Another wonderful day after the rain last night. 19C at 8:30AM and an easy 26C during the day. Still cooler than the halls inside the hamfest.

This was a day of action for Lynette. She decided that she wanted to spend time actually in Friedrickshafen and Lake Constance (Bodensee as it is called in this area). One of the ladies at the information desk at the Ham Radio Fest obtained a map of the town and a timetable for the buses that called regularly throughout the day at Messe West, the Ham Radio site. There was a bus to the town bus depot and one to the harbour (lake) and both were free. A great bonus.

Lynette took the bus to the bus depot and found it was situated below the train station and also a couple of blocks from the lake shore. Having been told that the Visitor Information Office was at the train station Lynette did a search of the area and came up with nothing so left that for later and headed down to the lake front and checked out the little market squares in the area and also took photos.

There were no kayaks, just small boats that were powered by two people pedalling. A trip across Lake Constance was called for so Lynette headed down to the large building at the end of the shore near where the ferries were moored. Plenty of pamphlets but none in English and when an assistant was asked if there were any in English there was a prompt “No”.

There had been an announcement regarding the departure of a vehicular ferry to Switzerland and Lynette had photographed it and its departure. Another large old ferry crammed with passengers had taken off for another destination. Then there was mention of a ferry to Konstanz (still in Germany) so Lynette asked a lady in the queue for details of the trip, time of return and ticket. It appeared that the return trip took about 1 hour and tickets were from an adjacent kiosk. Lynette watched two couples attempting to understand the instructions and giving up. She then tried and managed to order a return ticket and the price but then had to go and search her wallet for the money. Once found she was successful at the next attempt and out popped a ticket. Then there was a mad rush along the pavement and down the gangway as the ferry was leaving in one minute.

Safely on board Lynette stayed out in the bow area to take photos of both sides of the lake and the frequent ferries plying back and forth, some 24 hours per day. Once at Konstanz there was a 5 minute stopover which gave Lynette enough time to get off, take some photos, rush down to the water, have a paddle and then get back up and on the boat. A very, very pleasant time on the water.

Once back on land at Frederickshafen Lynette set about window shopping and comparing prices of fridge magnets. There was one of Germany which she could not ignore. It was a miniature cuckoo clock. The elderly owner knew some English from his school days and she was able to tell him that back in 1978 she and her husband had bought a proper cuckoo clock when they were in Frederickshafen and a further limited discussion took place between them.

Time for a softies (snow freeze) and then a walk back to the bus depot to catch the bus back to the Ham Fest. This time the bus did two extra blocks and Lynette discovered the Visitor Information Centre and the post office so if necessary will go there tomorrow. Starting to feel like a local now. It is a small town and very pleasant. However still pleased that our B&B is just over the border in Austria.

Jim on the other hand had a quiet day wandering the halls of the Hamfest. The most exciting thing was the balloon launch, and I believe the team that launched it are all part of the German Cricket team, as they move so slowly. They certainly took their time with the preparations, but in the end it went straight up, directly above the exhibition complex. I tried to look for it on the APRS.fi page but there is a jumble on Friedrichshafen. The local club were tracking it on a large screen.

I also found out about the “gypsy caravan.” The guy who makes them, makes them as round huts and they are used for all sorts of thing such as sauna rooms in Finland, kids play houses and cabins at camping grounds. The owner of this one does take it along to campsites on his trailer and stay in it and run his radios but he is not a gypsy.

When Lynette came back to the complex, we headed to Lindau, which is further east of Fridrichshafen. We walked along the edge of the lake for a little while, until the expensive lakeside houses stopped access to the lake. We then went and had dinner in a restaurant which had been built in 1671, according to the carving on the log holding up the ceiling, Then it was back to the B&B.

Just a couple of notes on eating in restaurants here. Firstly, although we ask for tap water, we always get sold still water. Not sure if this is a communications issue or simply fleecing the tourists a bit more. Also whenever we have paid for a meal, it's been at the table and the waitress has brought out a large wallet that is loaded, to provide us with the necessary change. I haven't seen them use a till in a restaurant yet.

A model of the zeppelin that has made Friedrichshafen famous.

One of the ferries on Lake Constance (Bodensee.)

Guess who owns this building in Friedrichshafen.

A great picture of the lake, Friedrichshafen and the farmland behind.

Entering Konstanz.

An old time in Konstanz.

One of the guardians to the port of Konstanz.

A water feature in Friedrichshafen.

There's a tractor to be seen every day, even if it's a little one in Lindau.

Apartments in Lindau.  Note the window boxes with plants in them.

Slowly getting the ballon ready to launch.  

The balloon is directly overhead with its payload under it.

Jakob is a bionic rabbit who rode down from Frankfurt.  It's over 400km and we took about six hours to drive down.  He rode down in three days.  His radio is on the handle bars and his antenna is the tall one at the back of his trailer.