Friedrichshafen! Part 1

The ferry left us in Ancona (Italy) at 12:00 local time on Wednesday 20th of June. It took us 21 hours sailing from Patras. And after a 9 hours driving we arrived to St Genis (France) near Geneva. We met there my friend Nick (F5VIH alias SV3SJ) who lives there. The most impressive thing was the difference in temperature. We left Greece with 36 degrees and we found France only in 12 degrees and raining. This weather kept along all the 8 days we stayed in the area. According to the plan on Friday morning Nick and me we drive an other 480Km to Friedrichshafen. It was the first time I was visiting such a huge event. Friedrichshafen Messe is a well organized place for any kind of manifestations or fairs. Once a year it accommodates the Ham Radio festival every last weekend of June. It is located in the center of Europe in south Germany near the beautiful city of Konstanz. Actually you have to take a small ferry to get across the lake to rich Friedrichshafen.
The exhibition is separated in two big sections. One with the surplus stuff and the other with the kiosks of well known firms and shops as well the radio amateur organizations from all over the world. The first day we decided to visit the surplus section as the stock disappears very quickly. This exhibition is very popular. Pileups of hams go there every year to meet each other and collect useful things for their hobby.
Walking around the corridors we met with Patrick (F6IRF) and Philippe (F6IFY) both members, as Nick, of CN2WW contest group. You can get info about their activities in the following link: http://cn2ww.blogspot.com/. We have a lot of fun together. By the end of the day we went to Weingarten, a nearby village to spend the night.