, and there was a sale on too, so that was too good to miss! I would have bought more, but I was concerned that our luggage was getting very close to the weight allowance, and I didn't want a repeat of the journey last year, we were stung for 100 Euros for overweight baggage! Penny and I had a very enjoyable last day in Friedrichshafen, and we tried to make the most of it. It was extremely hot, and although we had left our cases at the hotel, we still had our rucksacks, and by now, these were getting very heavy. As we had to be at the airport by 3.15pm, we walked back to the hotel and got the 3pm train to the airport. Checking in was easy, and although our bags were a little overweight, they didn't charge us! The airport terminal is not very big, and there isn't a great deal to do, so we wandered around, looking at the small gift shop, went up to the restaurant for a drink, and kicked our heels till it was time to go through the departure gate. Before long, we were boarding, and again the "Priority Boarding" ticket proved very useful. After another uneventful flight, we were back at Stansted. The major difference was that instead of 35C, it was only about 17C! We had yet another overnight stay, and on the Wednesday, we flew home. So, that was it for yet another year. At least it felt like a real holiday this time, and it seemed as if we had been away for far more than a week. I was now quite looking forward to getting home. If we made a holiday of it next time, I would certainly visit Bregenz again, and take the cable car once more, but make sure we left earlier, and maybe stayed longer. I would also like to go back to Lindau and spend another day there, but I doubt I would go back to Meersburg or Konstanz again. Maybe next time, I would consider a day in Switzerland, but I am not sure where. The whole lake area is extremely picturesque, with many museums, and places of interest. There is plenty for the whole family to see and do, and it can make a wonderful break. There are numerous places to stay in and around Friedrichshafen, and prices range from 20 to 200 Euros, per room, per night. Most include breakfast, but do check. If you stay outside Friedrichshafen, then you will have to pay for buses, or maybe taxis, to and from the exhibition. If you stay in Friedrichshafen itself, then you can make use of the free shuttle bus service, and save yourself the fares. Getting around is very easy, and the buses and trains are typically efficient, and on time too! So, why not make the trip next year? 73 all Phil GU0SUP
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